Going to posh events is something that everyone should do at some point in their lifetime. Some of the events, of course, are going to be utterly horrible, and you will dress yourself up in your best clothes only to spend the entire night wishing you were anywhere else. The canapés may be utterly horrible, full of tofu and floppy lettuce leaves, or even worse filled to the brim with garlic so that you stink out all the other guests for the night. You could end up sat on a table full of miserable stuffy people with nothing interesting to say, or on a table where they insist on making you sit apart from your Plus 1. The food could be crap and the party disappointing, but at least you would be able to say that you had taken part in a very posh black tie event.
However, whilst there are always going to be some utterly awful events, you will be surprised by how many of the dreaded networked events can actually be quite enjoyable. These are the ones where the night goes flawlessly from the moment you try to find your parking space, with sublime wine, tempting snacks and company who knows how to hold a decent conversation. You may even make some useful business contacts whilst swanning around the room in your floor length gown or classic black tux.
Recently I was invited to attend a special car dealers event arranged by a massive and very well known car manufacturer. We were all told that the event was going to be black tie, and we were given a few months notice in which RSVP and find ourselves something smart to wear. The agenda we had been given showed that there were some real big players at the event, and so presenting ourselves well was going to be an important part of the night!
4 car dealers and I from my dealership attended, all with their invited Plus 1s. I have to say, we looked rather dashing! The night started, surreally, with us climbing out of our not so luxurious taxi, and then being picked up by the porters in what must have been a golf buggy to transport us across the grounds of the manor house the event was hosted in. When we got there we were serenaded by a quartet of violins whilst we ate incredibly small canapés from the waiters who were zooming manically around the venue. Food was followed by champagne, a toast by our esteemed hosts, and then the casual wander into the dining room to eat what turned out to be a real feast.
The tables were piled high with food – we had an aperitif, then a starter, then the full set of main, fish course and dessert. My god, we even had cheese and biscuits afterwards, by which point we were all so full that I think we were all glad there wasn’t any dancing on the agenda! It was a brilliant and very filling night!
