CEO Dinner at Vizcaya With Andre Dua and Ken Griffin
Luxe Fête is an experiential design studio in Miami that shapes gatherings for leaders, brands, and institutions. For the 4th Annual Miami and Florida CEO Dinner, co-hosted by Andre Dua, McKinsey & Company Senior Partner, and Ken Griffin, CEO of Citadel, we transformed Vizcaya Museum & Gardens into an environment built for conversation: where design, hospitality, and strategy worked in quiet harmony. Andre and Ken brought together more than 50 of Florida’s most influential leaders who have been central to Miami’s remarkable transformation to answer the question, “What will it take for Miami to become a top global destination in the next decade?”
An Experiential Study in Design, Connection and Purpose
This dinner explored the intersection of design, connection, and purpose. We approached Vizcaya as both setting and subject — using light, sound, and flow to shape conversation. The result: an atmosphere of ease and intention, where leadership met design.
The Concept
Serve the moment.
That’s the philosophy behind every Luxe Fête experience. Create conditions where everything unfolds naturally, so what remains is connection.
The Setting
Vizcaya’s classical architecture offered both grandeur and restraint. We approached it as a living frame – historic, textured, and distinctly Miami. Candlelight, symmetry, and soft acoustics created intimacy within scale, allowing the venue’s beauty to anchor, not compete with, the experience.
The Experience
Dinner unfolded as a sequence of small stories. Each course paired thoughtful cuisine with rare wines curated by our sommelier, turning service into narrative. Guests moved between moments of reflection and exchange, united by a shared sense of purpose and place.
The Execution
Precision made it effortless. Lighting that flatters. Sound that carries just enough. A pace that feels human. Our goal was to remove friction so that attention stayed on connection, which is the true measure of any successful gathering.
The Evening
What emerged was simple and intentional: a dinner that became a forum. Miami’s most influential voices, together in one space, imagining what comes next. The program centered on Miami’s trajectory over the next two decades, including a forward-looking vision for “Miami 2044” — a four-million-person, $800 billion economy driven by world-class education, advanced mobility, and expansion into aerospace, defense, finance, and technology. The dinner served as a forum for leaders shaping this next chapter, in alignment with the ongoing work of the Partnership for Miami.
Beautiful work happens when everything serves the moment.
About Luxe Fête
Luxe Fête is an experiential design studio creating high-impact gatherings for global brands and cultural leaders. Our work merges creative direction, hospitality, and spatial storytelling to craft experiences that leave lasting resonance. Recognized by Harper’s BAZAAR and BRIDES Magazine among the world’s leading event producers.
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The sounds of making it happen.
BTS | 5th Annual CEO Dinner on the Future of Miami & Florida
Rubell Museum, Miami
Exactly as I imagined it. 5th Annual CEO Dinner on the Future of Miami & Florida, Rubell Museum.
📷 @shelbycooperphotography
Quite a moment for Miami.
Days after Ken Griffin of @citadel announced a historic $3 billion commitment to Carnegie Mellon University, including $2 billion for a new Wynwood campus, Griffin and André Dua of @mckinseyco hosted the 5th Annual CEO Dinner on the Future of Miami & Florida at the Rubell Museum.
Andre moderated a conversation between Ken and Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian on Miami’s future in AI, robotics, and innovation.
Among those gathered were Stephen M. Ross, Mera Rubell, Josh Harris, Jessica Goldman Srebnick, Barry Sternlicht, Al Dotson, Tony Tamer, Tere Blanca, Daniel Sundheim, Jorge M. Pérez, Craig Robins, Damola Adamolekun, and José R. Mas.
Luxe Fête designed and executive produced the evening, from the illuminated dining table to hand-drawn, animated visions of Miami and South Florida’s skylines five years from now.
A room filled with people shaping Miami’s future. An evening designed with that same sense of possibility.
Creative Direction, Design & Executive Production | @luxefete
Photo Team: @gesischilling @shelbycooperphotography @worldredeye
When only two words and a round of applause will do.
Yes, Chef.
Thank you @creativeedgeparties for a tasting that left the whole table in awe. LFG.
One of my favorite nights of the year. Veils of Light. ✨
Created by the incomparable @RoxanneBellamyCo and @DuPontBuilding with @debdavimes. These ladies know how to tell a story. Every detail was so thoughtful, including the surprise of uncovering an illustration of myself by @By_MariaStella
Beyond being pampered, selfishly, this is where I come to see what’s next and who’s doing it. And every year, I leave inspired.
And I got to pull this dress out of my closet 26 years later. And get dolled up by @darbalthazarmua 🙏🏾
Cinderella it is. ✨
I 👀 U.
