How to style a modern winter gathering with Party Squared
With the New Year here, events and celebrations are a-plenty. Victoria Reed, Party Squared, Louise Bone, The Botanical Shed and Chloe Lee Photography bring you an inspiring and modern dinner party set up with plenty of punchy colours and luxury details to add some style and sophistication to all your winter dinner parties.
"I absolutely love creating beautiful tablescape designs and perfectly laid tables" says Victoria, "My styling is modern, and I always use high quality table decorations, crockery, cutlery and glassware. I wanted to create contemporary and stylish event design inspiration, that not only incorporated some current favourite home interior trends, but also featured new and creative styling ideas set to be popular in the coming months."
The inspiration for the shoot began with the colour palette. Chloe and Louise chose a palette of rich berry hues, warming plums and purples which Victoria teamed with a neutral light grey and bright gold tableware. What could be more inviting on a winters day? Victoria wanted to create a decadent table with luxury materials and plenty of texture.
"My event styling is inspired by Nordic design. I create atmospheric, inviting dining experiences which promote intimate interaction between guests" adds Victoria. "I like to choose functional furniture with character, history and charm. I bring a feeling of living among nature, using natural materials then combine with modern luxury materials including brass and glass."
VICTORIA'S ADVICE ON MODERN WINTER STYLING
THE LOOK
Louise and I began with an 8ft reclaimed wooden table and vintage folding wooden chairs from Anthology Vintage Hire. All of the tables in the Anthology Vintage Hire collection have been expertly handmade in house, from reclaimed wood and all their vintage pieces sourced and lovingly restored.
Louise created a lush, dense floral arrangement extending the full length of the centre of the table. She selected and combined winter foliage and seasonal flowers in the key colours we had chosen for the design.
Nestled amongst the textured floral table runner were handcrafted artisan antique brass and glass Nkuku lanterns, handmade brass himmeli ornaments from Geo Attic, both part of the Party Squared Hire Collection. Place settings were made beautifully luxe with luxury charger plates, also from Party Squared, rustic grey crockery and linen plus gold Biba cutlery, held together with plum ribbons.
MODERN FLORAL DESIGN
"I’m seeing more and more couples opt for modern table centres for weddings and events. I wanted to show clients that warm, tonal textured floral runners are just as eye-catching as the popular greenery runners we are seeing in modern weddings. I love creating bold textured arrangements, but I also like to consider aromas. There are some fantastic scents that can be achieved by selecting different foliage and flower combinations. I chose eucalyptus, stock and rosemary which have amazing scents and combined them with eucalyptus populous for its colour, astrantia and acacia for texture with beautiful Maritim rose, spray roses and carnations.” Louise Bone, The Botanical Shed
GOLD IS STILL THE COLOUR
Gold has been and continues to be, a very popular accent colour for wedding and event décor. Its popularity grew this spring / summer in various forms and it seems that gold is here to stay. In this design the gold details accent the berry hues perfectly. The flickering candle light from the geometric lanterns makes the luxe gold cutlery and gold edged glass charger plates sparkle, giving a warming glow and plenty of atmosphere.
If you are inspired to create your own winter luxe table for a special occasion remember not everything has to match and co-ordinate. Give the mis-matched approach a try and experiment. All these elements add interest and depth to your table design. Try mixing natural and luxury materials, add plenty of texture and don’t be afraid of colour.
Written by Victoria Reed, Creative Director and Event Stylist, Party Squared, with comment from Louise Bone, Owner at The Botanical Shed.
WITH CREDIT TO:
Photography, Chloe Lee Photography.
Event Styling, Props and Tableware.
Floral Designer, The Botanical Shed
Furniture Hire, Anthology Vintage Hire
Venue Downham Hall
Lanterns, www.nkuku.com
Himmeli Ornaments