“Under the Sea [level]”

Year Four. #JDV24

Friday February 9, 2024

Theme: “ Under the Sea - level ”

Bar visited: The Elysian Bar

What inspired JDV24?

New Orleans is a sinking city that is below sea level so I wanted to create a muddy underwater fantasy above ground so I referred to us endearingly as Bayou Mermaids -sexy sirens of the Gulf Coast.

As local New Orleanians, water is the main character of our story and our biggest challenge from street flooding to tropical storms, sunsets on the bayou and Sundays on the lake. It was truly just a play on words where I envisioned a fairy tale of creative interpretations of seafood, alligators and majestic swamp princesses.

JDV24 Pinterest Mood Board

When selecting the annual theme I like to create a visual story around it to ignite creativity in the guests. Each year I reimagine what that looks like by experimenting with different touches. This year I chose to create and share a mood board with confirmed guests.

to view JDV24 visual storyboard click here

JDV24 Playlist

This is the second year we have had a playlist. Guests are encouraged to listen when creating their costumes and getting dressed for the celebration. It sets the mood and energy for what to expect.

JDV24 Hosts

My motto for 2024 was, “its for the girls who get it” and so I decided to change up how I had been doing things - this year I selected 3 additional hosts for the JDV experience. JDV started with only people within my network or a few degrees of separation but over the years as we evolved into a community I knew that I could not continue to host in the same way. As a result, I chose 3 creative entrepreneurs that I admire and trust to help shape the guest list by extending across different networks to make sure we continued to put the right people together in a room.

Photography: Ashley Lorraine (@iamashleylorraine)

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