Last week (25th February 2023) swatees_chaipartyz and I put on our first Dinner Club Event at the historic venue of The Orpington Priory.
I curated the space to make it a perfect setting for creativity, connection and community. Swati prepared authentic Indian Cuisine and the combination of tasty food and craft activities lent itself to a wonderful night.
When the guests arrived they were greeted with a welcome drink of either Paan Gulkand Lassi or Rose Sharbat. They then found their place with their personalised table setting with handmade tie dye tissue paper flowers. (Also see the window decorations.)
Once the starter of Beetroot Tiki and Chicken Shammi Kebab had been eaten, I then described what creative activities lay ahead and outlined the intentions for the craft section. It was almost as if there was 2 buffets within the room. One for the delicious food and one designated to the craft materials. The activity was to create your own personalised book, decorating the hard cover, inside cover and attaching the pages within. The guests were able to choose from a range of coloured paper templates, ink with dip pens, Posca pens, watercolour paints and felt tips.
Before the craft activity started the guests were presented with the main course. Here is the full menu of the night.
Once they had enjoyed the main course it was time to get creative! The placemat was reversible and became the craft mat. Once all the materials had been chosen it was incredible to see how people got into the zone, the chatter died down and the creativity really began to flow. I felt so proud to of created a space and environment that helped this happen so organically.
Work in Progress!
Their work was given a little blow with the hair dryer to seal it, the PVA glue then got involved to attach the sheet of paper to the hard book cover.
I was super touched with how well the activity was received and so impressed with what was made. I wanted to create a space in which you could shut off the outside world and just have a mindful moment. We finished the event with Saffron Infused Rice Pudding and as the guests left I made sure to capture their final pieces.
The feedback so far has been very positive and I am very lucky to have such an incredible venue on my doorstep. Thank you so much to everyone that attended . Here is to more Connection, Community and Craft! For more information about the venue please follow this Link!
Please CLICK HERE to fill in your details so you can be notified of future Dinner Clubs and Events!
Thank you so much
Beci
PS Please feel free to leave a review on the bottom of this blog!
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