DABS Gala Ball 2016 – A Danish fairytale night in SG

Imagine over 300 dazzlingly looking Danes in black tie and shining gowns, dancing to live music from one of the most acknowledged rock singers from Denmark, all having fun and cheering with bubbles. This is one of the many moments to remember from 9 April 2016, when the Danish Business Association Singapore held their 31st Annual Ball.

Guests arrived at the Ritz Carlton Hotel at 7pm, where they were welcomed with champagne, and had time to mingle and adore each other’s outfits. This year, there was a “best dressed competition”, judged by the founder of Covetella, Carol Chen and the founder of JasperLiving, Louise Werling Jasper. Already from the beginning of the night the two women worked hard to reduce the number of candidates for the title between all of the divine dresses. It was not only well-dressed women to win prizes this night: there was also a lottery with over 100 prizes, and last, but not least, the big charity auction.

Before the first course was served, new President of DABS, Stine Martinussen, warmly welcomed everyone. Maria Therese Hedenborg, SWA President, went on stage after the first course, where she explained the cooperation between DABS, SWA and the Breadline Group, which benefited from all the money from the charity auction. The honorable Secretary of The Breadline Group Mr. Richard Lim came on stage to say thank you for the support and explain how the donations will help families in Singapore.

Sponsors have been generous towards the auction, and big gifts such as 3-day-holiday in Phuket, and VIP tickets to Thomas Helmig were among others donated to the auction.

The two fashion judges finally agreed who should receive the title of “Best Dressed” . A hard choice, and as Carol Chen expressed herself “I have never seen so many good looking people in one room”. The prize went to Alexandra Ternstrøm, who dressed in a golden gown from Covetella.

The menu consisted of a first course of rare seared marinated tuna with vine ripened tomato confit. For the main course, guests were served pan-fried beef tenderloin with potato dauphinoise and sauce bordelaise, and they indulged in a guanaja chocolate dome for dessert. It was fully enjoyed. For some, it was their first time at DABS Gala Ball.

“I have only been to Danish Business Association’s Gala Ball in Shanghai before, but this is just as tremendous. It has been a wonderful night!” said Mette Trock-Jansen, translator at MediaTrack.

And to others, it was another reunion filled with joy and excitement.

“This year’s ball has been amazing. I am positively surprised how excellent the service was. A man asked for two first courses, and he got it. Our waiter for our table also deserves credit for never leaving our glasses empty. It was well-organised, and I think the night was absolutely lovely!” says Maria Ruby-Mortensen, team manager at Retriever and MediaTrack.

It was not only the sponsors to be generous regarding the charity auction. The bids for the different prizes increased, and so did the prizes, too. Apparently, Thomas Helmig and band spontaneously threw some more gifts into the auction when they heard the result of their first donation.

Later, the Danish rock singer, Thomas Helmig, together with his band, entertained the DABS Ball for almost two hours, and people enjoyed it to the fullest. After the concert the band joined the ball, and everyone danced to the sounds of Danish DJ, DJ Thomsen, who closed the ball.

“Everything came together for this night; the venue, the lottery, the charity auction, the band and the DJ – it was all taken to a higher level. Everybody had so much fun,” says Maria Therese Hedenborg, SWA President.

DABS President, Stine Martinussen, agrees with Maria. “We are very happy with the way the ball went this year. We took a bit of a financial risk bringing THOMAS Helmig and band out to singapore, but it made the night absolutely perfect. A big thanks to all of our sponsors who makes a night like this possible.”

Just like a H.C. Andersen fairytale, it could not be a happier ending.