Illuminate's First Birthday

The Director’s Dinner is one of the most important events in the Museum’s calendar. Illuminate offers a brilliant monochromatic blank canvas space with stunning views of the city of London, so with this is mind the event was styled with grey and white tones accentuated with brightly coloured glassware. The three-course dinner was seasonal and sustainable, with a vegan starter and an ethically-caught fish main course. The dessert was the main talking point for guests: ‘Eclipse: Guinness sponge, caramel pollen, white chocolate and cherry’ perfectly depicts its namesake and further enhances the monochromic style of the venue.

One highlight of Illuminate’s Christmas season was without a doubt the party we planned together with Evolve Events. A futuristic theme saw servers dressed in silver metallic shirts with ornate headdresses and glittery makeup, and the venue was equally furnished with a circular silver mirrored bar, LED and silver poseurs, soft seating, a photobooth, twinkling dancefloor and DJ. LED ballerinas and hoopists, mirrorball dancers and the world record-holding bubble man provided dazzling entertainment in addition to an array of arcade games – suddenly DDR did not mean “day delegate rate” anymore but (obviously) Dance Dance Revolution! An all-white Father Christmas made an exciting entrance on a lit-up walkway as the children eagerly waited to open their presents.

Moving Venue certainly put on a feast to match! Canapés, street eats and bowl food were circulated before opening a magnificent seafood station, decked with ice sculptures and filled with prawns, lobster tails and oysters. Champagne and elderflower jelly shots were served from a 2.5 metre tall Christmas tree ice sculpture (of course), and other dessert canapés were served before we opened a beautiful antipasto station with meats, cheeses and all the accoutrements. Oh and did we mention the nitro ice-cream? If you ever wanted to see an alternative Christmas, this was the party!