The Met Gala is an annual event held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, which is the largest art museum in the US. It’s a huge hit with celebrities, with top names from the worlds of fashion, TV, film, music and entertainment attending the prestigious event. The fundraiser is held to benefit the Costume Institute and every year has a theme that the attendants (mostly) stick to. Here are some facts you probably didn’t know about one of the top celebrity events of the year.
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The event is overseen by Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour
2. Around 600 people are invited and ticket prices, as of this year’s event, stand at a whopping $30,000
3. Guests are invited to pay for single tickets, or can buy a table for $275,000 – if they do this, they can choose who sits where; all guest have to be approved by Anna Wintour herself
4. It takes place on the first Monday of May, without exception
5. Just as the guest list is kept exclusive, so is the number of photographers and journalists; the number is limited to around 200 for each event
6. The 2016 event’s 610 guests managed to get through a total of 325 bottles of champagne
7. It’s been estimated that the 250 staffers for the 2016 event spent an average of 200 hours sorting things out so the event could run smoothly
8. The very first Met Gala was held back in 1948, though since then it’s become considerably bigger and more important
9. It’s been estimated that over the years, the Met Gala has raised upwards of $186 million for the Costume Institute
10. Since the 2015 event, guests have been kindly asked not to post anything on social media while attending; needless to say, there have been several people who have flouted this rule
via Rediff
11. It costs around $3.5 million to put on the event
12. Not everyone pays for a ticket. Some fashion brands will buy tables and will invite celebrities to sit there (wearing that designer’s own clothes, of course)
via Mojeh