The Gala Dinner at the three day IFP Conference 2013 attracted more than 500 people to the main hall at the 5 Star Celtic Manor Resort in South Wales and was one of the event highlights as our picture galley below shows (scroll down).
Guests enjoyed a Las Vegas-themed black tie evening sponsored by Investec Structured Products began with a Champagne reception, followed by a sumptuous dinner featuring entertainment from a unique dancing and light show troupe.
To complement the Las Vegas theme there were Las Vegas showgirls, magicians, card games and even a Las Vegas-stye Elvis later in the evening.
Steve Gazzard CFP^CM, IFP chief executive introduced the evening and along with IFP President Rebecca Taylor FIFP CFP^CM presented several awards including the Branch chairman of the Year Award to Gini Bolton and the Tony Sellon 'Good Egg' Award to Damien Rylette. Financial Planner Dennis Hall, who also does stand up on occasion, hosted the evening and kept delegates entertained.
A number of exhibitors received awards for their stands including ETF Securities and Taxbriefs.
Next year's event will take place from 6-8 October at Celtic Manor again. There was a special booking offer for conference delegates for the 2014 event and dozens have already booked their place.
This year's event has received acclaim for the quality of the sessions and IFP interim chief executive Steve Gazzard said he was "overhwhelmed" by the positive feedback for the event.
The conference itself was lead sponsored by AXA Wealth and Architas and has received positive reviews for the keynote addresses, seminars and other sessesions. 
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It was President Rebecca Taylor's choice to support The Stroke Association as this year's charity during the black tie Gala Dinner when thousands of poiunds was raised. The final total raised is expected to be significant, as the gala dinner crowd dug deep into their pockets to support the worthy cause following a powerful and highly emotive speech from 24 year old Annabelle Jones who herself suffered a stroke at a young age and has now recovered. The total raised will be announced shortly. IFP chief executive Nick Cann suffered a stroke earlier in the year but attended most of the conference as he continues his recovery.
• Don't miss our Conference Highlights Gallery on Financial Planner Online. There is also extended conference coverage including more pictures not seen online in the next issue of Financial Planner magazine to be published in mid-October.There is also extended coverage of the event on Financial Planner Online - just check for conference stories below.