
Nonprofit gala · April 2024
Wildest Dreams
An inner-child gala for the Aspen Youth Center, built around play instead of a seated dinner
ClientAspen Youth Center
WhereHotel Jerome, Aspen, Colorado
Guests150
Our RoleFull Planning & Design
JSE RoleJuls – Lead Planner & Designer
For the 2024 Aspen Youth Center gala, the theme was “Wildest Dreams,” an invitation for grown-ups to reconnect with the kid they used to be, in support of the kids AYC serves every day. We designed the night around play. There was no seated dinner. Instead, the Hotel Jerome ballroom became a mix of food stations, lounges, highboys, and tables, so guests could move, mingle, and explore all evening.
The décor took childhood and gave it a grown-up finish. Disco-ball centerpieces made by AYC kids sat on the tables alongside rainbow slinkies and mirrored accents. A giant Light Bright, neon signs, pastel balloon clouds, and a Wildest Dreams wishing tree, where guests wrote their own wishes on cards, filled the room, and Halcyon’s LED walls carried clouds across the ballroom.
Every corner had something to do. A mad-science “prescription” bar served drinks with edible glitter and a bubble gun, GR Hair + Makeup bedazzled faces at the Glow Bar, a tarot reader held court, and magician Jeff Edmonds roamed between conversations. Art of Air greeted arrivals in star suits with bubble guns and Elton John looks, then lit up the room later in the night with an LED dress and LED stilt walkers.
When the program ended, the room went dark and the Aspen High School dance team launched a flash mob. Cold sparklers lit the stage, DJ Naka G kept the floor full, and Art of Air’s party starters led a hora loca to carry the night to its close.
Photography: Kelly Elizabeth · Venue & Catering: Hotel Jerome · Branding: Carta Blanc · Immersive Entertainment: Art of Air · Lighting & LED Walls: Halcyon · Lounge Furniture: 360-Five Creative · Glow Bar: GR Hair + Makeup · Magician: Jeff Edmonds · DJ: DJ Naka G













































The Glow Bar
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