CASE STUDY: Summer at Somerset House
Venue: Somerset House (River Terrace & Seaman’s Hall)
Date: 4th July 2019
Event: Corporate Summer Drinks Party
Last year we were approached by a client who was putting together an event for the company’s 25th anniversary. As a marketing company that has successfully built a very well-known, national brand, it was necessary to them that this sense of local, familiar and homeliness was represented and so with this, our brief developed; an event made entirely of British flowers!
The company colour was blue, and so this became the focus of our colour palette. We expanded the palette with shades of majestic purple, touches of periwinkle, some balancing soft cream and of course, lots of luscious green foliage to represent this green and pleasant land.
As a summer party, the client wanted to host the majority of the event on the River Terrace. Fortunately, the weather Gods (or Carol Kirkwood – whatever your beliefs) came through with a gloriously sunny evening, perfectly showcasing the venue and its views over London.
Having the backdrop of the sandstone Somerset House was perfect for making our blue hues really pop. Placed on either end of the staircase from Seaman’s Hall down to the River Terrace to seamlessly link the two spaces were a pair of soft grey urns each displaying a large, loose dome of garden hydrangea, thistles, cornflower, scabious and Hampshire grown cream roses. The poseur tables followed suit with delicate posies presented in silver julep cups - a nod to the company’s silver anniversary. Tucked into the posies were dark purple sweetpeas to give the arrangements a fluttery scent of summer.
Our client wanted to keep everything loose and wild, and so the coffee table arrangements were made using no visible container to create a meadow effect. The bar inside Seaman’s Hall was abundantly filled with bud vases to give the impression the flowers had been freshly picked from the garden.
Bubble Food were the caterers for the event and are known for their theatricality and pushing the norms of event catering. Their menu also focused on British fare and included an ice cream station, with an array of flavours being made fresh to order (because what British-summertime party is complete without an ice cream cone in hand). To place on this foliage-fronted station, we used a tall, fluted vase with a rounded dome on the top to mimic the silhouette of an ice-cream sundae.
As a final touch, we brought in additional greenery to emphasise the idea of an English garden. Two 8 feet tall pillars were placed on either side of their photo wall and filled with foliage such as English oak, beech, birch, ivy and more. The underside of the jumberellas was also covered with draping foliage in a wild, untamed style.
We were absolutely thrilled with all of our designs for this event, and so was our client – everyone was in awe that absolutely everything had been sourced from within the UK!
“A very big thank you to you and the team for doing such a great job with the flowers - they were truly beautiful!... Someone commented on the Scottish thistles, and another guest said the displays were incredibly fragrant!”
So it just goes to show that although we might not have the expansive flower farming capacities as some other countries, we can definitely hold our own when it comes to producing beautiful and seasonal flowers! Come on Blighty!
Catering: Bubble Food
Production: Fisher Productions
Photography: Matt Chung