An intimate group of 200 stepped out at the Four Seasons Miami in Brickell to celebrate the Children's Home Society's 24th annual Pink and Blue Gala on February 14. Following the format of a traditional benefit dinner, cocktail hour took place in the hotel's prefunction space with silent auction lots and a pop-up art gallery featuring local artists for guests to peruse.
Inside the ballroom, Wow Factor Marketing Group used chocolate brown draping along with abundant flowers from Always Flowers and ambient lighting via Show Resources Technology to highlight the event's overall floral motif.
"The client was looking for romantic, enchanting, and whimsical," says Yoly Solano, director of strategic event development for Wow Factor, who took lead on the event execution. "However, because the event was held on Valentine's Day we had to be careful not to overdue it with 'a Valentine's theme', while at the same time keep it romantic."
While the first courses of dinner proceeded as expected with high-energy band Ariel performing throughout, Wow Factor-riffing on its name-surprised guests with a mid-dinner performance. The lights dimmed suddenly and a tutu-clad girl appeared grasping a bouquet of balloons and scurried around the dining room to garner guests' attention before taking a seat in the center beneath a custom-built cone of floral and fabric. Six Cirque du Soleil-style performers then took the spotlight with a whimsical, yet elegant, ballet performance choreographed by the Wow team.
"The only individuals who knew about the performance were myself and the executive director of CHS," said Solano. "The guests were shocked!"
Immediately following the dinner, which consisted of grilled beef medallion and seared sea bass, guests took to the dance floor admits the beats of Ariel to wrap the evening.