Photos: Carolers Light Up South Bay Galleria

About 750 people gathered on the second and third floors of the on Saturday evening to sing carols and mark the beginning of the holiday season.

The event, known as "," was the brainchild of Galleria Marketing Director Mickey Marraffino. The mall teamed up with the Healthways-Blue Zones Vitality City initiative and Journey of Faith church to provide carolers with free LED candles, programs and Vitality City T-shirts.

"It came together better than I could have expected," said Marraffino.

Last year, Journey of Faith rung in the holiday season with a at the mall, according to church member Vicky Gallion, who helped organize this year's event. Videos of the flash mobs went viral, and the Manhattan Beach-based church and Galleria wanted to do something special this year.

Marraffino came up with the idea to have the carolers with candles mark the first time the mall's holiday lights were turned on.

The Vitality City initiative decided to join in the fun to kick off its "purpose workshops." According to initiative director Francey Marzicola, people who have a purpose in life tend to live longer.

The first purpose workshop will be held in January.

By all measures, 1,000 Points of Light was a success. Though they were aiming to get 1,000 people involved, they were expecting only 500.

"We're really happy with 750 participants," Marraffino said. "I felt like it was very joyous."

Mark Portis, the music director for Journey of Faith, expressed similar sentiments.

"I think it's exceeded our expectations in many ways," he said, later adding that it was "really much bigger than anything we could have planned individually."

"We had people who joined in who were shopping," said Gallion, later adding, "The question is, 'What are we going to do next year?'"