Planning an at-home party

Now we have the roadmap out of Covid from the Government for this year, party planning is back on the agenda! If you’re planning on gathering your loved ones outdoors to celebrate this year, we’ve pulled together our top 3 favourite at-home parties of all time to give you some inspiration.

We know how to take advantage of every inch of space you have; we once fit a stretch tent into a central London patio, so that the dining table went straight out from the kitchen all the way into the garden! You don’t have to have acres of lawns to have a stunning celebration at home this year.

#1 Virginia’s 50th 

Our client wanted an beautiful, almost otherworldly 50th birthday party in her garden, with a custom built pergola acting as an extension to her home in the Kent countryside.

As well as housing a bar, dining tables, and a stage, our wisteria-draped pergola was intended to give an authentic Southern French finish. It took 7 people a total of four days to build! The Marble Music team also surprised the birthday girl with a performance from pop singer Mika, who had to run a secret sound check whilst guests were eating a dinner prepared by Raymond Blanc in the adjacent tent. 

As Mika sang from his piano, the Marble team continued their work, transforming the reception space into a twinkling night time dance area, hanging individual glass orbs with tea lights by hand from the romantic ceiling of wisteria. We even got a mention from Mika during his performance for one of the most magical sound tests he’d experienced!

#2 Melissa’s 23rd

Definitely one of the team’s favourite events to date – this at-home festival rivalled Glasto and kept guests up until the (very) small hours. 

Our client wanted to celebrate her 23rd birthday in a campy, relaxed festival. The guests ate a delicious dinner in our signature stretch tent draped across the lawns, followed by dancing next to the lake, and finally crescendoing with a surprise festival rave hidden in the forest!

Without the birthday girl being any the wiser, we transported guests through a light trail in the forest, led by a Samba band, and to a hidden dancefloor where Ms Dynamite was lighting it up until well after the sun had risen.

Zanna, Marble Private wedding planner, reminisces about this fantastic event: “The funky sunglasses place names were a last minute request. However, they ended up stealing the show, taking the table decoration to the next level and providing an added fancy dress element for each guest to wear on through the night and onto the next day. As they say, better late than never!”

#3 St Tropez 50th Birthday

Definitely a more ambitious project by the Marble team, involving building a 50 degree celsius beach restaurant… on top of a lake… during the wettest weekend in March. 

A live feed of a St Tropez harbour projected onto a 30m long screen provided the backdrop to an evening filled with topless lifeguards, shot belt models, and sand in between the toes. It felt like stepping through a hidden door in a wardrobe into another world, creating the illusion of St Tropez, but from the comfort of the client’s home. 

Zanna remembers this party well. “Having organised a party for the same clients six months prior, we knew our clients were such enthusiastic partiers: one had jumped on the 100-strong dinner table and run down its centre… Sadly, with an unfortunate crash, we had a few table casualties but an unscathed and just as enthusiastic guest, albeit crumpled on the floor! So, this time we weren’t going to take any chances. Each table was made bespoke out of a steel deck (the same material used for stages at music concerts and festivals). There was no way the guests would be deterred from dancing on the tables this time around!”

Photo by Marble Private, Words by Hattie Creese & Zanna Gibson