The Military holds balls quite often.
This is not a silly RP at all.
And I should note that I, of course, will grace this activity with the presence of the Doctor and co. (Will, Mara, Miles, Scott, Richter. Not Corsair the cat, though.) Maybe the entire crew would be excessive, maybe not. We'll see.
At least the Doctor and Mara.
They're not going together.
I think I will follow your suggestions of Order only.
Heres the ideas so far of what the roleplay will consist of:
Ball dancing
People discussing things over drinks
Billiards (I am trying to figure out a way of making this interactive)
Darts
Perhaps a fight may break out
Card games
Speeches maybe
Video screenings
Again, I am trying to make the games interactive, but I may just end up leaving everyone to just improvise the RP. Alternatively, I can ask certain community members to lose or win, or make new characters temporarily to fill some RP holes.
And it does look like this will probably be a Watering Hole type thing, but probably in the story thread since it will eventually end.
I've been rummaging across the net to find a picture of Kaylee in a dress, have a few good ones now =P
I say make it Order only as well... but there's always the chance that we could invite notable faction leaders whom we're allied with, if they wish to come. I think elizabeth tate (jinx) would be interested in this sort of thing, and maybe some of the corsair elders... but other than those, we can restrict it.
Make sure we get some security laid out for this, throwing 90% of the order's leaders into one room full of hundreds of people is risky.