How D.C.'s Pink Tie Party Turned Guests Into Fashion Models For the Night

WASHINGTON, D.C.—This week brought 2023's first day of spring, and what better way to mark the occasion than Washington D.C.'s National Cherry Blossom Festival? This iconic D.C. tradition—held from March 20-April 16 this year—draws more than a million people from around the world to our nation's capital for food, fun, art, and (of course) celebrating the city's famous cherry blossoms. The festival commemorates Japan’s gift of 3,000 cherry blossom trees to the city in 1912.

It all begins with the annual Pink Tie Party. This event is meant to "lay the groundwork for the celebratory nature" of the forthcoming four weeks, said Lillian Iversen, vice president for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. The attendees are often mostly local and regional audiences of the festival. "It brings them closer into the fold, so they really do feel a connection with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which has such a broad reach," Iversen said.

Each year, guests are encouraged to don their best floral and pink-hued duds as a way to show the metamorphosis from winter to spring.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

On March 16, just over 700 guests attended the 2023 Pink Tie Party at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. The event is always a celebration of springtime, and each year guests are encouraged to don their best floral and pink-hued duds as a way to show the metamorphosis from winter to spring. But this year, Iversen explained, she and her team wanted to intentionally lean more into this fashion component. 

This was the first year in awhile, after all, that the party would return to its reception-style format. (In 2021, it was completely virtual; in 2022, because of the Omicron variant and capacity restrictions, it was still scaled back into a seated dinner.)

"How do we make it fresh and different?" Iversen recalled of meeting this challenge. "How do we surpass the expectations of people who had been before and know what to expect? We wanted the attendees to feel immersed within [the experience] and surprise and delight them with the unexpected."

Upon entering the event, guests where whisked onto a catwalk. This surprise-and-delight moment was meant to immerse attendees in this year's fashion focus.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

And they aimed to do that right away. With the heightened focus on fashion, once attendees transitioned from the registration area into the actual event, they were immediately put onto a catwalk and turned into models. There were even "paparazzi" on-site to snap their glam shots.

"Some people were so caught off guard, because they were like, 'Wait, did I come in through the wrong door?'" Iversen recalled with a laugh. "Peopled love it once they got over being a little caught off guard. That was a fun surprise-and-delight moment."

Throughout the evening, guests could try "dishes inspired by design" from the venue's manager, TCMA. These bite-sized creations were crafted to reflect the style of the First Ladies (or their counterparts) from different countries around the world.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

Other ways the fashion focus was incorporated? The manager of the venue, TCMA, offered up displays that featured the fashion styles of First Ladies (or their counterparts) from different countries around the world, and then had dishes for attendees to try that were inspired by these looks. And throughout the evening, representatives at the event from Models Inc. and Absolutely Dragulous selected a handful of attendees whose style they particularly loved to participate in the headlining fashion show.

"It was another moment where we made the attendees part of a very central component of the event," Iversen said.

She added that inspiration for this year's Pink Tie Party also came from the 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival's official artwork by Orlando Quevedo. "We could instantly see how we could essentially split it into layers," Iversen said. "So we created a photo op where folks are put into the painting. His style of art has this magical realism to it, and the finished photos look awesome."

This custom-made photo op was a nod to the official artwork of the 2023 festival, painted by Orlando Quevedo.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

Overall, the goal of the 2023 Pink Tie Party was to make the guests feel immersed and interwoven within the entire experience, Iversen said. Her takeaways for other planners and producers: Think about the attendee journey from start to finish, and grow those opportunities for them to engage. She added, "The community around you can be super creative. If you open the door to that collaboration, there's some really fun things that can come out of it."

Keep scrolling to see more photos from inside the 2023 Pink Tie Party...

Chambord Liqueur was one of the event's supporting sponsors.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

A fun finger food on offer: macaron lollipops!Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

Members of Maryland-based drag brunch and show Absolutely Dragulous were on-site in part to help choose attendees to participate at the end of the headlining fashion show.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

Colorful lights and cherry blossom projections helped set the mood for the evening's fashion show.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

An aerialist—sporting pink, of course—from Shadow Cirque kept things lively during the cocktail hour.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival

Artists, secured through Manis Entertainment, were also on hand for body painting.Photo: Courtesy of National Cherry Blossom Festival