Holiday Floral Workshop

Hi! Kate here.

Imagine the coziest, Parisian inspired restaurant where everyone sits and eats communally around big tables. Where the food is the best version of homemade, served in and on vintage china. That’s essentially Dinner Party in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and where we hosted our dreamy Holiday Floral Workshop with none other than Flowers by Ford, our favorite flower whisperer.

We set up flower arranging stations, turned on the holiday tunes, and lit all the candles.

Guests arrived and were greeted by hot cocoa and a plum rosemary shrub, as well as a spread of French inspired bites — olives, quiches, roasted veggies, poblanos, festive cookies, and more. All were prepared by Dinner Party’s owner and head chef Cami Jetta. I’m still thinking about those ginger molasses friends.

After mingling, we had an official kick off and everyone took their seat.

Each guest was provided with all materials needed to craft their own unique full sized holiday arrangement. Molly taught everyone how to reflex a rose, spoke about the different florals we were using, and encouraged everyone to have fun as they placed the flowers into their vases.

As we do at all Create Dinners events, I took a flashy portrait of everyone with their finished creation and we placed conversation questions around the tables, encouraging everyone to go a little deeper together. It was a truly magical event that brought all the holiday feels.

Hope to see you around the table soon!

Create Dinners x Provisions Wreath Workshop

We love the fall over here. Any excuse to sip on mulled wine, put together a seasonal cheese board, and throw on an oversized knit sweater… count us in.

For this wreath workshop, we partnered up with our good friends at Provisions once again and let the wonderful Flowers by Ford show us to craft a dried fall wreath that, in theory, could last forever. We gathered in Williamsburg with about 20 guests.

Wreaths were comprised of dried hydrangeas, branches and grasses and finished with velvet ribbons. Thanks to everyone who came out for this lovely event!

A big thank you to Grace Ann Leadbeater for documenting our night and capturing the images above.

Eames x Reebok Launch Dinner

Hi! Kate here.

Thiiiiiiis event… I don’t know if I’ll ever have the words to summarize it. Back in October, we were part of a once in a lifetime dinner to launch a new Club C shoe collaboration by Reebok X Eames — four unique pairs, all inspired by Ray Eames.

A question that gets asked a lot at our Create Dinners events is, “What’s one of your proudest accomplishments?” and as far as my professional career goes, this dinner is at the top of my list. I am a huge Eames fan, design enthusiast, lover of hosting, and admirer of powerhouse women. This event was a combination of all those things.

The task was to conceptualize a table scape that reflected one of Ray’s infamous gatherings and work alongside her granddaughter, Lucia Dewey Atwood. I proposed three ideas and the one we landed on was internally referred to as “PLAY” — honoring Ray’s playful spirit and the iconic Eames Fiberglass Shell chairs, by immersing the tables in color.

Ray was truly the host of hosts, delighting in details — Japanese porcelain, flowers on butter, and giant reflexed roses.

I pulled those elements in and gave everything a modern twist. The direction from Lucia was to create a table scape that was inspired by Ray, not a replica… but did I order vintage Japanese dishes from Tokyo and did they almost not arrive on time because they got stuck in customs? Yes and yes. The learning here: always go the extra mile for the details and don’t lose hope when plans shift. Everything arrived!

I had always wanted to visit the Eames House when I lived in LA and somehow never made it there in the 12 years I was there. I cannot imagine a more special introduction to such a place that holds so much inspiration and creativity. Gathering in the place that Ray and Charles Eames lived, worked, and hosted dinners at was magical. It almost felt as though we’d time traveled.

The tables were set.

Then 65 individuals who were friends of both brands arrived for dinner, sipping on classic cocktails and eating a delicious three course meal under the stars. All food and beverages were prepared by Chef Vanessa Lauren and her team. Towards the end of the meal, boxes were brought out and the shoes were revealed to the guests.

There are so many thank you’s to be had here…

Thank you to IMA and Eddie Grams for roping Create Dinners in and for trusting us to execute this vision. Thank you to the insanely talented Create Dinners LA Team (and my creative muses for life) Elise Apffel, Katie Marble, Sofia Draco and Brandi Bombard of Forma Flora who helped turn my mood boards into reality. Last, thank you to Jennie Putvin of Nane Press, Theoni Collection, Yeah Rentals, Flouring LA, and The Floral Society for all the impeccable items you see on the tables.

Images throughout this post were taken by Katie Marble, Eddie Grams, and myself. Thanks for reading and hope to see you all around the table soon! Ideally another one of Ray’s tables.

Love, Kate