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  1. Venues & Destinations
  2. United States
  3. Chicago

Autumnal Equinox

Planners of the Guild of the Chicago Botanic Garden's 10th annual Harvest Ball took full advantage of the fleeting summer weather and put their party in a tent on the garden grounds.

Wendy Wollenberg
September 23, 2008

Brief flashes of fall color could be seen throughout the Chicago Botanic Garden during the 10th annual Harvest Ball Saturday night, but if the 620 guests hadn't known better, they could have mistaken the event for the garden's annual Summer Dinner Dance. Clear skies and temperatures in the high 70s allowed for the evening's planned format—a cocktail reception and silent auction in the garden's McGinley Pavilion followed by a seated dinner under a tent on the esplanade—to go off without any weather-related hitches.

"The grounds of the garden and the ever-changing plants and environment lend themselves to keeping our event fresh," said event co-chair Kathryn Mangel. "Every year, the event takes on its own persona."

The cocktail reception, sponsored by Moët & Chandon, took place in the McGinley Pavilion, which opens onto the grounds overlooking the Botanic Garden's Great Basin and lakeside foliage. Silent auction items could be bid on throughout the space, while servers from Calihan Catering circulated hors d'oeuvres and flutes of champagne. 

The dinner tent held tables topped with sage green linens and botanical arrangements created by Kehoe Designs, while Frost cast an amber hue and projected images of branches throughout. A brief presentation from guild co-presidents Susu Block and Jay Owen and the event co-chairs introduced the live auction, which featured big-ticket items such as vacation packages, led by auctioneer Gary Metzner of Sothebys.

The Calihan-catered dinner service began during the auction, featuring courses of heirloom tomato salad with shaved goat cheese and sliced beef tenderloin (donated by Great Western Beef Company) with a duet of prawns skewered with a sprig of rosemary. Once the program wrapped, Lynne Jordan & the Shivers, a high-energy rhythm-and-blues band, took over the stage. 

Correction: This story has been updated to revise the dinner menu.

The Harvest Ball's dinner tent
The Harvest Ball's dinner tent
Photo: Robert F. Kusel
The Harvest Ball hosted 620 guests for a Calihan-catered dinner inside a tent on the Chicago Botanic Garden's esplanade.
The Harvest Ball hosted 620 guests for a Calihan-catered dinner inside a tent on the Chicago Botanic Garden's esplanade.
Photo: Robert F. Kusel
Frost washed the dinner tent in shades of gold and russet and projected images of branches on the walls.
Frost washed the dinner tent in shades of gold and russet and projected images of branches on the walls.
Photo: Robert F. Kusel
Kehoe Designs created centerpieces of branches and apples and set them on sage green linens for each dinner table.
Kehoe Designs created centerpieces of branches and apples and set them on sage green linens for each dinner table.
Photo: Robert F. Kusel
The cocktail reception featured a silent auction and an indoor-outdoor option.
The cocktail reception featured a silent auction and an indoor-outdoor option.
Photo: Robert F. Kusel
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