High Society Was In Full Bloom At Last Night's NYBG Orchid Dinner

The Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom transformed into a dreamy, floral fantasy last evening for the New York Botanical Garden's annual Orchid Dinner. Over 350 stylish guests circled about the space during cocktail hour, iPhones at the ready, black tie traffic jams every few feet as people stopped to grab snaps of each table's stunning decorative display.

It's quite unusual for people to leave a party still talking about the centerpieces, but short of another Jay-Z and Solange elevator moment, it'd be just about impossible for something to outshine the dinner's famously inventive arrangements. Each year a curated list of the country’s most illustrious designers are commissioned to design their own orchid inspired table for the event, bringing about an incredible display of creativity. Some go bold, some go classic, and all go over the top.

My own table was designed by the brilliantly colorful Elizabeth Sutton with help from Birch Event Design, complete with her signature motif of glitter butterflies crawling about an elaborate shower of pink and yellow hued orchids and large tropical leaves.

The evening celebrated The Orchid Show: Jeff Leatham’s Kaleidoscope, which recently opened at the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and will run through Sunday, April 19th. 

Following cocktails, a coinciding sale of exceptional and rare orchids (which saw many walking home with their own perfectly potted stems) and a delicious dinner, DJ Mad Marj had the dance floor positively bursting with her playlist of party favorite tunes.

Click through for an inside look at the divine soirée!

[Photos courtesy The New York Botanical Garden/BFA]