Get dressed to go to one of the most beautiful locations in Manhattan and rub elbows with the Who's Who in the wedding world? Yes, please.
On Monday night, my boyfriend and I attended the Annual Knot Gala at the Main Branch of the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue. Though we are not engaged yet, we have discussed marriage. So, when given the chance to cover this event, I was excited to bring him as my guest for fun and research.
The Knot is the best website out there for wedding planning. I have an account set up with them personally and enjoy using it to daydream and think ahead. Each year, they hold this incredible gala to bring the wedding world together in all their glamour and celebrate the conclusion of Bridal Fashion Week.
For this event, I wore one of my favorite cocktail dresses, a lace Badgley Mischka, in honor of Mark Badgely and James Mischka who were in attendance. Among other high profile guests were Carley Roney, Co-Founder of The Knot, Sean Lowe and Catherine Giudici of The Bachelor who recently announced their wedding date, Desiree Hartsock of The Bachelorette, Randy Fenoli of Say Yes to the Dress, designer Amsale, and Celebrity Event Planner Preston Bailey.
Here are some wedding greats we saw on the red carpet:
Ines Di Santo and her daughter Veronica Di Santo
The ladies of Maggie Sottero.
And designer Scott Kay
You would expect the best in the wedding industry to only have the best and The Knot did not disappoint.
The sparkling Chandon wine flowed all night long. There were also delicious bites including duck, shrimp, and mushroom tacos and passed hors devours like a kale flatbread.
The venue itself is awe inspiring made of marble with massive ceilings and incredible stair cases. Besides elegant flowers and candlelight, the decorations for the evening included five 12 foot mannequins modeling wedding dress art installations. They were both impressive and a little daunting. A Bridezilla of that stature would be completely out of hand.
There were also lovely models walking around in beautiful bridal gowns and reception dresses. Such as this one from designer, Yumi Katsura.
The Gala had different live musical acts throughout the evening. One included a dramatic entrance of trumpeters from the upper level of the library.
Later in the evening the cast of Rock of Ages took to the stage. There was also a celebrity DJ Allison Kinney with talented electric violinist Katie Jacoby.
On the upper level of the library were photo booths and sweets.
We visited TapSnap, a cool new event photo booth concept. There is no actual both, but instead a digital screen where you can take your photo, make it fun with graphics and words if you wish, print it out, email to yourself or share via social networking.
Here is our photo. Pretty cute, huh?
There was yummy cotton candy from Fluff Pop. There was also a candy table from Couture Candy Buffet where guest can make up there own little box of sweets to take with them.
Here is a great video that recaps the entire evening
The Knot Gala 2013 from I Do Films on Vimeo.
It was an honor to attend such an event and step into a beautiful and glamorous world. Now that the Gala is over, it’s back to browsing The Knot.com and daydreaming.