Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

Some details are missing in your question (per-person budget, whether you're a party planner or PR firm, goal of the company for having the event, how the room will be staged), but I'll just make some assumptions and you can extrapolate a related application.

If "the party in the party" means something close to "let your hair down," then you might carry the formal theme forward by making this a fun, "faux" formal event -- homage to the old party standard. Guests may wear casual dress but you can reinvent the formal idea. For instance, your idea of masks is great -- perhaps masks on sticks -- and then you might accent that with colorful feather boas for women and "silk" ascots or paper top hats for men, all available inexpensively when purchased in bulk from wholesale costume/Halloween suppliers or Chinese outfits such as Ali Baba.

Then, you might keep everything to a specific color theme, such as (making this up to illustrate) white, silver and magenta -- nearly everything white or silver except the boas and perhaps quality paper napkins (if a buffet) or cloth napkins (rental?) if it is a sit-down dinner.

If it is a sit-down dinner, get the greatest bang from your centerpiece buck by making the centerpieces very tall. (Same idea on buffet tables.) Plastic flower pots (wholesale garden supply) filled with sand for weight (Home Depot) with silver glitter spread as a top layer above the sand. Into this, plant tall white branches (gather them locally or order from a floral supply wholesaler; spray paint if necessary) with magenta balloons tied to the top. Try to place the tables so the room's lights spotlight the centerpieces or plant an inexpensive flashlight into the sand as an uplight for drama. (The batteries will last long enough for one night's event.)

If you can afford helium, let the balloons rise even higher -- perhaps three balloons per centerpiece rising to different levels, but each table with the identical three levels so that as you look across the room, the three levels create massive horizontal planes -- a big effect for pennies. If you want to add more formality to this, place a silver "bow tie" at the base of each balloon -- mylar for it's feather weight, cut or folded into a bow tie. If boas are particularly affordable, you might surround the pot in the center of the table with a white boa.

If you shop carefully, you should be able to keep the per-guest cost within a reasonable budget.

Having said all this, and whether you like this particular design idea or not, you have to consider what is "reasonable" to get the right result. If the budget is too low to do a bang-up job, you really must, as a quality consultant, go back to your principals and re-set expectations or get a budget increase. Many companies hope to make a splash on a dime in these economic times (understandable) but then find themselves bitterly disappointed when their hundreds of guests react negatively to the cheapness of the affair. Make no mistake, YOU will be the fall guy -- blamed either for "poor execution" (even if you did exactly as directed), or for not letting the company president know in advance that this was going to dent the company's reputation with its key contacts. They can remove the stain at next year's party (on which they'll spend considerably more), but you may not be so lucky.

Hope these thoughts are helpful.