Hi friends!

As I write this, I’m sure celebrities are only just getting home from their magical night at The Met. One can only dream of what it’s like walking the red carpet on the first Monday in May. The more I read about how logistically time consuming it takes just to get to the carpet, the more I’m convinced that there’s no other night of glam that matters more than the Met Gala.

Anyways, for part two of my birthday blog posts, I wanted to share a little glimpse into The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. To be honest, at first when I saw ads for the event on Instagram I was not at all itching to go. It seemed so corny and if my past experiences with “experiential” events have taught me anything it’s that the lines are usually long and you don’t even get the chance to immerse yourself into the world you paid to be apart of. But when two of my friends offered to take me as a birthday present, I was open to going. If anything, I thought we’d at least have an excuse to dress up and at the end of the day, being with my friends and dressing up are my two favorite things in the world.

Though I looked high and low for a gown fitting of a Bridgerton, I couldn’t find anything that fit what I envisioned. By the time another friend had suggested resting a costume, it was too late. As a back up, I just so happen to find this gorgeous red silk gown by La Boheme, a discontinued fashion label at Crossroads on Melrose. The dress was a steal at $20. For accessories, I wore a dainty headdress that I already owned, a beaded vintage bag, oversized fringe hoops, and white gloves from Amazon.

Pro tip: I cut tiny holes on the finger tips of my thumb and index finger because the touch screen on my phone doesn’t work with the fabric. This was a great hack to be able to take photos and videos quickly without having to remove my gloves.

Parking was a little bit of a hassle and the line to get in was already long by the time we got there. I definitely suggest getting there early just to make sure you find parking and have time to walk into the venue from there. Once inside the Biltmore Hotel, it was nearly time to enter the event.

The first thing we saw when we walked inside was the wisteria tunnel which felt like it transported us into the Bridgerton world. Once we passed through, there was a Modiste storefront, bar, outside patio, and huge photo op surrounded by gleaming orbs. We were also handed a Lady Wistledown’s Society Paper which encouraged fans to follow clues for a scavenger hunt. Everyone was dressed up in gowns, petticoats, gloves, wigs, and tiaras galore. If anything, I felt a bit underdressed with my minimalist red gown, so I convinced myself to buy a tiara at the Modiste and I have no regrets.

All throughout the exhibit were beautiful showcases of the costumes from the show. There is so much detail that goes into each outfit that it’s easy to miss when trying to keep up with the show. We were only able to get one group shot together before people started to enter into the first ballroom. The lead dancer playing Anthony lead a few volunteers in a series of ballroom dances and it was so beautiful to watch everyone dance under the glowing lights of the ballroom.

Soon after, we were led into a bigger ballroom where basically a dance reenactment of season two took place between two lead dancers. This is the part that I thought would for sure be kind of cheesy but I swear something about hearing the acoustic version of Taylor Swift’s “Wildest Dreams” in person, under purple hazy lights, and dressed like I’m going to prom just made me feel like I would melt for love again.

The dance performance was interactive, dramatic, and artistic. We laughed, we cried, and we danced to early 2000’s pop music while the queen searched for her season’s diamond. At the end of the dance performance, everyone was encouraged to take to the dance floor and honestly it was better than any prom or gala experience I’ve ever had.

To top it off, we ended up at Bottega Louie for a belated bday dinner. The food is good but to me the shinning star is the case of desserts. French patisserie is a skill that I’ve yet to master so I really appreciate the artistry and time it takes to create such delicate desserts. Even though I’m full by the end of the night, I can’t help but buy a few macarons to take home to savor later.

This concludes my bday blog posts! I hope you enjoyed reading about my little festivities as much as I enjoyed writing about them. Many thanks to Liv and Jackie for taking me to the Bridgerton Experience and committing one hundred percent to the dress code.

This blog post is not sponsored in anyway but if you’d like go to The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, click here for more info. Note that the event is available in multiple cities not just LA.

xx

Kiana