Tori Allen Events gave everAFTER insight into creating and styling a bespoke event at Luminare in the heart of South Melbourne.

PHOTOGRAPHY Blossom Daisy Creative, blossomdaisycreative.com
VENUE Luminare South Mellbourne, luminare.net.au

The brief was to replicate the London-based, 2 Michelin starred eatery, The Ledbury in Melbourne’s CBD. The resturant’s interior has a feeling of old world charm meets contempory European styling so that is what we were aiming to recreate and develop. As this event was all about the food, we had to ensure flowers were not too fragrant and the table decorations were simple yet still considered.

Luminare is a large, blank canvas. You enter the venue through a brick walled laneway. Once up in the lift, you then walk down a dimly lit hallway and out into the space, upon which you are wowed with an incredible view of the city. We wanted this view to be the hero of the night.

We created an elegant and simple display of flowers by opting for Phalaenopsis orchids. We cut out the yellow centres so the blooms were completely white, thus strengthening our ‘white on white’ colour scheme.

In other areas we wanted to create drama and height so we used tall magnolia foliage.

The centre of the tables featured a tumble of modern clear cloche shades covering vintage bottles. Everything was textual and there was a mixture of heights running down the table to create interest.

Cut crystal and beaded chandeliers were suspended low over the tables to create an intimate dinner atmosphere. As the sun set, the ambient glow of light gave a sense of warmth to the space.

We focused on the concept of ‘old meets new’ and chose white and clear bases for all furniture and styling elements in order to pay tribute to a contempory style, but then brought in older artifacts like cloches and light fittings to add a bespoke collected feeling. We also wanted a sense of ‘white on white’.

One of our hero styling displays was our custom built library. We designed an old fireplace with large bookshelves either side and sourced old paintings, sculptures and books. WE THEN filled it to the brim! It was stunning and a real talking point.

The space has luxe velvet furnishings which we utilised. This was the starting place for our design. We added furniture in this style, light fittings and other details that we felt perfectly matched the pre-existing look and feel.

WORK THAT VIEW...

The Melbourne venue’s large balcony overlooking the city was perfect for creating our whisky bar. Here all the finer details were considered including the florals which transitioned to gold phalaenopsis orchids. We custom carpeted lounge pods and installed gold velvet. We felt it important to have a space for guests to chat and admire the view as well as sit back and relax in plush velvet lounges!