Westminster University 150 Years in One Inspiring Evening
A milestone 150th anniversary gala produced on the Westminster University campus — custom history displays, multiple lounge environments, outdoor dining for 310, live entertainment, and a complete branded experience from valet to thank you card.
150 years of history. One evening to honor it.
Westminster University's Sesquicentennial Gala was a once-in-a-generation event — a celebration of 150 years of the institution, held on the campus grounds where that history was made. In The Event produced the full evening: transforming the outdoor campus into a complete gala environment with a purple carpet arrival, multiple lounge zones, outdoor dining for 310, custom-branded 150th anniversary tower displays, a live entertainment stage, silent auction, and a show-called program running 5pm to 11pm.
Every element was tied to the milestone. The branded tower displays featured archival photographs from Westminster's history. The signage carried the evening's theme — "150 Years in One Inspiring Evening" — from the valet stand to the dining tables. The collateral put a menu, a place card, and a thank you note at every seat. In The Event didn't just set up an event. They built the stage for a university's most important evening in a generation.
The Challenge
Producing a milestone gala on a university campus is a different challenge than producing one in a hotel ballroom. There's no built-in production infrastructure, no dedicated loading access, and no event-ready spaces. Every element — seating, AV, lighting, bars, lounge furniture, signage, and entertainment stage — had to arrive, get installed, and perform at gala standard on a campus built for classrooms, not events.
The 150th anniversary brief added another layer: this couldn't feel like a generic event with a logo on a banner. Every touchpoint had to carry the weight of the milestone. Wayfinding kiosks, tower displays, branded menus, valet signage — all of it had to be cohesive, intentional, and worthy of 150 years of institutional history.
- Full outdoor campus transformation
- Custom 150th anniversary branded tower displays
- Purple carpet arrival experience
- Two distinct lounge environments
- Outdoor dining for 310 guests
- Dual 12'×7' LED screens for programming
- Outdoor entertainment stage with full backline
- Complete collateral — menus, cards, signage
Services Delivered
From the valet A-frame at the entrance to the show call at close — every element of the Sesquicentennial Gala designed, sourced, and run by In The Event.
The Execution
Setup began June 4th. The team pulled the purple carpet, positioned the lounge zones, installed the LED screens and audio infrastructure, set 31 tables, built the entertainment stage, dressed the bars, and placed the tower displays across the campus grounds — all before the afternoon run-through on June 5th.
By 5pm, every zone was dressed and operational. Three hundred ten guests walked onto a campus they knew and into an environment that felt like nothing they'd experienced there. The evening ran until 11pm — dinner, program, silent auction, live entertainment — show called from open to close. The campus was cleared by midnight.
- 2-day build across full campus grounds
- Purple carpet arrival through campus corridor
- Custom 150th anniversary tower displays placed
- Two lounge environments fully dressed
- 31 tables set with full collateral
- LED screens, audio, and camera operational
- Entertainment stage built and backlined
- Show called 5pm to 11pm · Strike by midnight
From the Gala Grounds
A look at the environments, displays, dining, and details In The Event produced for Westminster University's 150th anniversary celebration.
150th Anniversary Displays
Custom four-sided modular tower displays wrapped in archival sepia photographs from Westminster's 150-year history — portraits, campus landmarks, and early student life across all four faces.
Table Setting
Purple satin napkins, rose gold flatware, glass charger plates, and copper bowl floral centerpieces — with a large LED screen visible in the background during the evening program.
White LED Lounge
White modular sofas and chairs around a glowing acrylic coffee table, with pink LED column lighting — one of two distinct lounge environments across the campus grounds.
Dark Leather Lounge
Burgundy tufted leather sofas and wingback chairs around a round wood coffee table with a mixed floral arrangement — set on the campus lawn as a warm contrast to the LED lounge.
Entertainment Stage
Full outdoor stage with drum kit, speaker towers, stage lighting rig, and white pedestal columns — set against a green hedge backdrop for the evening's live entertainment program.
Floral Detail
White roses, purple anemones, and eucalyptus in a marble-look vase on a dark wood cocktail table — the floral language of the evening carried through every surface.
The Collateral
Every piece of printed material at the Sesquicentennial Gala was designed in-house by the In The Event graphics team — and every piece carried the same visual identity. The dinner menus were printed with gold-edged detail, matching the rose gold flatware and the gold accents on the anniversary tower displays. Place cards, table numbers, thank you cards, bar signs, wayfinding signage, and the A-frame valet sign at the entrance all spoke the same visual language.
When a guest sat down at their seat, they found a setting that had been designed, not assembled. That distinction is what the collateral is for.
- 450 place cards — custom designed
- 340 dinner menus — gold-edged detail
- 325 thank you cards
- 30 table numbers and 28 name cards
- Bar signage and bathroom wayfinding
- A-frame, kiosk, and tower graphics
A Milestone Delivered
150 years is a rare thing to celebrate. The evening was equal to it.
Westminster's academic grounds became a fully realized gala environment — purple carpet, lounge zones, dining tables, entertainment stage, and custom history displays all coexisting on the same grounds where 150 years of students had walked. Guests saw their campus differently.
The custom tower displays gave 150 years of institutional memory a physical presence at the event. Guests stopped, gathered, and read. Archival photographs of former students, athletes, and campus buildings became conversation — not just backdrop.
From the A-frame at the valet stand to the thank you card at each place setting, every branded touchpoint carried the Sesquicentennial identity. No element was generic. The evening felt like it had been designed specifically for Westminster — because it had been.
How We Built It
Two days of build. Six hours of gala. Midnight strike.
Purple carpet laid through the campus corridor. Tower displays positioned on the grounds. Both lounge environments fully dressed. 31 dining tables set with linen, chairs, and collateral. LED screens installed and programmed. Entertainment stage built and backlined. Bars dressed and branded. Wayfinding kiosks placed. Full technical run-through complete by afternoon.
Doors opened at 5pm. Show callers managed the full program — arrival, cocktail hour across both lounge zones, seated dinner, program with dual LED screens and live camera, silent auction, and live entertainment on the outdoor stage. All six hours coordinated through a single team on the ground.
Full teardown completed in one hour. All furniture, displays, AV, lighting, dining equipment, bars, carpet, and staging cleared from the Westminster campus — the grounds returned to their normal state by midnight.
Ready to build something this good?
Tell us about your next gala, university event, or milestone celebration. In The Event handles everything from concept to close.
