Tumblers — drinking glasses without stems — are the most multipurpose form of glassware, equally suitable for serving tap water and single-malt whiskey. In fact, they are so ubiquitous that they might not seem as glamorous as their stemmed siblings.

But when they’re distinctive, they almost always attract attention, especially as part of a table setting for a special event.

Glasses like tumblers “are not only functional, but also a really pretty part of the décor,” said Marcy Blum, an event planner in New York who has organized weddings for celebrity couples like LeBron and Savannah James, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, and Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent.

Ms. Blum said she usually includes two stemmed glasses (for red and white wine) with each place setting, as well as one eye-catching tumbler for water, often in a color — like the yellow glasses she recently used on a table decorated with lemons for a wedding on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.