How I ended up at the Vanderpump Rules party at New York City's 1st Annual BravoCon.
This past November, the city was bustling with tourists for the very first BravoCon. People from around the country and the world flocked to the city to see their favorite "Bravolebrities"** from the Real Housewives, Below Deck, and Vanderpump Rules franchises. I have never been a big Bravo! watcher, but I will watch an episode of RHNY from time to time.
**"Bravolebrity" - someone who is a celebrity from a Bravo TV Network show (ex: Bethenny Frankel from the Real Housewives of New York City franchise)
One of my best friends from college at TCU, Eliza, is the biggest Bravo fan I have ever met. She and her mom had multiple computers, phones, and iPads open and managed to score tickets to multiple BravoCon events. I happened to be lucky enough that they accidentally bought and extra ticket to the Vanderpump Rules party at Hammerstein Ballroom.
I was curious to see how Bravo planned on throwing a party in a concert venue, but they pulled it off effortlessly. As soon as you walked into the space, you were greeted by free champagne, coat check surrounded by wall size photos of the VPR stars, and so many
Instagram pic worthy backgrounds. Of course, there were cash bars all over the event, but you could make do with all of the free wine samples they had cater-waiters passing out constantly.
The Hammerstein Ballroom is an extremely popular concert venue, and I had recently been there for the Carly Rae Jepsen concert (thanks Meg for the ticket). BravoCon used the entire standing room only space as the dance floor and filled it with drag queens, stilt performers, and handsome men in tiny speedos walking around. There were aerialists on the stage, and for the grand finale, James Kennedy came onstage for a DJ set featuring Lisa Vanderpump herself.
What really fascinated me about the whole experience is how loyal all of the Bravo! franchise fans are. You could tell that most of the attendees had traveled from out of town, and any time a Bravolebrity made an appearance, the entire crowd went wild. Lala Kent stepped out on the balcony on the VPR cast VIP area, and I thought some people around me were going to start crying they were so excited.
Use the arrows on the sides of each picture to take a look at our BravoCon experience!
It was a very unique experience to watch people meet their idols when I had no idea who most of them were. I actually started to get excited about seeing Bravolebrities. It was so easy to feel welcomed into the Bravo! culture and get caught up in the excitement.
Honestly, going to BravoCon made me want to be a Bravo! fan. I wish I had been able to go to more events like the “Southern Charm Brunch” and “Watch What Happens Live!” live taping. Andy Cohen has really created an empire. I have to prepare for BravoCon, so if you need to find me me, I’ll be binge watch every Real Housewives before next year’s convention.
