“We switched our facemasks for glamor masks.” This was the motto on Saturday as SGOV hosted “Spring Fling: Masquerade” at the Capitale on Bowery.
I woke up Saturday morning and panic raced through my mind as I saw the unrelenting rain storm. There were still a thousand other tasks I had to complete before the event, and the weather just did not want to cooperate with us, rain pouring all morning. There were doubts and questions constantly popping up in my mind. How do we get nearly 500 pounds of Mondelez candy out of my apartment in Stuytown and to the venue? How would we get the 400 balloon arch up at the venue? Are we going to have enough masks for the event? This event really made me value the phrase “it takes a village.”
By early afternoon our team was on the case, busing cars full of candy to the event, setting up all the decorations, creating the light show. Everyone worked tirelessly, giving up their afternoon (and prep time) to make everything perfect for the event. By 8:00 the venue was really coming together. The grand columns were lit in gold, the ceiling colored in our signature NYU purple. The balloon arch (surprisingly!) held together. It looked like a palace and we were finally ready to open.
At 8:15, we began checking people in and from my table, I could hear the waiters zipping around with the welcome drinks and the guests whispering in awe about the space. The photographer wandered, taking photos of guests as they put their masks on and guests engaged in mini photo shoots as they walked into the main hall.
The event went off seamlessly. Despite me running around like a headless chicken for most of the night, people seemed to have a lot of fun! This was definitely an event to remember, and people looked FANTASTIC. People were dressed to the nines, snazzy and gorgeous. My favorite part was seeing everyone’s masks. From fancy Venetian masks to intricate animal masks to even a Covid mask over their eyes, I loved the commitment to the theme, even if the masks came off as the night went on.
Throughout the night people moved from the food over to the dance floor, partying it up to classics like Mr. Brightside and Umbrella. The bars flowed as people had a great time.
As the night came to an end we moved over to the afterparty at The Bowery Electric to surprise some 20 year olds with our fancy gowns and tuxedos. In the end it was a fantastic night. One with great music, food and drinks, but most of all it was a celebration of us making it and finishing off the year with a bang.
A humongous thank you to the amazing rest of the Events team: Qurat Khan, Zitni Kaul, Alex Joyce, Mahwish Mahbub and our fantastic volunteers Brittany Bui, Bucky Aronoff, Ricky Zhang, Lisa Li, Chris Cognetta, and Joline Huntemann. The success of this event was thanks to you all, I would’ve gone crazy without you.
If you are interested in reliving the night please take a look at the photos from the event and share any of the photos you took to this Google Photos Album.
Photo credit: Nick Starichenko
