An empty ballroom, reborn as a Great Gatsby world.
Sydney Props Specialists took a completely blank function room at Novotel Wollongong and layered it, feature by feature, into an immersive black-and-gold 1920s celebration for 100 guests — for Kylie's 60th birthday.
A blank hotel ballroom, styled into a cohesive Art Deco world.
Designed for 100 guests, the celebration combined bold black-and-gold styling, dramatic Art Deco features and carefully layered decorative detail — carrying the atmosphere of a glamorous 1920s hotel through every part of the room, from the dining tables to the dance floor.
Sydney Props Specialists developed the creative direction, selected roughly $13,000 worth of props and décor, planned every feature area and managed the complete installation, start to finish.
A room with nothing in it, and a full 1920s world to build.
The ballroom began as an entirely blank space. The brief was to create a sophisticated Great Gatsby environment with enough scale and detail to transform the full venue — while keeping the experience cohesive across the dining tables, lounge, dance floor, cake display and bar.
That meant every feature area needed to speak the same visual language, from the first table a guest sat at to the bar they'd end the night beside.
Built on a floor plan, refined over months in the warehouse.
The event was developed over several months through close collaboration between Kylie and the Sydney Props Specialists team — multiple phone calls, several warehouse visits and extensive in-person reviews of available stock, so every major feature supported one consistent black-and-gold vision.
Kylie also supplied a floor plan of the Novotel ballroom, letting the team map placement accurately before ever arriving on site:
- Guest tables
- Centrepieces
- The lounge area
- The gold shimmer wall
- Dance-floor silhouette panels
- The cake display
- The custom bar
- Decorative feature pieces
A palette tested and refined before a single prop reached the ballroom.
Before the event, the team developed and tested the key styling elements — proportions, finishes and decorative detail — to establish a look that would carry consistently through every feature area.
Feature by feature, one cohesive story.
Every zone of the ballroom was designed as its own moment — while staying unmistakably part of the same black-and-gold world.
Table Styling & Centrepieces
Black linen and gold charger plates set the stage for towering martini-glass centrepieces — sweeping feathers, draped pearls, crystal accents and mirrored bases for extra depth and sparkle.
The Cake Display
Designed as a major feature rather than a serving area — gold-edged tiers, a tall feather arrangement, sculptural metallic foliage and mirrored candle columns in formal, symmetrical composition.
The Gatsby Lounge
Black velvet seating, soft gold cushions and a large gold shimmer wall, finished with metallic foliage, feathers, mirrored accents, candles and a disco ball for an intimate VIP retreat.
The Custom Bar
A custom-built black bar with gold-plated Art Deco panels, designed and refined with Kylie throughout planning. Grand statues, gold foliage, table lamps and candlelight gave it the scale of a 1920s hotel bar.
The Dance Floor
Decorative silhouette panels extended the Great Gatsby styling into the entertainment area, their elegant shapes reinforcing the classy, old-world atmosphere across the whole ballroom.
Every angle, the same world.
A complete Great Gatsby world, for one night in Wollongong.
After months of planning, multiple consultations and detailed creative refinement, the empty hotel ballroom became a complete Great Gatsby environment for 100 guests. From the feather-and-pearl centrepieces and gold charger plates to the shimmer-wall lounge, feature cake table, silhouette panels and custom-built bar — every area contributed to one cohesive black-and-gold experience.
Kylie was over the moon with the completed transformation, and with the service delivered by the Sydney Props Specialists team from first phone call to final pack-down.
Kylie · Host, 60th Birthday CelebrationOne partner, from concept to pack-down.
Let's build your world, one feature area at a time.
Whether it's a milestone birthday, a corporate activation or a full venue transformation — Sydney Props Specialists takes it from concept to floor plan to final bump-out.