Hi all!
It’s me, Kathy Wadham, director of the Creative Department at Fairplex. Some of you may remember meeting me in a post last month 🙂 I will be dropping in on the Fairplex blog every now and then giving you an inside peek at some of the events we create throughout the year (including the L.A. County Fair!)
Keep reading to find out how we transformed the dignified Sheraton Conference Center into a Lucky 13 grad night bash.
During the day the conference center exudes zen. Soothing jazz music plays in the hall and the rooms off to the sides are generally quiet except for the buzz of brainstorming and the professional meetings we typically host. At Grad Night we kicked out the zen and made room for post-grad fun.
Claremont High selected Fairplex to be the host of their class of 2013 grad night party. And what a party we threw:
Dinner began with more than 1,000 parents and graduates in a room filled with hundreds of white lights, lanterns, and orchids. As dinner finished and the clock struck midnight, the real fun began.
We transformed the entirety of the Sheraton Fairplex Conference Center–ballrooms, cafe, meeting spaces and all, into a grad night extravaganza, right down to the names of the rooms themselves.
Our creative team testing the photo op set 🙂
In the House of Cards, huge playing cards swirled and twirled from the ceiling and strobe lights revealed blackjack and poker tables, air hockey and a pool hall.
No Grad Night is complete without a blockbuster and some of this year’s most popular films played continuously on the jumbo movie screen in Deuces Wild Movie Theater. Grads could kick back, relax and munch on popcorn, peanuts, corn nuts and other goodies.
Queen of Hearts was a royal hit for those with a sweet tooth. Queen of Hearts was our very own Candy and Sweet Shop where baskets and bowls of brightly colored sweets lined the shelves. See the before & after transformation below:
Before
After
Our Jack of Diamonds room was a shining star filled with all sorts of board games including Sorry, Candy Land, Jenga, Monopoly and many, many more.
Have you ever wanted to be an astronaut or stand in the middle of Times Square? Well, in King of Hearts, graduates had their chance. A green screen was the backdrop needed to make these thoughts into a reality and transported you to anywhere in the world.
No Grad Night is complete without a dance club and our Club 13 was a cirque circus filled with stages, dancing, and entertainment. Mango and Dango, our favorite stilt walkers from the L.A. County Fair were on hand to dance the night away with the crowd.
In addition to Mango and Dango, there was a magician, hypnotist, caricature artist, henna tattoo artist, fortuneteller, video games, mentalist, face painter, psychic and even a juggling school. No matter what your preference was, this Grad Night was filled with memories to last a last time!
No Comments