Children in Need – Evening With The Stars.

Last week I was very kindly invited along to the Children in Need ‘Evening With The Stars’ Gala Dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. It was a wonderful evening full of glitz and glamour, and after a champagne reception we had a three course meal, a performance by Gareth Malone’s childrens choir, dancing performances by Strictly Come Dancing stars, as well as a huge silent auction.

Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner
But first, let me start from the beginning. While everyone at work was getting covered in face paint and fake blood ready for the Halloween event, I was piling on the red lipstick and squeezing myself into a little black dress for the Children in Need dinner. I was sad to miss the Halloween event as I’d been really looking forward to it, but I could not pass up the chance to go to such an amazing dinner and support such an amazing charity! The dress code was cocktail dress or black tie, but seeing as I have a few black tie events coming up, I opted for a cocktail dress.
I got to the Grosvenor House Hotel bang on time, and after putting my extra bags and coat in the cloakroom and getting a quick selfie in the long mirror (Poppy caught me doing this, awks #sorrynotsorry), I headed into the Great Room.
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner dress
I wore
French Connection Encrusted Lace Fitted Dress, Hermes Cape Cod Watch, New Look Clutch.
I had a couple of glasses of champagne, and milled around people-watching. This event was great for people-watching; people from all walks of life were there, and it was fascinating – especially the woman in her fifties wearing a see-through lace dress which showed off her g-string and delightfully huge colourful tattoos on her left bum cheek. Thankfully there were plenty of glamorous women there to make up for her faux pas.
I soon found Poppy and Megan, and we headed down the stairs to our table where we met the other people on our Paragon Events Management table (Paragon are the people who organized the entire event). We were quite far towards the back so couldn’t really see much, but the lovely Gillian who was sat next to me stood up with me to see the Strictly stars dance. We also had these cuties on our table…
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner pudsey
Lipstick is my favourite winter one: Rimmel Kate Moss 107.

 

Children in Need An Evening with the Stars
In-between courses we had the chance to mingle, and despite missing Alfie Boe and Anton Du Beke *sob*, (I couldn’t see/find them anywhere!) I did get to meet Craig Revel-Horwood and Larry Lamb, aka, Archie Mitchell! Both of them were absolutely lovely, I love how Larry looks as though he’s winking at Megan who was taking the photo (I think maybe he just blinked though).
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars Craig Revel-Horwood
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars Larry Lamb
For dinner the starter was salmon. Every dinner I go to the starter is salmon. I can’t handle salmon. I’ll forgive them though seeing as they had over 1000 people to cook a three-course meal for. As I didn’t have the starter I only have photos of the main and dessert – sorry! For mains we had beef, and dessert was a cheesecake type of thing, a chocolate mousse (which was ah-mazing), and ice-cream which tasted of some sort of nut or marzipan, I couldn’t decide which, but it was also delicious!
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner beef

 

Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner dessert

 

After dinner was the silent auction. This was around 10pm so I had to rush off to get back to Waterloo for my last train home. I was really sad I had to miss the auction and after-party, but I didn’t fancy sleeping on a sofa in the club. I had such a fab night, and was so happy to finally meet Poppy from Poppy Loves, after reading her blog for absolutely yonks! It was also a pleasure to meet Diego who founded Bacanal, who’s La Plage party I went to back in April. He even remembered my blog post and blog name – now that ladies and gents, is a good CEO.
I so love going to charity events like these, it reminded me of the time I went to the Fighting Force Jubilee Dinner. They’re always great fun where you get to meet some new and interesting people, and raise shed loads of money for an amazing charity at the same time!
Also. I’m totally in love with my dress. How beautiful is the detailing!? It’s so perfect for the Christmas party season!
Children in Need An Evening with the Stars gala dinner dress
Thank you so much for inviting me Paragon – it was a fantastic event!
Follow:
Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux

Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of Content Marketing at Amazon by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.

Find me on: Web | Instagram

Share:

1 Comment

  1. Katie
    November 19, 2014 / 1:44 pm

    Looks like a fab event – always fun doing the celebrity spot game!

    Your dress is gorgeous Catherine.

    Katie <3

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *