Rebecca Gardner makes the case for events with personality
There are tasteful events, and then there are events where chandelier dancers covered in Swarovski crystals beckon guests toward the dance floor. Rebecca Gardner has built a career firmly in favor of the latter.
In A Screaming Blast: Exceptional Entertaining, the founder and creative director of events, interiors and retail collective Houses & Parties shares some of her most memorable gatherings and, more importantly, the thinking that goes into creating them. Published by Rizzoli, the 256-page book pairs Gardner’s stories and advice with photography by Adam Kuehl and a foreword by filmmaker Sofia Coppola.
Gardner’s aesthetic is unapologetically maximalist, but the book is more than a collection of extravagant party photos. Throughout, she offers insights into the ideas, decisions and details that can make any gathering feel considered, distinctive and genuinely fun.
Make It Memorable
Gardner has little interest in creating events that could happen anywhere. Among the scenes featured in the book are a brass band leading guests along the tracks of the Napa Valley Wine Train and a pink-poodle-themed holiday party. The specifics may be over the top, but the larger lesson is surprisingly practical: Give people something they aren’t expecting.
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Planners can begin by considering the emotional story an event should tell, then build the creative brief, budget and schedule around it. Every choice contributes to the larger experience, from invitations and menus to lighting, entertainment and the way guests move through a space.
For meeting planners, there is plenty here that can be applied at a very different scale. Memorable doesn’t necessarily mean adding more. It can mean committing more fully to an idea, paying closer attention to how the event unfolds or introducing one unexpected detail that changes the energy in the room.
The Details Matter
For all its visual exuberance, A Screaming Blast doesn’t ignore the mechanics behind the fun. Gardner includes a chapter devoted to the anatomy of a successful party, with thoughts on invitations, menus, flowers, music and other elements that shape how guests experience an event.
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Hospitality is central to her approach. Gardner considers what guests encounter from the moment they arrive, what catches their attention, how they move through the space and what keeps the evening from feeling static. There are ideas here about pacing, atmosphere and creating moments of surprise that apply just as readily to a reception, incentive event or closing-night celebration.
Still, this isn’t meant to be a conventional event-planning manual. Rizzoli sums up Gardner’s philosophy neatly: “It’s not a how-to, but more a why-not.”
For planners accustomed to balancing budgets, logistics, brand standards and stakeholder expectations, that may be the book’s most useful takeaway. Not every event needs chandelier dancers or giant fiberglass toads. But a little more wit, surprise and willingness to push a good idea further? That could be worth adding to the run of show.
This article appears in the September 2026 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
