Spring and summer are seasons of abundance, colour and new life is in full force.

As the days get longer, lighter and warmer (with a little help from our friend daylight savings) our team start working with our clients to map out their team, customer and personal entertainment goals to celebrate the end of 2018 or welcome in the new working year – 2019.  We love having the opportunity to work with our clients to ensure their entertaining goals are exceeded leaving them time to relax and enjoy the celebrations.

Our Lifestyle & Project Managers work closely with our in-house stylists to ensure that all entertaining – be it; an intimate dinner for two, twenty or two hundred, a long leisurely lunch, bespoke business breakfast, elegant summer nights feast, an instore celebration, picturesque picnic, or an impromptu afternoon drinks, is considered and personalised. We want to make sure that it leaves guests with a lasting impression of value, inspiration, joy and positivity of the experience.

Here are our favourite ‘essential’ tricks and tips for your entertaining from our team stylist, Candy Moxham.

Type of soiree and entertaining objectives sets the tone
Regardless of the occasion, knowing the type of soiree, who you are hosting and why you are looking to entertain guests is key to a truly successful event.

Communication is another key element to setting the right tone for your occasion.   From traditional handwritten invitations for formal celebrations, to an e-invitation for staff or casual celebration or a personal phone call for an impromptu celebration.

Atmosphere and surroundings

   

Atmosphere is the most desirable style secret – get this right and the rest falls into place.

  • Ensure you maximise your surroundings be it your own courtyard, poolside, garden, sea deck or boardroom, optimise solutions to ensure the surrounds work as a natural backdrop and set the scene of your entertaining.
  • Guest comfort is paramount. Catering for any weather that mother nature throws at you ensures guests are happy and don’t have to think about a thing other than being a good guest. The obvious temperature control measures are taken care of be it via throws, heaters, misting fans, personalised handheld fans or individual guest comfort gifts covering off items such as sunscreen, hats, shawls or fans.  Another option we like to consider If going bare foot is having a “shoe deposit / foot soak area” available.
  • Having a focal point ie entertainment nook / stage set for formalities / feature bar and photo op branding that carries through from the entry is paramount.
  • Maximising lighting be it natural daylight, sunrise or sunset through to candle light and twinkling fairy lights on-mass, elegant chandeliers or modern sophisticated coloured light installations are all considerations to add awe and wonder to your next event.

Tablescapes

    

  • Nothing screams successful entertaining like a beautifully dressed table. Be it for a sit-down breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, a beautifully set the table sets the visual tone for the occasion. We must caution though that although stylish décor and centrepieces, are important guest comfort must always be considered – please remember sightlines and ease of communication as this is just as important as the wow factor of a beautifully dressed table.  Mix matched crockery / elegant simplicity or themed/coloured schemed table settings continue your guests’ journey.
  • We love a good grazing table and will always be obsessed with using different size platters, layered vessels, breadboards etc to ensure all day grazing is fuss free, can be replenished and helps to add to the atmosphere rather than distract from it. With a heavily adorned dining table – abundant food stations can be the key to incorporate some interactive food theatre.
  • One of our favourite tricks to have up our entertaining sleeves is to incorporate edible table décor, which offers guests a chance to interact with the table scape and provides an easy backdrop for guests to linger longer.

Food and Beverage

    

  • A menu that is honest, plentiful and dietary considered is a non-negotiable.
  • Creativity via plating, food style and service methods keep food interesting and engaging.
  • Beverage Stations be it attended or self-serve including juices / shakes and smoothies / water / bar and cocktail carts are easy stylistic ways to enhance your guests experience.

Entertainment, Wonder Pops and Layers

  

  • The choice of entertainment is critical to the ambience you are creating. An easy entertaining must do is having a well-chosen soundscape.  Be it live music via acoustic musicians / singer, full band, DJ or curated play list. Music will add ambience to your event.  Layered entertainment can add a wow and element of surprise to your event and compliment your overarching theme.
  • Interactive elements taking clues from your location such as garden games, pop up garden or water cinemas / floats and inflatables are also things to consider offering to enhance your guests experience.
  • In today’s social media driven mantra that “it did not happen without a photo” we are loving having retro polaroid photos for guests to take away as a memento. Having a live illustrator / or caricature artist capture the moment is something we have been layering into our events for a while and the results are always well received.
  • A considered take home or thank you for coming gift that is practical, edible or extends the occasion rounds out a well thought-out, considered and well-executed occasion.

No matter how you choose to style your soirees our golden rule is to remember that it is the people you entertain that make the occasion a success.  Having the right number and mix of guest is key to your entertaining success.

Whether you are working with our Brand Activation or Concierge teams, we have the perfect solution to get you entertaining ready!