[Con Report] Bridgerton Experience (Los Angeles, CA)

The Bridgerton Experience is a romantic immersion to the glamorous world of Regency. The experience occurred every week starting in March ’22. This report will look at the Los Angeles experience as there are multiple Bridgerton Experiences occurring across the country (New York, San Francisco, etc). I attended on June 4, 2022 at the 3PM event. The experience took place at the Biltmore Hotel, a Los Angeles icon. This is the home of the first few Academy Awards and many films and music videos were filmed here.

I came into the Bridgerton Experience having only seen the first few episodes of Bridgerton. In my defense, I was also catching up with Kung Fu and Tokyo Vice prior. I’ve seen photos of friends attending this event and I became curious. I gave myself time to make an outfit and picked one of the later dates.

I took a Butterick Regency (B6074) pattern I had already owned. My friend, Miss Corazon Rizal, had suggested what if I made a Filipiniana version of a Regency dress. I found my fabric at M&L Fabric in Anaheim. It took me a day to cut out all the pieces and another day to put everything together. I had a custom Filipiniana sleeve pattern that I added to the dress. Regency dresses, in my opinion, a good starter project for beginner seamstresses.

I bought the VIP package for the experience. For about $110, it got you a free drink and a seat at the queen’s circle so you can see everything that is going on in the ball. The experience regular admission is relatively affordable. If you’re curious, I would recommend going for the regular admission price.

I took an Uber to get to downtown Los Angeles. Considering the Biltmore is very well known for their drinks and my VIP access also guaranteed free drinks, I decided to take rideshare. Just note that rideshare pickup is on the streetside, not directly from the Biltmore lobby.

I entered the experience in this wisteria tunnel that transported us from the Biltmore to the world of Bridgerton. I had no idea what to expect because I wanted to come in surprised. This was basically live theatre and we were the participants dressed up for the ball. Scandal may be afoot! But who has time to scandal when you can admire costumes on display from the show?

This also had a ton of photo opportunities. I was happy we had onsite photographers who took our phones to take photos of us at each photo opportunity. I was able to do two of the three. I didn’t get to do the portraiture one. If you’re going to get here, get all the photos and then get your drinks!

I decided to chill in the garden where you could play croquet. I decided to drink my Diamond of the Season themed drink and just enjoy the vibes. That is until, we were told that the queen’s ball was about to begin. Everyone scurried into the main ballroom. This is where the live theatre began!

Having the VIP seats allowed me to see everything. I’m not too familiar with the characters, but I did like seeing the dances from the players and it felt like you were watching a ballet.

I also ended up making new friends at this event – Tea and Champagne! They decided to adopt me when they found out I was Yolo Solo’ing this.

We were asked to go on the dance floor for regency dancing. The dance floor was wicked crowded, but I was able to follow the flow of the dance. I had a lot of fun dancing on the ballroom floor. We were also asked to go on the center piece of the stage and dance. This was so much fun!

Of course, it came time to choose the diamond of the ball. All the women in the ball begged for the queen’s attention, but there can only be one. The diamond was chose and came to center stage where glitter rained on them.

But after all, this is a ball! Let’s party! I had a few old fashioned’s while watching the show. I must say, the bartending staff knows how to mix their drinks! Nothing was watered down.

Everyone got their groove on the dance floor – we had “Single Ladies,” “Party Rock Anthem,” “On the Floor,” playing so everyone can have a chance to dance. While not quite Regency, everyone came to party and what’s a party without a dance.

And everyone complimented me because I could shuffle to “Party Rock Anthem” in a dress. Some people came up to and were like, “Netflix should hire you for these!” Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We were shuffled out of the dance floor to make way for the next Bridgerton Experience. They had two these in one day?! I really felt that the experience could have been longer. I felt 90 minutes wasn’t enough.

I did find out that the high tea experience was going on until end of July. I might as well come back for that! However, I would totally do this experience again.

If the Bridgerton Experience is in your area and you’re the least bit curious, I highly recommend getting regular admission. I just wished it could last all night…