A Spellbinding Summer Celebration with Dinner Under the Stars

During the throes of a busy summer, we had the pleasure of working on a spellbinding celebration weekend with Christopher Mills, CEO & Creative Director of The Events Mill. With a stunning Hampshire estate as the backdrop, the weekend had it all: 200 guests glamping on site with full concierge service, a whimsical garden party, a banquet dinner under the stars, a carnival fairground with food trucks, a romantic wedding lunch, live bands, thrilling immersive entertainment, a Hemingway-inspired cocktail lounge and a surrealist avant-garde birthday ball. At every nip and turn, guests were teased with novelty and drama, sensational food and drink, and first-rate service.

The “dinner under the stars” was a particular highlight: stunning banqueting tables adorned with flowers and candelabra among the trees and under the canopy of a starlit evening. Guests were welcomed into the whimsical setting with coupes of Gusbourne English Sparkling Wine, Shiso & Stone-fruit Collins and canapés elegantly presented on foraged trays. The Rocket kitchen was al fresco, and the food, cooked on fire: whole turbots, Hereford beef Tomahawks, champagne violet artichokes, and Wye Valley asparagus were presented as sharing dishes on eclectic serving plates to the table with intriguing sauces such as miso and blood orange hollandaise and chimichurri. To finish, guests were invited to a cornucopia of desserts, a homage to patisserie in its most elegant form, reimagined for this dinner: chocolate sacher torte, strawberry tired charlotte, elderflower panna cotta, and summer berries (to name a few!)

Rarely are new boundaries in event design realised with such aplomb. Chapeau, Christopher.

Photography credit: James Stack @StackMedia