Team BWoM enjoyed a spring-summer season filled with sunshine evenings, warm hospitality and a host of beautiful events held within historic palaces, stunning art galleries, UNESCO world heritage sites and London’s most renowned museums. Hidden gardens, an architect-designed pavilion and the glittering shores of Lake Como (working with our friends Bellini Travel) provided alfresco elegance, the latter bathed in Italian rays and looking its picture perfect self as a happy couple exchanged their vows and partied long into the night.
The Chelsea Flower Show always brings a flurry of events, dinner at The Chelsea Physic Garden being a particular favourite with guests who adore the magical intimacy of this secret space, bursting with botanical and medicinal plants. Another highlight of the summer season, the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts provided a multi-coloured, artistic backdrop to several events, one of which took guests on a journey to Japan with hand rolled sushi, fillet of beef teriyaki and soft-serve ice cream, generously topped with matcha meringue, yuzu syrup, chocolate popping candy and poky sticks.
Two of London’s finest churches, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey offer awe-inspiring entertaining spaces and both have leafy grounds in which to hold events. Some of the prettiest events of the summer have been held in these iconic venues that are unmatched in terms of atmosphere and an undeniable sense of spirituality. The Summer Pavilion at the Serpentine Gallery is always keenly anticipated and we were proud to partner with the Gallery on the opening party for Junya Ishigami’s wonderful slate roofed structure that appeared almost as the wing of a bird rising from the green landscape. Elsewhere in London, we made regular visits to many galleries and museums including the National Gallery and British Museum where private views of the exhibitions are always so appreciated by the lucky guests.
Weddings at the Wallace Collection, the Natural History Museum (which has recently been granted a wedding licence), Wrotham Park and the Royal Hospital Chelsea demonstrated the continuing popularity of the London venues with couples looking to say “I do” somewhere unique and we were delighted to be part of some very special celebrations this summer. Our planning team is extremely knowledgeable and understands the importance of matching each couple with the perfect backdrop. Take a look at our long list of venue partners to get inspiration or call us if it would be helpful to chat through some ideas.
Events in the Marianne North Gallery and the Orangery at Kew Gardens marked the beginning of our new working relationship and demonstrated the incredible range of spaces within this UNESCO world heritage site. The intimacy of Victorian artist Marianne North’s gallery, lined with over 800 of her detailed botanical prints, contrasts with the larger proportions and classic architecture of the Orangery which provided an elegant backdrop to a beautiful late summer dinner filled with tropical colour.
Further afield, the BWoM vans rolled up and down the motorways, heading out to various stunning locations, including Blenheim Palace for a glittering dinner and across to Northern Ireland for the Open Golf where we spent a very happy ten days working with one of the sponsors. Looking forward to the autumn, more travels are on the horizon with another trip to Italy in October and a journey to the north of England with English Heritage. Back at BWoM HQ, it is all systems go as we have enjoyed an event-packed start to the new season. The finishing touches have been made to the menus for autumn/winter 2019 so head to the Media Resource section to download a list of sample dishes or Contact Us to find out more.