To mark its 15th anniversary, the Villa Charities Foundation moved this year's Venetian Ball south from Vaughan to Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel Friday and welcomed Italian-American actor Paul Sorvino as the honourary patron chair. “We’re doing things just a little bit differently this year," said foundation executive director Laura Dal Bo. "Italians love to talk, but this year we’re basically doing no speeches. We also love to eat, so that’s still on the schedule. It's going to be dinner, dancing, and a fabulous live auction."
Although 2008 isn't the charity's first time in Toronto, Dal Bo said the organization decided to move the event—attended by more than 800 guests—because the committee wanted a venue "with a bit more elegant, old-world ambience and the Royal York just exudes that." Dal Bo also noted that this is the first time the ball has had a celebrity patron chair. “We opted for that with this year being our 15th anniversary," she said.
While the theme of the event is always a Venetian Ball, Dal Bo said the theme for the decor differs, with the main element this year being water. An ad campaign for the ball featured an image of the Toronto skyline with gondolas approaching the city across Lake Ontario. Forget Me Not Flowers filled the room with ice sculptures, crystal accents, and a colour palette of blue and silver. And Eventure Custom Environments and Event Draping draped the room in white fabric. The water theme continued on the white vinyl dance floor, which Westbury National Show Systems lit to look like a pool of water, and a gondola sat in front of the stage.
The Hollywood dance band Impulse, which played at the wedding reception for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, entertained guests. "They were [in Toronto earlier this summer] for Ted Rogers’ birthday party, which was attended by a lot of people on our committee. They came to us and said, ‘You have to do whatever you can to get that band.’ I started sweating,” Dal Bo said, explaining that she was concerned about the budget. But, as it turned out, she said the group was “extremely reasonable.”
Dal Bo also said that the organizing committee placed a lot of emphasis on selecting the right menu for the evening. “It’s been a summerlong labour over the menu," she said, noting that the foundation set up a small food committee of past chairs to select the menu, prepared by the hotel's executive chef, David Garcelon. Guests dined on pumpkin and Royal York honey bisque soup, followed by beef tenderloin filet mignon with a gremolata crust, brunello sauce, potato-gorgonzola risotto, and autumn vegetables. A trio of Grand Marnier crème brûlée, a strawberry smoothie, and dark chocolate Nutella cake followed the main course.
