By Amie Bone. Interview by Jade Beer
Last week, Amie Bone hosted the most extravagant party the wedding industry has ever seen. Two hundred guests from some of the world’s most luxurious brands including Vanity Fair, Bafta, Sotheby’s and Claridge’s – gathered at London’s Battersea Arts Centre for an immersive dinner to celebrate the finale of Fantasia II. This floral masterclass spans three days and sees Amie personally train student florists to create large scale and highly technical floral installations. The dinner was the result of all that hard work.
‘It wasn’t enough for this event to be merely impressive,’ says Amie. ‘It had to be a whole different level and that meant making sure that everything guests would see, smell, feel, hear and taste had to work together to create this completely otherworldly experience. I wanted them to forget everything outside the venue, like they had stepped out of their own lives for the evening, and into my gilded, highly detailed world full of unexpected theatre.’\
The inspiration
‘It all started with the colour red,’ says Amie. ‘For me, it’s a shade that symbolises drama, opulence and seduction, all the elements that were going to play a key role in this evening. I used more than 50,000 velvety red roses on the tables. Everywhere guests looked, they were engulfed with the luxurious, heady scent of tuberose. Red defined an entire creative vision for Fantasia II – where I transported my VIP guests to a place they were powerless to imagine themselves. Nothing was too much.’
A feast for the eyes
‘When your dress code is Bridgerton Meets Versailles, every single detail on the table needs to talk to a world that is unashamedly indulgent. I spent months personally sourcing curiosities for the tables. Antique books, miniature lion statues, flamboyant birds, golden cherubs, busts, exotic replica animal horns – props that would create conversation and intrigue, that would amuse guests and get them talking. Everything was sprayed gold and bejewelled to take it to another level of ultra-luxe.’
Dinner with serious style
‘We used very deep red tablecloths and then layered up the place settings. Heavily pleated gold placemats with gold and red chargers, marble dinner plates with mother of pearl cutlery and ruby, black and gold glassware. Place cards were designed to look like handheld jewelled vanity mirrors and the napkins were embossed with the distinctive Fantasia key – a symbol that appeared across several elements throughout the evening.’
Decorative dining
‘Obviously, if your tables are designed this way, the food needs to live up to expectations too. And it did! Canapes featured bird cages filled with tiny golden swan eggs; red ‘poison apples’ were served under miniature trees while smoked sturgeon caviar was presented on velvet Gucci trays. Dinner was from the Baroque world I would love to live in. An enchanted winter garden starter was hidden within an ornate embossed box for guests to open, followed by goose and a rhubarb and white chocolate egg for dessert that guests were able to break open with a golden hammer. Later into the evening, they could refuel with Ox cheek or white truffle and parmesan doughnuts.’
The lighting
‘Creating the right mood with your lighting is essential for any great party and for this event, it had to be very special. I used eight oversized original 18th century crystal and brass Empire chandeliers. Some of them were as big as two metres high, some nearly that wide too. They have to be specially made and can cost up to £10,000 each. On the tables, we had more than 800 candles lit – tea lights and tapered candles in high golden candelabra or metallic oversized pineapples.’
Taking it beyond the table
‘If you want your guests to enter into the spirit of your party, to really let themselves go, then do everything you can to help them achieve that. The Battersea Arts Centre is a vast space but there wasn’t one part of it that we didn’t bring into the mood of the party. A giant five-metre high floral lion head greeted guests at the drinks reception. An opera singer, positioned in a giant floral and balloon hot air balloon, sang guests through to dinner. Oversized feathered swans were suspended high above the dinner tables in nests. Huge vaulted flower arches marked guests’ route into dinner. We had 100 musicians, actors and performers in character and circulating the crowd, ensuring there was never a moment to let reality intrude into the world of Fantasia.’
The Fantasia II Team
‘An event of this style and scale only happens when you have an incredible team of creatives who understand the brief and rise to it. I handpicked mine only from those people I had worked with before who I knew would exceed expectations at every turn. My heartfelt thanks has to go to each and every one of them.’
List of suppliers
International Event Planner- Bruce Russell Events @brucerussellevents
Venue – Battersea Arts Centre @batterseaartscentre
Catering & Hospitality – Alison Price @alisonprice_co
Event Production – Luminaire Events @luminaire_events
Furniture – Options Great Hire @optionsgreathire
Music – Elan Artists @elanartists
Stationery – Ruth Kaye Design @ruthkayedesign
Photographer –Sanshine Photography @sanshinephoto
Videography – Varna Studios @varnastudios
Support Florist – Stock Florist @stockflorist
Cakes – Hall of Cakes @hallofcakes1
Floristry Supplies & Packaging – The Baggery Sundries @thebaggerysundries
Floral Supplier – Van Der Plas Flowers @vanderplasflowersplants
Live Event Curation – Califano Productions @califanoproductions
Balloon Supplier – Bubblegum Balloons @bubblegumballoons
Photography – Camilla J Hards @camillajhardsphotography
Luxury Candles – Wick and Tallow @wickandtallow
Linens – The Wedding Design Company @theweddingdesigncompany
Chandelier Specialists – Crescent Moon Events @crescent_moon_events
In support of – Nine Charity @nicecharityUK
The Fantasia team worked with @confetticlublondon post-event to give many of the red roses a second life. They also offered an open invitation to local small businesses to collect and reuse the flowers beyond the dinner which was helping to support the work of NICE charity.
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