Brain Ball

This gorgeous gala raised tens of thousands for Alzheimer's Association.

The Mellon Auditorium is notorious for its gorgeous auditorium and event hall. Flanked with colossal columns on either side of the 79'x109' floor, guests immediately feel a sense of history and grandeur. It helps, of course, that those guests have just walked through the doors from Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., just steps from the White House and directly across from the National Mall.

Yet somehow, even with its larger-than-life proportions, the space inside the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium always seems to feel warm and welcoming. It has been the home for thousands of events throughout its history, from the signing of the North American Treaty which formed NATO, to corporate holiday parties, weddings, and more. It is a transformative space for conducting important business, or letting your hair down for an epic gathering.

For the Alzheimer's Association Brain Ball, guests were greeted in the marble Lobby, which has plenty of space to make a bold first impression. A purple carpet and branded lighting led guests to registration before they stopped at the custom step-and-repeat to strike a pose.

Traveling upstairs, guests mingled for cocktail hour on the Portico, which looks directly down onto Constitution Avenue. From here, you have a spectacular view of the National Monument and several of the Smithsonian museums, all while standing in front of the behemoth outdoor columns that are seen in the front of the building. For this edition of the annual Brain Ball, Ridgewells Catering served up specialty cocktails and a wide range of passed hors d'oeuvres to set the mood for a spectacular evening.

Ridgewells Catering has catered hundreds of events inside Mellon Auditorium. For this event, a fully plated meal began with a burrata salad with heirloom tomatoes and blueberries, followed by a tenderloin entree, and ended on a sweet note with a deconstructed strawberry shortcake, for a crowd-pleasing meal that had guests scraping their plates.

To cap off the night, an after party was held in the green rooms, where Ridgewells served up Sparkling Popsicle Cocktails and guests danced the night away in a lounge-style atmosphere!

The Mellon Auditorium has earned a phenomenal reputation throughout the decades for stellar galas and large events. Contact us to learn more about the space and book a tour!