Two Washington businesses rang in the New Year right, gliding across the water in style.

The Belle of Washington and Wine and Design partnered to create a New Year’s Eve to remember, complete with art, champagne and a good time.

John Butler, one of the owners of the Belle of Washington, said the event featured a three-hour cruise with a custom Italian menu courtesy of Washington restaurant Marabella and a music mixture of oldies and top hits of 2015 provided by DJ Kyle Pate of Generations Mobile DJ Service.

“Mainly we want people to have a good time,” he said. “It just happens to be that we can also take people out on the water at the same time.”

Butler said the event sold out, and because the boat has a maximum capacity of 68 people including the crew, they had to turn some people away.

“I was like, ‘We have no more room for anybody, do we?’” he said. “It’s a great problem to have.”

People of all ages signed up to attend the celebration, from single moms and kids to 70-year-olds, Butler said.

“We weren’t sure, you know, how the New Year’s Eve thing would go. … A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh.’ … You’re always a little nervous,” he said on Friday afternoon. “We’re going to have a good time, but we’re going to do it in a very safe way.”

For Wine and Design’s part, Paige Horne, who owns the business, said attendees could paint a two-part canvas piece of fireworks over the river, with some guidance as needed, to have a memento from the evening. The overall theme of the event was laughingly described as, “Wake up with more than a hangover.”

Typically, Wine and Design events usually involve a class, in which people learn how to paint certain pieces while sipping on their favorite beverage. But the New Year’s Eve celebration was “paint at your leisure,” Horne said.

She said the Belle began taking guests on board around 9 p.m. and was scheduled to leave the Washington city dock around 10 p.m.

On Friday afternoon, Horne said she was hoping the event would turn out to be a nice couples night, as well as an opportunity for Wine and Design’s new Washington location to branch out to more clientele.

“How often do you get to go out as a couple and hear great music and spend time (with other couples)?” she said.

Butler also said he hoped the event would help boost business with the Belle of Washington, as the current owners are only about six months in.

“I just think it’s a perfect way to celebrate the New Year,” he said Friday. “It’s a little rainy, it’s a little cloudy, but we’re all below deck.”

Butler said he is still trying to feel out what customers are looking for with regard to the Belle, and to him, everything is a learning experience — even the failures.

“I don’t necessarily consider it a failure. It’s a learning opportunity,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of different kinds of events and the goal being trying to get a read on what people like.”

“I do want to learn. … The main reason why this is going well is we put a lot of special, personal touches,” he added.

The New Year’s Eve celebration proved to be a success, and Horne said they might partner again for a Valentine’s Day event.

“I just want to stress that we’re in the business of helping people have a great time,” Butler said. “I am learning more about the marine culture, but I’m bringing with it the special events experience, and I think that’s what’s making it work.”