Take a Trip Inside Your Favorite Netflix Romance with The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience
Travel Features Bridgerton
Netflix has a major hit on its hands with Bridgerton. Combining a popular book series by bestselling author Julia Quinn and the television talents of Shonda Rhimes, the show has spoken to women who love romance.
While watching the swoon-worthy show is an escape in your own home, now fans of the show can attend The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. I went with my sister, and let me tell you, it was a good time.
After renting ballgowns and donning my niece’s tiaras we were ready to go. While we felt dressed up, people came in full on cosplay. It was almost like attending a romance-con. The wigs, the corsets, the gloves—it was a fashion feast for the eyes.
The event was held in an unassuming warehouse-style building, but the moment you walk in, you can feel the transformation to regency England. You walk in through a tunnel of wisteria, and of course, you stop to take pictures of each other. It is perfectly instagrammable.
But don’t worry if you came to the event alone, you are not responsible for taking your own photos. Yes, they have ready and willing footmen to do it. Simply queue up, hand him (or her) your phone and they will snap some photos.
All of the staff is dressed in costume as well, which makes the whole thing seem even more real. Of course, if you came to the show and are sad you aren’t wearing more accessories, don’t worry, they have a shop available where you can buy a tiara, fan or gloves.
One of the best photo ops was one that turned your photo into an oil painting that you edited and signed yourself. They then rotated photos of the guests on digital frames throughout the event space, making everyone feel like part of the royal family for the evening.
After mingling through the displays of actual costumes from the show and having our photos taken we heard that the Queen was arriving, on a red carpet of course, to walk up to her throne. She was beautiful of course, and sat there looking down on us.
Then there was an announcement that we were to make our bow to the Queen. When it came time to bow to the Queen, revelers stood by, unsure of whether they should or if there was some protocol. I had no such scruples, and was one of the first to walk up and curtsey. At which point, a recorded compliment came over the airwaves, seemingly from the Queen’s mind to the ears of everyone.
Then every person who wanted to bow to the Queen could, and they got a compliment, too.
All of this was leading up to the Queen’s Ball in another room. We all surrounded a dance floor and one lucky woman got to dance with the male lead of this show.
It was me. I was nervous at first but he whispered the steps to me, so if you are chosen, don’t panic, just go with the flow.
There is a romance between a couple where they eventually swing from the chandelier and from silks hanging from the ceiling.
It’s evocative, but I would still call it PG.
After the show, the crowd is invited to dance and it turns into a club.
The show is produced by Netflix, Shondaland, and Fever. There are two options when buying your ticket, including the VIP experience, which includes an early entry, guaranteed seat for the show, and a glass of sparkling wine or mocktail of your choice. I paid for the VIP experience, and did enjoy the seat, but the event is only an hour and a half long—so if you wear comfortable shoes, it’s not really necessary to have a good time.
While there were some men in attendance, I would say the crowd of attendees at our event was 80% women. It turns out that playing dress up and celebrating love is something plenty of women enjoy, no matter how grown-up they are. If you love romance, you won’t regret attending this experience.
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The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience is currently running in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington D.C. It also opens in Montreal in May. More information and tickets can be found at the official website.
Keri Lumm is a professional chatterbox who loves watching TV & movies, reading about pop culture, and gawking at any craziness on the internet. You can follow Keri on Twitter.