On February 28, almost 500 event tastemakers and influencers joined PartySlate to celebrate the re-emergence of events at one of New York’s most exciting new venues, The Glasshouse. The party, which was curated by top planner Elegant Occasions by JoAnn Gregoli and the skilled design team at Jen Gould Event Design, was the perfect setting for the community to reconnect and inspire one another.
It was fitting to signal the return of events by working with an event luminary like JoAnn Gregoli, who took such an active role in serving the medical community during the pandemic through mobilization to create masks and serve meals to health care workers. Read more about her efforts here.
Gregoli shares, “People are partying way more than they did two years ago. The parties are just bigger and better and more energized as people long to be together again.”
Theme: Butterflies for New Beginnings
Gould and Gregoli worked together to create a vision for the gathering that would celebrate the re-emergence of events. Over the past two years, the events community has partnered for education and legislation and has innovated to make gathering safer. Now, as COVID rates decrease and mask mandates are lifted in many cities, events are growing in size and dates are booking fast. It’s the perfect time for the industry to reunite in person, and PartySlate was excited to bring the community together at this stunning soirée.
It made sense to embrace a meaningful theme, and that’s exactly what we did. Butterflies — symbolizing transformation and joy — were chosen to embody the spirit of the gathering. Guests got their first glimpse of the beautiful theme in the gorgeous invitation suite designed by the ever-creative Ceci Johnson of Ceci New York.
Ceci embraced the butterfly idea, but wanted to ensure that the aesthetic represented both the season and the glamour of the event. Rather than the pastels of many butterfly themes, Ceci embraced the rich jewel tones of winter and set them against the backdrop of a starry sky. Her design informed many other elements of the celebration.
The Grand Entrance
Upon entering The Glasshouse, guests got a hint of what was to come. The elevator banks — outfitted with an ombré of balloon installations in pink, orange, blue, and purple by Balloon Design Studio — whisked partygoers onto the 6th floor event space.
Guests walked into the event through a stunning and festive ombré balloon tunnel created in the colorway first referenced at the entrance. The art installation-tunnel began with oversized PartySlate-branded balloons mixed with lavender and lilac balloons of all sizes; guests continued through blue, orange, and pink before emerging into the luxuriously high-ceilinged event space.
Design: A Grand Panorama & Luxurious Details
This PartySlate event, in addition to serving as an industry touchpoint, was also an opportunity to soft launch a new name for an iconic brand; Diana Gould Ltd transitioned to Jen Gould Event Design, as the company more fully progressed from mother to daughter. The new name represents a continued commitment to creative and memorable event design. That aesthetic was on full display at PartySlate’s New York party.
Working with Gregoli, Gould’s team created a vision to divide The Glasshouse’s massive open floor plan into color-blocked quadrants. Each section of the room featured butterfly theming in the appropriate pink, orange, blue, or purple hue.
Gould conceived of a giant bar which centered the space under a glorious chandelier of fluttering white paper butterflies. Each side of the bar featured more butterflies, in colors to correspond with that section of the space. When you’re working in an open space with towering ceilings and windows like The Glasshouse, it’s important to have a logical layout; this central element contributed to a cohesive design.
Other wow-worthy details included multiple dance floors from Geo Events Design, with custom-wrapped vinyl by Bombshell Graphics featuring Ceci’s luxe butterfly graphics. Each was accompanied by coordinating stages from The Glasshouse and Studio Productions. The Bombshell team also printed branded butterfly graphics for each of the catering and experiential stations, and beautiful, themed acrylic table signage honoring our event partners, as well as PartySlate-branded stage backdrops.
Gina Monick of Abigail Kirsch Catering, shared, “We had some amazing partners like Ceci who created this beautiful butterfly mood board and kaleidoscope…and we got to put that in front of our bars. We also worked together to customize some of our logos into the little butterflies, which was wonderful to play off the event theme.”
Making the space welcoming were lavish, velvet lounge areas for gathering (with color-appropriate butterfly-print pillows, of course) from Taylor Creative Inc., as well as modern brass and glass hi-top communal tables from High Style Rentals for enjoying conversations and the curated fare. Gould worked with FMI Wholesale Florals to complete the rich look of the celebration with deeply-hued floral arrangements on tabletops.
Entertainment: Aerialists, Brass Rap, & More
A dance floor is not a dance floor (even if it’s wrapped in beautiful butterflies) unless people are dancing on it. That’s where Troy Curtis Entertainment came in. Throughout the evening, guests rushed from one dance floor to the next to dance with a rockin’ live band or jam out with a DJ. Curtis made the perfect MC for the event, interacting with and directing partygoers and commanding the room as needed.
You know that guests are having fun when they take turns wearing lit gossamer butterfly wings on the dance floor (and even more fun when they turn those wings into a limbo pole). The Glasshouse’s exclusive AV provider, Studio Productions, helped create that party vibe with strong sound, production, and lighting, as well as live-streaming PartySlate’s Co-founder and CEO Julie Novack’s welcome presentation.
There were many memorable entertainment moments throughout the evening, but guests especially loved it when a brass quartet started playing rap songs. They left the stage and grooved on the dance floor before making their music mobile with a walk-around that engaged the whole room.
