The 1,000 guests in feathered and beaded garb at Saturday’s "Big Night 12" benefit braved the cold and headed to the Big Easy—kind of. Corinthian Events turned the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center into a New Orleans-themed Mardi Gras party to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay with costumes, 10-foot masquerade masks, 12-foot jester mannequins, body-painted performers, and live music from the the Goonies and Michael Franti and Spearhead, brought in by Lordly & Dame. The eight-hour party, Big Brother Big Sister’s largest annual fund-raiser, has pulled in nearly $20 million since its inception.
“Everything about this night is big,” said Courtney Church, a partner at Corinthian Events. “This year’s theme was about fun and color.”
Corinthian Events has produced 11 of the 12 Big Nights, and Church says this year’s Mardi Gras theme gave them a clear direction on where to go with decor. “The party used to be in three separate spaces, so the past few years have been relatively scaled back,” she said, noting that the event instead took place in two areas of the convention center for the past few years. “But you wouldn’t notice the difference in scale; everything about this is over the top.” The themed costume parties have maintained a similar format of cocktail hour, dinner, speaking program and auction, and entertainment over the years.
The aptly named Big Night stayed on theme from entrance to exit: Guests walked a red carpet and were interviewed by mentees from the Big Brother Big Sister organization, who offered them beads with Big Brother Big Sister logo medallions on them. “Bigs” and “Littles” greeted guests on the escalators leading to the third-floor event space.
The cocktail hour mimicked a New Orleans street fair, which featured a photo area draped in fabric; cocktail tables around the perimeter of the space, reminiscent of New Orleans’ French quarter, set off by wrought-iron fences and lanterns; and an elevated stage in the center of the room with dancers and stiltwalkers. Bartenders served a signature hurricane cocktail along with a full bar, and guests sampled passed appetizers from Levy Restaurants.
In the main dining space off of the cocktail hour area, servers passed tequila shots as guests entered the room, where more than 100 tables were covered in sparkling linens. Four alternating centerpieces mixed traditional florals with on-theme pieces: There were tall lamps filled with feathered masks and beads; green vases filled with yellow, green, and purple feathers; New Orleans street signs surrounded by flowers from Brattle Square Florist; and glass vases with green and purple flowers. Corinthian brought in jester-hat chair covers for about half of the seats, rounding out the theme and adding another element of visual interest.
The celebrity-chef-designed menu featured Creole-influenced dishes from Michael Schlow, of restaurants including Radius and the upcoming Tico; Seth and Angela Raynor, of Nantucket’s the Pearl and the Boarding House; Chris Schlesinger of East Coast Grill; and Joanne Chang of Flour Bakery. Menus at each place setting included take-home recipes for each of the dishes.
This was the first year that Levy Restaurants, new to the convention center, handled the catering. “The hot buttons at an event of this scale are staying on time, ensuring the quality of the food, and making sure everyone can always get a drink,” said Church. “We reintroduced the company to this type of audience, and they did a phenomenal job.”
