Each year we lead up to the Law Ball full of anticipation and planning. In the depths of December, eager law students queue up from as early as 5am in the blistering cold to purchase an illustrious ticket… 3 months in advance. The annual Law Ball is the main event in a law student’s social calendar and this year was no exception. There was also the added attraction of the fact that this would be the last year the ball was, as usual, held at Aberdeen’s only five star hotel – The Marcliffe at Pitfodels. I would love to say the night went seamlessly without a hitch, but alas that never happens!
The night started off early with pre-drinks beginning at 4:30pm. All of us turned up in beautiful dresses bearing our drinks in plastic bags, which I must admit, sort of ruined the look. There was time for a few drinks and some photos to get into the swing of things before the taxis, wisely booked well in advance, arrived- except they didn’t. Aberdeen’s famously terrible taxi companies had failed us again. So after frantically calling around all our friends begging for lifts we rectified the situation and were off. As the fairy godmother said, you shall go to the ball! Even if it was half an hour late and with one of our party stuffed into the boot of a friend’s car (shhh… don’t tell anyone).
We arrived at the ball to a reception of fire dancers, and a dashing piper played us into the hotel setting the standard for the night ahead. You always know that the law ball promises to outdo other university balls from the outset, even if it does try to be a more civilised affair! We had arrived just in time and after having our coats safely stowed in the cloakroom we were led up to the grand ballroom which had been transformed into a dining experience for 500. The room was luxurious and, not going to lie, it made us feel rather posh for the night instead of skint students! On the tables were cute little personalised trolley coins (as I am a sad individual, I got rather excited by this). On one side was the Aberdeen University Law Society logo and the other was The Marcliffe’s logo with the years 1993 – 2014 written on it. This was the perfect little memento to remind us of the night. The top table were piped in and we all clapped along as those on the exclusive top table status were seated. Then came the best bit, THE FOOD. I can’t tell you how delicious it was; aromatic duck for starter, pesto and parmesan encrusted chicken for main and finishing with a hot chocolate fondant. The stuff a foodie’s dreams are made off. The minimal wine on table was a tad disappointing. Considering there were 16 of us it disappeared before the end of our starter and probably contributed to a certain Ms Bruce getting a bit sleepy and resting her head on the table between courses! Us law students do love a drink, or three.
Then began the speeches, which unfortunately were hard to hear for those of us at the back. For those who missed them, a special mention goes to a firm favourite, the famous Mr Lessels who despite retiring in September made his way back up from Edinburgh for the ball. After receiving a standing ovation the man himself was plagued by adoring students the whole night hoping for a bit of banter with him. Another special mention goes the remarkable Mr Malcolm Combe, who despite battling testicular cancer for the last year or so took his place in front of the lectern and gave an incredibly inspiring speech (and helped raise over £800 for the CLAN charity from donations over the night!). And let’s just say- it never will get old hearing a lecturer say the ‘f word’! The one thing that is very noticeable at the law ball is the massive community feeling within the law school. It is a time for the staff, students and supporters to come together and you can really feel the student’s respect and love for their staff members and faculty with numerous cheers, whistles and standing ovations. It really does give you quite the warm fuzzy feeling. Mr Taggart is also famous for doing shots with the students, if you’re buying! Now enough of being sentimental, let’s get back to the nights goings on.
This year’s committee pulled out all the stops and there were a number of special surprises for the ball-goers. First of all, there was a hilarious photobooth which allowed you to take questionable snaps of you and your friends and get a free print out. Unfortunately the queue for this was so large otherwise I’d have gone snap happy! Then as an intermission from the brilliant ceilidh band ‘Ghillie Dhu’ we had a performance from the university’s own acapella band, ‘Aberpella’. Their vocal talent blew me away and they really got the crowd going. Finally, there was a balloon drop in the upper room where the disco was being held, which was a nice touch to end the night. However, it did result in me gaining some interesting balloon shaped boobs, which I seemed to have no choice in.
All in all the law ball is going to be a firm favourite for the students in Aberdeen and really is a credit to the hard-working, booze loving law society who organise it. It really is also a terrible shame that The Marcliffe is closing its doors as I can honestly say the hotel is beautiful, the food delicious and the staff talented and attentive. Even the famous author J K Rowling is a Marcliffe fan having left a statue of the house-elf dobby to the hotel with a hand-written letter thanking them for their service. It’s going to be a real loss to Aberdeen, and where are we going to have the Law Ball next year?! I’ll leave that daunting task to Carry Chen’s successor, whoever next year’s Law Society president may be. More importantly where on earth will Dobby end up?!
Photography credit: Jonty Barron