By Liron David, Founder of Eventique

Stevie Wonder, The Supremes, D’Angelo & Erykah Badu, just to name a few of the Motown greats. Who wouldn’t jump at the opportunity to be a part of the former CEO of Motown’s records 50th birthday?

For this special event, we decided to start with a blank canvas – an empty, white New York City gallery space. The party began with an intimate dinner party on the second floor for an A-list crowd of guests including Stevie Wonder, Al Sharpton, and Joe. We built a custom table to provide seating for the 20 guests using contemporary ghost furniture and covered the table with a lush variety of flowers bringing pops of color into the room. As for food, Great Performances set the tone of the evening with a palette of delectable foods fit for music royalty.

A sampling of the menu-

Hors D’Oeuvres:

• Grilled Chicken Taco with Radish Escabeche and Chili Crema
• BBQ Short Ribs with Roasted Poblano on Stone Ground Grit Cake
• Caviar Beggar’s Purse with Sake-Cured Lemon Wheels
• Cherry Tomato Wrapped in Mozzarella with Pine Nuts, Capers and Katchkie Farm Pesto
• Peruvian Potato Cup with Truffled Comte Fondue
• Portobello Cannoli with Parmigiano Reggiano and Chives

First Course:

• Beet Ravioli with Westfield Farm Goat Cheese, Pickled Greens, and Mezze Arugula

Entrée:

• Sirloin and Short Rib Duo with Polenta, Crispy Kale, Bordelaise Sauce

Dessert:

• 5 Texture Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Macaron

After dinner, 100 guests joined the festivities for a cocktail party on the main gallery level. To welcome these guests we transformed the downstairs space into a posh lounge. We brought in large, illuminated flower-pot tables; hung framed photos of the guest of honor and his friends on the wall; and set up a stunning illuminated bar where the guests congregated. For entertainment, there was DJ D-Nice spinning classic R&B hits behind a floor to the ceiling glass wall. Behind DJ D-Nice, was a 20-foot waterfall splashing into a small pond we filled with dry ice to create a layer of smoke. Red & purple colors filled the room through lighting and the guest of the honors name was projected on the center of the main wall.

Stevie Wonder ended the night by giving a wonderful speech and breaking out into his hit song “Happy Birthday” that summed up the night so perfectly it was as if he wrote it just for this occasion:

“To show just how much we love you, and I’m sure you would agree, it couldn’t fit more perfectly than to have a world party on the day you came to be.”