Coco Events brought some additional memorable moments through interactive entertainment. The team provided aerialists suspended from feather-bedecked hoops flanking one of the stages. Their costumed performers donned roller skates to dance and glide through the space fluttering their Monarch butterfly wings. Meanwhile, a mentalist roamed the crowd, dazzling guests with predictive and intuitive feats.
Fantastic Fare: Surprises Around Every Corner
Abigail Kirsch Catering wowed with beautiful passed hors d‘oeuvres, creative stations, and much-talked-about flavor. Partygoers indulged in butlered bites like buffalo deviled eggs, celery root croquettes (Chef George Mendes’ signature item from Veranda), and spanakopita spring rolls.
The team’s stations boasted clever names and memorable fare. Jennifer Schepps from Abigail Kirsch, shared, “We had three food experiences at the event. A vegetarian-inspired surf and turf station, which is super cool. There’s items inspired by the land and the sea, all vegetarian. And then we have a citrus station with my personal favorite, a citrus infused espresso martini station called Zest + Zing. And then, our last experience is the super cool torched station with a big hanging tomahawk — and the chef is actually torching the big tomahawk steak on the station and watching all the meat drip onto the potatoes.”
Guests also enjoyed fresh bites of sushi, which was rolled live by Ichiban Japanese Catering and mozzarella paired with fresh sliced prosciutto from Dolce & Gelato Catering, Inc.
It was all followed by, of course, sweets galore. Kirsch’s Chef George Mendes offered up yet another surprise with his pasteis de nata (a Portuguese egg tart), gilded chocolate lava cake bites, and more. Dolce & Gelato also brought their signature chic gelato truck that served up mini cones and espresso. Vincenzo Salvatore Cakes drew yums and mmms for their mini cupcakes and large displayed cake that showed what they can do on a larger scale.
Meanwhile, the four-sided bar in the center of the room — in addition to a gorgeous design element — also allowed for quick cocktail service of signature sips like “New York State of Mind Old Fashioned” with pours provided by The Glasshouse. Party Rental Ltd. provided all of the catering rentals that allowed every dish to shine and every sip to pop.
Experiential Moments: Butterflies & Booths
No corporate party is complete without experiential moments. And PartySlate’s gathering featured unique interactions galore. Guests loved the Banga Studios photo booth that featured an LED wall from Geo Events with fluttering butterfly wings designed by Ceci New York.
Another fun interaction that resulted in memorable images was Coco Events’ playful gravity-fooling photo booth. Partygoers had fun posing as if the room had tilted sideways and they were flung around with it. The clever team was also responsible for Instagram-worthy fare like glow-in-the-dark cotton candy spun into festive shapes. They also provided virtual reality stations that put guests in the driver’s seat of a race car or on a trampoline competing in a big-screen video game.
321chillz served up nitrogen-chilled concoctions, offering a bit of a show using liquid nitrogen to take ingredients down to -321º for creative cocktails and mocktails. Another wow-worthy station was that from Cinderella Bridez, who not only decked out the PartySlate team with make-up, lashes, and party-ready hair before the event, but also accented party-goers’ looks with facial glitter and metallic butterflies.
How We Will Remember It
We always want to hold onto every fun time we’ve had with friends and colleagues. Luckily for PartySlate’s guests, skilled photographer Afrik Armando and top-notch videographer Kenneth Cooper Films were on hand to capture the event.
Armando was seen on the dance floor and in groups of guests snapping fun candid moments to pair with his beautiful detail shots of the celebration. Meanwhile, Cooper expertly led the PartySlate team in capturing event professional interviews before proceeding to collect party moments for the cool highlight reel above. We feel so lucky to have worked with these helpful on-point professionals.
What We Took Home
In addition to the photos and video, guests will also be able to remember their fun evening by their take-home party bags. M.Studio Events printed custom, reusable swag bags festooned with butterflies and PartySlate branding.
The bags were filled with goodies from the event’s vendors including a curated (and glittery) cocktail from The Glasshouse, a split of Champagne from Jen Gould Event Design, innovative cocktail cubes from Abigail Kirsch Catering, butterfly cake pops from Elegant Occasions by JoAnn Gregoli and glam lip balm from Cinderella Bridez.
A second set of swag bags curated by Fresh Flours LLC. were filled with beautiful and delectable cookies.
It’s also important to note that even though this was a large celebration in a newly-mask-optional New York, vaccination records were required and COVID tests were offered on-site by The Event Doc.
After the Party was the After-Party
No New York celebration would be complete without a dazzling after-party, and that’s exactly what late-night revelers enjoyed. Partygoers headed on over to Ascent Lounge.
The swanky space played host with stunning views of Central Park and Columbus Circle, and an in-house DJ spinning party tunes. Ascent’s culinary team whipped up late-night bites that included delectable sliders, mini tuna tacos, chicken skewers and more — all washed down with amazing curated cocktails.
The PartySlate team had a wonderful time in New York and are especially grateful for our beautiful rooms at Ink 48 Hotel, conveniently located around the corner from The Glasshouse venue. It was a night we won’t soon forget — surrounded by our resilient event community friends, toasting to new beginnings.