MAKEOVER RECIPIENT:
DISCO PARTY Bruce Sutka, Sutra International Design Inc. sutrainternationaldesign.com BEFORE: If your goal is “grooviness,” stick to bell bottoms, platform shoes and discount party supply store wares. In our opinion, however, disco parties have had a raging case of Saturday Night Fever for far too long. AFTER: • Condense your decor aesthetic into a single phrase. It was the luxe side of disco that entranced Sutka. He recalled the chic, black-tie dinner parties that the famed Studio 54 would host on nights before the general public was granted admission. Using that as his creative spark, Sutka defined his vision as “sparkly sleek,” beginning with a long mirror-top table decadently awash with silver, glitter and shine that never misplaced its sense of elegance. • Create one big effect that will excite people. Mirror balls are one of the most stereotypical and frequently employed elements in disco-themed events. The reflectiveness and glitz was in perfect keeping with his vision, so Sutka used different-sized disco balls to create a standout artistic element suspended from the ceiling. • Make the food a feast for your eyes. Furthering the seamless glitterati effect, Sutka used edible glitter-covered bon-bons and towers of meringues as decorative table accents in lieu of flowers. Admittedly unable to resist going a bit over the top, he also placed cupcakes topped with metallic bon-bons in eyecatching silver skeleton hands. “You’ve always got to do a little bit more than you think because it’s a party and there’s this sense of excitement,” he says. 74
PALM BEACH ILLUSTRATED
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For drink recipes by Echo’s Charles Steadman, visit palmbeachillustrated.com
• Mix high-end elements with lower cost accents. “I love finding less expensive versions of really traditional things.” Sutka’s Golden Drop source list includes everywhere from Mary Mahoney to Target. It’s difficult to tell the high from the low, since Sutka created a total vision that far outweighed the sum of its parts. • You don’t always have to outsource. Don’t be afraid to replicate more expensive items using your own creativity or to alter items to fit your theme. Sutka put crystallized glitter on the meringues to create the effect he wanted. He advises that many of the table elements—such as the Swarovski crystal-adorned champagne glasses and silver mesh placemats—could be reproduced with a little artistic vision and willingness to experiment. Glassware, champagne flutes, napkins, dessert display, Mary Mahoney, Palm Beach; flatware, Target; edible bon-bons and coordinating cupcake sleeves, Bedazzle my Bonbons; plates, placemats, candelabras, candles, place card holders, buffet table, silver-coated skeleton hands, lotus flower crystal candle holders, Z Gallerie; table and chairs, AFR Event Furnishings, Miami; cupcakes and meringues, Publix; lighting, Hy-Lite Productions, West Palm Beach.