Co-Creator/Venue: @DuPontBuilding
Co-Creator/Creative Direction: @RoxanneBellamyCo
Florals/Environmental Design: @PetalProd
Culinary/Cocktails: @HC.Collective
AV/Lighting: @EventFactor
Entertainment: @ElanArtists
Video: @KEJ.Films
Photography: @MassonLiangPhoto
Portrait Experience: @TheMonochromaticExperience
Super 8 Film: @ModernLoveProductions
Production/Signage/Builds: @WrapMyFloor
Sketch Artist/Artwork: @By_MariaStella
Linens/Tabletop Rentals: @NuageDesignInc
Furniture/Event Rentals: @ChromeEventFurnishing
Furniture/Event Rentals: @HighStyleRentals
Event Rentals: @EventOutfitters
Stationery/Event Branding: @ODACreative
Transportation: @305Transportation
Draping: @CBKEvents
Hair/Makeup: @SortdBeauty
Accommodations: @TheElserHotelMiami
Accommodations: @1Hotel.SouthBeach
Real Time Content: @Loveatfirstview
Years ago I recommended Château d’Yquem in The New York Times as one of my favorite gifts, with the idea of choosing a vintage tied to a meaningful year.
I smiled when it came up again as we prepared for an upcoming tasting.
Our sommelier will tell you about the noble rot, the extraordinary longevity, why d’Yquem is called liquid gold.
Me? I remember the first time I tasted it. It reminded me of a first French kiss.
Lorenzo offered to source the 2019 in magnum because the presentation would be that much more beautiful. Of course I said yes.
The pairing. The vintage. The glass. The pour.
It’s always in the details.
What’s cooking, good looking? 👀 Nat at Nu | Site Visit
A reflection on memory, community, and the extraordinary ways we find ourselves in one another.
And on gathering. Always gathering.
It felt like a movie.
A floating crown.
Chess grandmasters.
Living queens.
Marcel Duchamp reflected on mirrored walls.
A room filled with world champions, founders, investors, and leaders from across sport, business, and culture.
An impromptu match between Woman Grandmaster Martha Fierro and Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov that stopped people in their tracks.
One guest sought me out before leaving.
“Pound for pound, one of the best parties I’ve ever been to in Miami. A Bond movie.”
When people stop talking about the décor…
and start talking about how the experience made them feel, you’ve created something memorable.
Now the real competition begins.
Starting today at 1 pm EST, the world’s best players will battle it out at WR Chess Rapid & Blitz Miami. Watch the championship live on the WR Chess YouTube channel with expert commentary, or follow every move in real time on Chess.com, Lichess, ChessBase, and other major chess platforms via DGT electronic boards.
Good luck to every player. Let the games begin.
♟️ WR Chess Rapid & Blitz Miami
📍 Faena Hotel, Miami Beach
One of the greatest privileges of working with WR Chess has been spending time with the world’s greatest chess players and helping tell their story beyond the board.
I’ve heard chess described as “a violent sport.” I’ve also heard it’s “beautiful enough to waste your life on.” After watching these players, I understand both.
There is something mesmerizing about watching a grandmaster see possibilities long before anyone else in the room. To watch a game that has helped shape empires played with such brilliance, precision, and discipline gives me goosebumps.
Maybe I should learn to play.
Then again… maybe I already do.
As an entrepreneur, every day is a series of moves. You read the room, anticipate what’s coming, take calculated risks, recover from mistakes, and hope your next move is better than your last.
In this film, Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov, one of the most exciting young players in the world, shares what he sees that his opponents don’t.
♟️ WR Chess Miami
Building the crown.
The distance between a sketch in my mind and reality is craftsmanship. 🙏🏾
Built entirely from wood by our master fabricator, this 18-foot crown weighed nearly 1,000 pounds.
Its sweeping curves, sharp points, and oversized finials made the geometry deceptively complex. Every connection, every rigging point, and every lift had to be engineered with precision.
Hours before a single guest arrived, a seasoned rigging crew flew nearly half a ton into position like it weighed nothing.
This wasn’t décor.
It was engineering.
It was craftsmanship.
The moments guests remember are built long before they walk through the doors.
📍 Faena Forum, Miami Beach
♟️ WR Chess Opening Ceremony
Tournament this week.
2.2 million views and counting. This is what we mean by producing the whole story, not just the event.
We developed the concept and produced this player reveal for WR Chess. It’s a narrative we love telling: elite athletes, a world class stage, and a client who trusts us to build the full arc of a moment, not just the day of.
This week, it comes to life at Faena Miami Beach.
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