Well I hope you all have been enjoying this in-depth look in to the process of creating a Simple Evening because today marks the third to last post on the Raleigh Simple Evening. I really have enjoyed sharing all the info behind what we did to create this evening come together.
Today we are showing the setup of the event. Really I think it is important for me to share this post because I really do not do these events all on my own and in-fact there was probably somewhere between 10-15 people who helped pull this dinner together on the day of. It was a huge effort as a collective group to make this come together the way we had envisioned.
Jenn had created the most amazing garland out of salvaged denim. She asked her friends and family for old jeans they no longer used and ripped them in to strips. We felt that it would be fun to have the garland because of the high ceilings at Videri. It would visually connect the table and the high ceilings in a way that felt organic and natural. She felt that denim was the perfect material because of the amount of inspiration we were drawing from the city of Raleigh. Honestly, I couldn’t have thought of a more material we could have used to create the garland. This was the first Simple Evening we had strung another other than some bistro lights, but the combo of the wood and denim really brought everything together.
Right around the time Jenn was finishing up hanging the garland our tables arrived from Arrowhead Collective. These guys had handmade 3 tables for us for the event. The wood was found and milled by the Arrowhead team. The steel work for the legs was also done by them as well. It was beautiful and really neat to have custom tables for the event. Not only that, but to have them be custom made in Raleigh where the trees were also grown.
Videri had just finished up their new coffee bar and so while we were all setting up they had a letterer come in and hand letter on the chalk boards above the bar. It was really cool to watch him freehand the chalkboards for the bar while we all were working to pull together the dinner.
Once the tables were in, Jenn and I began to style the table. We placed the plants, candles, napkins, plates, silverware, glasses, and menus on the table. Jenn directed me through making the table come together the way she had envisioned it. She has such an incredible eye that there was no way I was going to discuss her choices. Sometimes you just got to trust those around you.
While we finished the table, the guys began to bring in all the stumps for the seating. That’s right we sat on stumps. We felt that it was the perfect thing to make the dinner have more of a farm-style to it and to feel less formal. This dinner was about being back to the earth and what better way to do that than to bring in elements from the ground such as stumps. It couldn’t have been more perfect.
Finally, the whole time we were working on the setup we had a camera clicking photos every 30 minutes so we could put together a time lapse of the event coming together. We felt it was the perfect way to show the full transformation of Videri‘s space. So don’t miss watching it all come together.
Next week we will be serving up the cocktails and apps with White Whale and Capital Club 16. We have a really fun video and a good look into the experience of White Whale. I know some of you have heard us talking about it so I am really excited to show you all the cocktails in action!
Missed any posts? No worries!
Going to Commonplace Farm | Cooking with Chef Jake Wolf of Capital Club 16 | Sourcing with Jenn Elliott Blake | Styling
Thanks to our whole team that day:
Styling: Jenn Elliott Blake
Videography/photography: Mike Gilger
Space: Videri Chocolate Factory
Styling Assistant: Jonathan Grant
Tables: Arrowhead Collective
