Corporations finalize their annual budgets long before many events are planned. Be an early bird if you need a corporate monetary favor. Stevens reminds all committees to determine in advance how sponsors will be recognized on invitations, programs, banners and other supporting material. Some companies just want their names mentioned. But increasingly, corporations want their logos worked into print materials for the event as well, which can affect the design of the invitation and is another reason to nail down commitments early.

You've Gotta Have a Theme.and Decorations, Too

Ideally, our experts stressed, decorations should reflect some aspect of the organization. This is easier for some groups-think of the gorgeous orchids that decorate Selby Gardens' Orchid Ball, and all the film and movie-star memorabilia the Sarasota Film Festival can use for its events. This year, children's science museum G.WIZ was able to brilliantly highlight its butterfly habitat with stunning faux butterflies at its first-ever Butterfly Ball.

Decorations can transform a familiar setting while expressing the theme and setting the tone for the evening. Pay attention to the guests' sense of arrival. Should there be an arbor or flowers, red carpet, lights, champagne, receiving line? A thousand small details create the overall impression.

Our panel praised interior designer Anne Folsom Smith, a co-chair for the Florida West Coast Symphony's 55th season opening night gala, for details that made the night wow and wonderful. Smith started three months before the event by commissioning a local nursery to grow grass. The day of the event, the grass was transferred to containers that ran the length of the black-draped tables. Then the designer "planted" fat red roses in the fresh grass. Smith's attention to this decor detail helped transform the Van Wezel Grand Foyer into a dramatic Spanish garden where the guests bloomed with glowing good cheer.

Mary Lou Wingerter says it often pays to "think creatively instead of costly." Case in point: "The little wrist corsages we gave each female guest at our Big Band Bash highlighted a nightclub ambience and put everyone in the right frame of mind for the '40s-style event."

Events that lived up to their decorations and theme? The Community AIDS Network's CAN Goes Hollywood certainly stands out as one of the best costume parties of the year. A Dog's Night Out (Animal Rescue Coalition) seemed to bring out the best in everyone, human and canine. And Wendy Mann Resnick's Pajama Party for UCP, attended by guests clad in their nighties, was talked and gossiped about for weeks.

The Favor of Your Company

Table favors have become important at both galas and luncheon events. Some chairmen opt for a "goody bag," usually full of cosmetic and perfume samples. Other events have seen guests go home with umbrellas, note pads and pens, a CD of the music played at the party or long-stemmed red roses.

For those high-octane, socially prestigious nights that benefit the Ringling Museum, Sarasota Opera or Florida Winefest & Auction, with guests paying up to $500 to be wined, dined and professionally entertained, the issue of what's the proper favor engenders a lot of committee discussion and corporate begging.

"When the ticket price is high, guests expect a special table favor," says Sally Schule, whose employer, Saks Fifth Avenue, is often asked to contribute party mementos. "The Jay Strongwater jeweled picture frames provided for the third annual Opera Ball retail for $125, but the gift was compatible with the tone of the event and ticket price." Party favors are getting more elaborate and creative, but the best ones, says Schule, "still fit into one's evening bag."

Food, Fabulous Food

Phil Mancini believes it's a sound strategy to avoid a buffet at a black-tie gala. "People in ball gowns and tuxedos prefer to be served," he says. "The exception is something like the UnGala, Avant Garde or Safe Sax, where people want to network, nibble and dance all night. Then they don't want an established time to dine."

Betty Sandhagen speaks with the wisdom of many wives: "Men don't want to spend all evening over a long, drawn-out meal. Serve it and get it over with-an hour is tops. Otherwise the husbands just get fidgety."

Mary Lou Wingerter believes it's wise to avoid exotic entrées. "It sounds intriguing to make the food fit the theme, Spanish, Asian, whatever. But Sarasota is a traditional town when it comes to eating at a gala. Quality beef works, and maybe a piece of fish or shellfish on the plate. Phil [Mancini] got Sarasota used to eating lamb at galas, but it took a while."