How To Host An Unforgettable Event

For those seeking something even more awe-inspiring, Archbold has plenty of inspiration. Many of her more adventurous clients are now seeking out unique, contemporary private spaces to temporarily take over, lifting the dinner party out of the home and into somewhere more intriguing.

And they don’t stop there, commanding all manner of dramatic feats to impress and delight guests. Archbold points to the joy and ingenuity of a recent Louis Vuitton event conceived by British artist Es Devlin, in which the dining tables rotated between courses, delivering guests a fresh set of companions with every dish. “It’s all about creating those money-can’t-buy experiences,” says Charlie Karlsen, founder of Opus11, the creative studio that brought the rotating dinner to life. “It’s something that gives guests that real wow moment.”

In similarly spectacular style, Alexander McQueen enlisted event agency Polar Black and Metre Candles to create an unusual arrangement of meter-high candles stretching the full length of the dining table. “The idea was to think beyond the traditional tablescape and create something that felt immersive, sculptural and unexpected,” says Xavier Cadiou, Polar Black’s CEO. “We wanted the candles to become an integral part of the design, using their height and flickering light to create a real sense of theater along the table.”

And at an event for artist Daniel Arsham, Archbold helped create a tablescape on the floor rather than on the table itself, giving guests the sensation of dining in a meadow – an imaginative way to bring the outdoors in, even in the depths of winter.

Imagine the hearty joy of treating a few friends to a luxurious indoor winter picnic, set on a sumptuous wool throw by The House of Lyria and surrounded by vases of hellebores, thistles and other wintry blooms.

Culinary theater is a growing trend, too. “There is an appetite for bringing in emerging chefs, like William Hamer of The Wilder Kitchen, for example, known only in the right circles,” says Archbold. “And alongside them, the appointment of an amazing mixologist has become as considered a casting choice as the chef.”

“House-made shrubs, foraged botanicals, local producers – the sourcing story for drink ingredients is as important as the food,” says Archbold. At an Aston Martin event during Monterey Car Week, she worked with GN Chan of acclaimed New York bar Double Chicken Please. “They set up what can only be described as a laboratory backstage, producing the most spectacular cocktails I have ever tasted,” she continues. Among the creations was the Shiso Whisper, combining Glenfiddich 12-year-old whisky with vetiver, shiso, palo santo and bergamot. Another favorite was a reinvention of the Negroni from Paris’s Rehab speakeasy, featuring basil-infused pisco, watermelon-infused Fusetti bitter, strawberry sweet vermouth and saline.

Another emerging trend she is seeing firsthand is the idea of food being part of the architecture. As well as elaborate food centerpieces instead of traditional flowers, Archbold highlights a banquet installation by Acquolina Catering at interior designer Athena Calderone’s Tribeca housewarming, where the kitchen island was transformed into a lavish display. She also produced an event with The Balvenie Fifty x Harrods, on behalf of William Grant & Sons, which featured an elaborate feasting concept and made use of a standalone island for elaborate food art.

As well as hosting at home and in secluded estates, there is a current lean toward industrialism as an event aesthetic. Think raw warehouses, repurposed industrial buildings, exposed scaffolding and low-hanging strip lighting. It’s a conscious move away from the ornamental perfection of traditional luxury event venues.

Archbold first explored this stripped-back aesthetic at a Glenfiddich launch at Tate Modern, using industrial-style lighting and suspended display screens in place of conventional decorative centerpieces, but she has seen the mood cropping up more and more in privately hosted parties, too.

As a further exploration of the possibilities within this trend, for Milan Design Week, Archbold worked on a collaboration between The Balvenie and British fashion designer Samuel Ross, whose site-specific installation, Transposition, transformed a building into an extraordinary sensory environment. Towering copper sculptures referenced the whisky-making process, while vertical rivers of water, mist, shadow, light and sound created an immersive experience. A 12-foot-high sculptural copper bar served the tipples.

While recreating the entire installation might be a stretch, there is plenty to be inspired by, even for home dining. Stripping a room of all its usual creature comforts, perhaps while bringing in some Louis Poulsen orange or red Panthella lamps to create a deep, modern sense of atmosphere, keeps the table relatively bare, save for clear Lobmeyr glasses and some Natalia Criado metalware as a nod to machinery.

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