The Force Is Strong In This Holiday Party

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away — a little over a week ago at the Computer History Museum in San Jose, to be exact — the Global Gourmet Catering team planned and catered a Star Wars-themed holiday party for one of our clients. 

Scott Fairbanks, our Creative Director, worked closely with the client to plan and design the event from beginning to end. The open expanses of the museum’s floor plan were broken out into unique bars, seating areas, a dance floor and a glow-in-the-dark casino area.

A custom-built bar space with a made-to-order structure and Cantina sign.

What’s a Star Wars party without a cantina scene? The quintessential saloon from “A New Hope” inspired one of the event’s focal points: a custom bar modeled after Mos Eisley Cantina. Scott brought the grungy but lively feel of that setting into the party by having JCD Atmospheric build a rough-hewn wood and burlap structure and sign for the space.

“The famous cantina scene takes place in a barren desert wasteland, but there’s a glowing vibrance inside Mos Eisley,” Fairbanks notes. “We brought our cantina alive with a bright bar and by placing illuminated casino tables around the bar structure.”

It wasn’t a trap — friendly stakes only at the illuminated casino tables.

The casino floor came complete with table attendants and a pit boss.

We sourced our brightly lit casino tables from a company in San Diego, which brought an electrifying sense of excitement to the room. Our friends at Classic Party Rentals satisfied the rest of the event’s furniture needs and the Enhanced team managed A/V throughout, complete with themed music.

Back bar installation built and designed by Scott Fairbanks.

For a different part of the party, Scott designed and built a custom installation for the center of a 360-degree bar dubbed “The Temple of the Jedi.” We served signature cocktails from both, including a refreshing bourbon-based “R2-D2.” Savory stations were strategically placed throughout the event as well. The taco bar was a meteoric success, as was an interstellar dim sum station.

Space-age lounges.

Cool metallic greys and and crisp whites worked wonderfully in the Computer History Museum, and allowed the pops of color from lighting sets and our other installations to really shine. For more intimate conversations about overthrowing the Empire, we tucked away space-age lounge setups with glowing cocktail table cubes.

The event was an interstellar success — we could feel the Force from outside the party, which couldn’t have been in a more picture-perfect setting.

The Computer History Museum in San Jose, CA.

Photo Credit: Jim Vetter Photography.

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