Luxury Celebration Decor and Styling
When asked to do a styled shoot in one of Cape Town’s most beautiful private villas, we jumped at the opportunity. Anyone who knows me will tell you I love the creative side of wedding and event planning and that I LOVE planning exclusive celebrations in gorgeous locations!
This particular luxury villa in Camps Bay surpassed even my wildest imagination with exquisite European finishes and stunning custom-designed furniture and artwork, not to mention the mind-blowing views of the Atlantic Ocean.
Our team wanted to showcase the multiple benefits of a private villa for small intimate celebrations (especially prevalent during Covid), and we created several different looks to demonstrate this.
Casual and intimate celebration lunch decor and styling
To set the tone for a casual and intimate lunch, we opted to use the villa’s raw wood dining table and create an informal lunch setting that was relaxed and inviting yet very simply styled. For the design and styling, we paired white and silver cutlery with off-white napkins, brown and black Mervyn Gers crockery and crystal glasses.
The 3-course lunch menu consisted of a lobster tail salad paired with a delicious oak-matured chardonnay, local cheese board and a mini creme brulee.
Semi-formal Intimate Dinner Celebration
As the day progressed and we moved into early evening, we opted for a striking monochromatic palette that lent itself to the existing interior decor.
We set the table with a custom-made slate grey table cloth and mixed the bespoke Mervyn Gers dinner service with matt back crockery. We used matt black and gold cutlery and Steidl Crystal stemware for an elegant early evening casual dinner setting.
Matt black menu’s and light grey napkins added an additional touch of elegance along with beautifully styled white table flowers.
Formal Intimate Luxurious Dinner Celebration
For a more formal and intimate dinner setting, we paired the black and gold cutlery with matt black crockery and with black cut crystal Royal Dalton Wine and Champagne glasses. We added an abundance of candles to the table for a softer glowing and richer candlelit effect and added place name cards.
Freshly baked black sourdough bread with crushed beetroot salt was added to the menu and we added the option of lobster tails or a seared sirloin steak with pak choi to the dinner menu.
Ultra-Luxurious Intimate Dinner Celebration
For the ultimate intimate and luxurious celebration decor, we set the table with black cut crystal glasses, an abundance of candles and additional white table florals to fill the dinner table for a more opulent and fuller feel.
The menu was expanded to six courses consisting of a freshly baked bread starter, followed by a lobster tail starter, sirloin and pak choi main course, creme brulee dessert topped off with a local cheese board and dessert wine.
Here’s a bit of background on the styled shoot:
Our inspiration was to create beautiful and inviting celebration settings showcasing both the beauty of the villa and how easy it is to transform a space for an intimate celebration. The monochromatic colour scheme we used was black, dark grey, gold and off white. Key elements included: Mervyn Gers dinnerware, Hire Haus matt black and gold cutlery, dark grey custom-made linen table cloth, black and grey candles and light grey napkins and a mixture of clear and black cut crystal stemware. We used a variety of opulent white flowers mixed with dark foliage.
CREDITS
Photography: Angelique Smith | Venue: Private Villa managed by In Residence | Co-ordination, Design & Styling: Boutique Events | Floral: Epanoiur Flower Studio | Stationery: | Table Cloth: Custom-made | Rentals: Hire Haus, Spilhaus, Hemeljuis | Model: Joslin Sita
