viva bella inside out: How the Cool Kids Rolled in the New Year

Some people roll in the New Year in true style and that hot ticket was found in Las Vegas at the new Cosmopolitan Hotel on New Year's Eve. I had a special interest in this event because I heard so much about the plans for it during my internship with the event's mastermind, Colin Cowie.

"Budget was not the chief concern, not at all" master party planner, Colin Cowie shares (via BizBash). "What Chelsea Clinton's wedding did for families, giving people permission to spend money [conspicuously] again, this event will do for corporate event marketers."

Well, with a statement like that, let's see what this party was all about!

The pinnacle of the 3 day celebration was New Year's Eve, with the evening beginning with a caviar and Dom Pérignon black tie reception. From there, guests moved to a sit down dinner. Below is a photo of Colin in front of his amazing design work!

Highlights of the dinner experience:

- Complete custom installation including custom re-carpeting, an elevated platform around the dining room and a round stage in the middle, where musicians such as Ben Folds performed.

- A mix of square and banquet tables, some with purple mirror, others in silver mirror.

- Deep purple flowers, such as peonies and dark purple calla lilies

- Lucite chairs

- Custom extravagant textured runners on the long tables

- Seating for over 1,300

All this took a mere few weeks to build out. Yowsa!

I remember Colin telling me (this past summer) that he designed the elevated perimeter of the dining room so that each person would have a great view of the stage and feel as much part of the event as the closest person to the stage.

I saw drawings of this exact space and design and sat through a meeting with the fantastic team of vendors who were going to make it happen. It's very cool to see how it came to life in these photos!

I love the custom railing in the photo below.

After dinner, the party really got started! Guests moved to a 40,000 foot "nightclub" that Colin and his team custom designed (naturally!) in the hotel's ballroom. Coldplay and Jay-Z head-lined the concert in solo and mash up performances (drool!) while Beyonce, Kanye West dropped in for surprise performances. I also read John Mayer was on hand, as well.

Oh yeah, Rhianna showed up later, too, at an after party in a night club in the hotel, as well as a slew of other amazing performers! Seriously, people, does this not sound pret-ty amazing?

Hope you enjoyed a sneak peek into this party half as much as I did! It's always inspiring to see -whether I'm there in person or reading it online- how the top in my field are staying ahead of the game, creating trends and making it happen. Thanks for keeping it interesting, Colin!