A Closer Look: Harbour Hotel Southampton
A closer look at the Veolia End of Year celebrations inside the Harbour Hotel Southampton. Featuring our Earth Globes with custom designed wreath displays by Eternal Flowers.
An Event Case study
Venue: Harbour Hotel Southampton
Client: Veolia
Date: November 2019
The Venue:
Our first event at the Southampton Harbour Hotel. An exciting prospect for the Table Art team as they headed down south with a van full of Earth Globes.
The first thing that strikes you about this venue is the remarkable venue. With Southampton’s Marina reflecting beautifully in the modern facade of the building, it makes a statement before guests even enter the hotel. A cobbled walkway leads to the hotel entrance and there you are met by a modern fusion of extraordinary architecture and boutique features. There is a striking Chandelier hanging above reception and the design of the room lends itself well to the nearby marina.
Upstairs you will find the event space, a gift when looking for a view to highlight the table centres. With a full view of the marina on three sides of the room, in the dark winter light, the lights of the boats dance in the reflections of the glass. A truly remarkable choice of venue. The Harbour Hotel Southampton is a breath-taking backdrop for our Earth Globe Centrepieces.
The Client:
A first time working at the venue, a first time working with Veolia. The events team headed by Rachel Charrett and Heather Parkinson, got in touch with the Sales team. Looking for something to illuminate their tables at an end of year celebration. As you can imagine, our sales team jumped at the chance to put forward a variety of designs, all with a global flavour- aimed at highlighting the global efforts of the company. The proposal sent featured a broad spectrum of designs, an introduction to our range if you will. Often with a new client, we send out an ecelectic range to just get a sense of what the clients aesthetic is. From there we can hone down their choices and build their perfect table centre.
Rachel and Heather fell in love with the Earth Globe Centrepiece but keen to replicate the images they had seen from our New York Save the Children Gala. For those of you who haven’t seen images from that event, click here. As you can see, the gala opted to decorate the base in a lush vivid green arrangement of foliage. A truly romantic arrangement, no wonder that it caught the imagination of Veolia.
The Design:
The Earth Globe is arguably one of our most popular designs. Is there any wonder why? With a clean and classic look, the crystal material lends a weight to this design that elevates it above the usual. Capturing the light effortlessly, this centerpiece works particularly well when programmed with DMX.
Veolia wanted to bring a foliage element to the table centre and so we set to task of finding a florist. Based in Leamington Spa, our Design Studio called and emailed local Florists, attaching images from the New York event for reference. The ease of transport is a key concern for all events. We searched out a company that could work with us to make arrangements that we could pack down quickly. Eternal Flowers came to the rescue!
Lindsey and her team at Eternal Flowers are a breath of fresh air. Fast to respond to the brief. Lindsey immediately put together a sample wreath based on the images we referenced with her. A mix of eucalyptus, thyme, moss and ferns. She delivered an extraordinary sample direct to our offices within a day of being asked. Table Art shared photographs and footage of the sample with our client and it will be no surprise that they responded with a green light!
We commissioned Lindsey to make a further 20 wreaths for the event itself in November. Working with her to make sure the arrangements suited the two and half hour journey down to Southampton.
The Event
With November being our busiest month, it’s often all hands-on deck when delivering events. As a result, the sales team are often out and about supporting the Table Art Crew on events. This event is the perfect example of that. Office worker Helen Morgan supporting Table Art veteran Ashley Thompson on this event. With a van faintly smelling of thyme (the wreaths), the team carefully unloaded the flight cases and rolled them straight into the Harbour Hotel Southampton.
First taking a moment to clear the centre of the tables, Helen followed Ashley in putting out the wreaths. Adding in the Earth Globes, each wreath carefully rearranged to work beautifully in partnership with the globes. Liaising with the client, setting the Earth Globes to white, a great contrast to the vivid purples set in the AV lighting.
Once the client signed off the centrepieces, the crew headed off into Southampton to explore. Always within shot of the Harbour Hotel Southampton, should the client like for a last minute colour change.
The Photography
Taking photographs at events is vital for our business. Without good quality images, we don’t have means to upsell our products to our clients. That is why MD Gary Martin has heavily invested in the very best SLR Cameras. Making sure they are available to the crew on every event. Further to that, every new team member is given training in how to get the best out of the camera and capture the best pictures.
This event photographed by Ashley and Helen. They took time to take the best images they could of the wreath and Earth Globe combination. All the images here on this blog illustrate the time and care taken that each crew member takes when photographing table centres on an event. The bonus? We send a folder of event images to the client post event, completely free of charge.
In Conclusion
A great chance to combine crafts, our modern LED Technology and slick centrepieces with traditional floristry. I think you can agree that the results are effective, delivering a dramatic display at the centre of the table.
Most importantly, the guests had a great time at the Veolia End of Year celebrations, with the party going on until the early hours. Guests welcomed to take the Wreaths home. We are sure they made a great display in homes across Christmas. We hope to work again with Veolia at this years celebrations so keep your eyes peeled for their event later this year!
