The NYBG 2022 Conservatory Ball: Food Glorious Food!

On Thursday, June 2, The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) held its annual black-tie Conservatory Ball in celebration of a one-of-a-kind exhibition, “Around the Table: Stories of the Foods We Love.” More than 300 hundred guests attended the ball, and over 1 million was raised for children’s education and international plant research at the NYBG. Bartlett Tree Experts, Hearst, and DeBeers served as sponsors.

The New York Botanical Garden’s latest multifaceted exhibition honors the diversity and beauty of plants grown for cuisine worldwide, and the central role food plays in many of life’s most important events. It runs from June 4 – September 11, 2022.

Expansive displays of living edible plants, art and science installations, weekend celebrations, and wellness and culinary-themed programming provide opportunities to discover the diversity and beauty of these plants.

The black-tie affair began with cocktails at 7:30 pm in the Perennial Garden before moving to a specially curated dinner and dancing in the Conservatory Tent with music by DJ Kiss.

Chairing the event were Georgina Bloomberg, Kate Davis, Gillian Hearst, Holly Lowen, Ashley McDermott, Olivia Palermo, Johannes Huebl. Janet Montag, Deborah Royce, Lili Buffett, and Sharon Jacob.

Sharon, who arrived with her three daughters Cecilia, Georgia, Stella, and her husband Bill in tow, is always elegantly turned out. She wore Andrew Gn’s beautiful long yellow dress with full sleeves and embroidered high neckline for this occasion.

Others in attendance were Sigourney Weaver, Vogue’s Lilah Ramzi, Fe and Alessandro Fendi, Paul Arnhold, Maureen Chilton, Feyha Drohan, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Jean Shafiroff, Di Mondo, Gillian Miniter, Polina Proshkina. Gillian Hearst, Ariana Rockefeller, Ivy Getty, Elsa Majimbo and Olivia Palermo were among the guests wearing diamonds by DeBeers, who set up an immersive installation featuring two floral archways accented with colorful butterflies.

The majority of guests factored in the glorious setting, and the theme of the evening, with attire that mirrored the idyllic floral surroundings. There were plenty of wispy pastel frocks, a smattering of fanciful feathers, and flowers galore (worn by the guys and the gals). Well, naturally, the Conservancy Ball is THE ultimate garden party, after all.

One of the most beautiful dresses was the Marchesa pale pink one-shouldered floral decorated ombre chiffon number worn by Rebecca Vanyo. Unsurprisingly, pink, THE color of the season, was also THE color of the evening.

In the pink brigade were Ivy Getty, Rebecca Hessel, Sai De Silver, Jessica Wang, and Jean Shafiroff. Jean wore a fabulous silk taffeta moire fuchsia strapless dress and voluminous cape by Victor dE Souza couture. Jean arrived with Victor, wearing a fuchsia shorts suit of his own design.

Di Mondo always demands to be noticed. He accessorized his custom floral printed cape that seemed to go on forever, with a humongous floral headpiece. By contrast, his date, the always chic and understated Polina Proshkina, provided the perfect sartorial counterbalance with her minimal black cut-out gown by Monot.

{Meanwhile, there were flash floods just hours before the gala, but fortunately, it stayed dry throughout the evening. However, on our car ride up from Manhattan, Laurel Marcus and I encountered rush hour traffic, traffic from the Yankees game, and traffic jams due to flooded streets. To make matters worse, we took a few wrong turns and didn’t arrive until the sun had set and guests moved from the gardens into the dinner tent. You know Murphy’s Law: “What can go wrong, will go wrong”! But it was all worth it in the end.}

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