Suggestions and Function Inspiration for Lunar New Calendar year Celebrations

Earlier this 7 days, Bellagio’s Conservatory & Botanical Gardens in Las Vegas unveiled its 12 months of the Rabbit set up, which will be on exhibit by way of March 4. A selection of vignettes—created by designer Ed Libby in collaboration with Bellagio’s horticulture team—honor the black drinking water rabbit. On the West Mattress is a 32-foot-tall medallion that makes use of pink and gold-colored metallic and floral materials. Cherry blossoms from the historic Eastern metalwork technique of cloisonné cling above a pair of fu dogs and there are also twin bonsai trees, along with flowing water signifying the showering of riches even though shelling out homage to the rabbit’s wisdom and link to Earth.Image: Courtesy of Bellagio
An believed two billion folks close to the planet celebrate the Lunar New Yr, which, in lots of Asian cultures, is meant as a time to welcome a new yr by means of loved ones reunions and vibrant celebrations. So it is no shock that it is a well-liked celebration for creative, in excess of-the-major functions, with enjoyable information tying into themes of peace and prosperity. Each individual 12 months in the lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals—this year, it is the rabbit—adding an additional exciting layer to celebrations. In 2023, Lunar New 12 months kicks off on Jan. 22.

We caught up with Amanda Ma, the Taiwanese-American founder and CEO of Innovate Marketing Team in Pasadena, Calif., to chat about all factors Lunar New Year—including information for brand names and corporate groups preparing their own celebrations. Below are her suggestions…

What shade schemes and decor things do you counsel leaning into for Lunar New Yr celebrations?
We counsel working with shiny and heat colors like purple, gold, pink, and orange-purple, which are extremely popular and vital colours as they symbolize great luck, prosperity, passion, and joy. For regular decor, you can lighten up the celebration house with plum blossom bouquets projected on the partitions or function space, purple rabbit-shaped lanterns as the centerpieces surrounded by beautiful florals, florals with warm colors, gold Yuanbao, and huge firecrackers. Or, giant stacked red cubes with personalized brand logos seen on one facet of each cube—other visible sides of the cubes can would like “very good luck,” “prosperity,” or “delighted Lunar New Calendar year” in diverse languages.

For her own Lunar New Year gatherings, Innovate Marketing and advertising Group’s Ma leans into brilliant and warm shades like purple, gold, pink, and orange-purple, which she notes symbolize great luck, prosperity, passion, and joy.Photograph: Courtesy of Innovate Advertising and marketing TeamHow would you tie in the Calendar year of the Rabbit theme? 
In the Calendar year of the Rabbit, it truly is charming to include some rabbit-formed decor, themes, and things to do. Floral decor and floral aspects match well with this fluffy creature. An interactive exercise to have at your party is to integrate a smaller petting zone with genuine rabbits, making it possible for guests to pet them to obtain fantastic fortune. Or have numerous brand ambassadors keep just one and stroll around the celebration so friends can pet them.

In addition, you can use a clever and fascinating way to give out blessings and greetings to your visitors relevant to rabbits, like “Hopping into happiness” or “I want you hop into the Calendar year of Rabbit with fortune and luck.”

A pleasurable truth about the Year of the Rabbit is the phrase rabbit in Chinese is “兔,” which is the exact same pronunciation as “to”—so you can give out your greetings by saying “Happy New 12 months 兔You” and “Good Luck 兔 You.” You can also incorporate these phrases on the signage of your celebration to incorporate extra enjoyable to the entire knowledge! 

What about foodstuff?
Ingesting all forms of regular foods and snacks is a substantial aspect of a Lunar New Yr celebration, like dumplings, fish, oranges, spring rolls, shrimp, complete chicken, lion’s head meatballs, and Lunar New 12 months desserts like Nian Gao (sweet rice cake), Jujube flower cakes, and almond cookies. The dumpling resembles historical Chinese money—gold Yuanbao, an auspicious symbol of prosperity. By having fish, you wish you will usually have a surplus and abundance every yr. By ingesting the orange, you carry superior fortune and luck. 

If you want to prepare some welcome or celebration gifts for your function, we like these reward tips for desserts: Sugarfina Luna New 12 months Bento Present Established and Woman M My Melody Box. Candy and fruit are also two popular choices, like this Lunar New Yr fruit box and gold coin chocolate. Other than sweets, if you want to get ready anything sophisticated for your visitors, you can present them with tea items like this Warming Joy tea gift box, as tea is always a key cultural element for Chinese people today. 

What is the major matter to keep away from when scheduling a Lunar New Calendar year celebration? 
You should really prevent some taboos when setting up a Lunar New Calendar year celebration to protect against poor luck or inauspicious meanings. 1st, stay clear of black or white colours for your decor, as they are commonly employed for funerals. Next, avoid stating terrible text or swear terms all through the Lunar New Yr. When applying numbers or providing out crimson envelopes to your visitors or staff members, avoid unlucky figures like 4, or providing out an odd amount of money. Some of our purchasers will request us to skip any desk quantity with 4 in it: 4, 14, 40 , 41, etcetera.

Furthermore, scissors, knives, or slicing items this sort of as your hair are also forbidden through the new 12 months so that you won’t “minimize” your prosperity. In terms of food, do not serve your visitors porridge or bitter gourd, as porridge delivers poverty and bitter gourd as it is a poor omen predicting bitterness. 

Any strategies for models and corporate groups that want to accept Lunar New Calendar year? How can they make it truly feel significant and genuine? 
For the company groups, we counsel you provide some authentic Chinese food stuff and desserts to your visitors or personnel, and put up various new calendar year decorations in the celebration house and the office environment. Culturally, Lunar New 12 months is about the loved ones reunion to celebrate and eat collectively. It is the finest time for corporate groups to have staff bonding or recognition occasions that generate a exciting and celebratory atmosphere.

A Lunar New Yr celebration is incredibly lively, with loud new music and amusement and a lot of food and treats! Some well-known entertainment options are lion dancers, a mask-switching artist, martial arts demonstrations, calligraphy, songs, arts and craft demonstrations, drum performances, circus exhibits, and much more. To include a surprise-and-delight element, you can go out red pockets to your attendees with blessed messages some of them can have cash. 

Reward: Verify out our podcast job interview with Ma, exactly where she shared much more means to produce culturally delicate gatherings for Asian audiences. 

Feeling encouraged? Scroll down to see inside some current Lunar New Year celebrations…