We asked Katherine Hudson, founder and director of House of Hud, to 'detail a week in the life of' showcasing The Arabian Tent Company's unique party ideas during the busy Summer season.
The Oyster Pearl tent. Credit to Light Trick photography.
Unique Party Ideas - Monday:
Busy day! A trip down to Essex today for a lovely couple who have hired the Oyster Pearl Tent for their big day. The couple have some fantastic, quirky ideas for a whimsical rustic woodland theme which will look just sublime in the Oyster Pearl, topped off with a birds nest’ cascading micro light chandelier. For each event, we assign an event co-coordinator who will design and create a CAD plan of the layout of the marquee and the furnishings, to help show how the client how it will look.
The Oyster Pearl tent with hessian draping and fairy lights for our rustic woodland look. Credit: Light Trick Photography
Tuesday:
Cushions arrived! We have just had some more cushion designs added to our Bombay Boudoir tent collection in burnt orange and pinks. Here at stores we have a whole room devoted to cushions in all shapes, styles and sizes for each theme, plumping up our bolsters and sofas! This afternoon was spent working on the showroom – each corner and part of the showroom is fabricated with a different sort of framed tent. With over nine illustrious interiors to choose from, it feels like a magical fairy tale of dreams! And to enter? Steps being built to finish off the grand entrance – through a carved wooden wardrobe leading from my office Narnia-style!
Wednesday:
On the road today with chief decorator Jeremy – first to a quirky barn in Sussex to discuss with a client who hired us 5 years ago to dress the same barn in a clock and tartan themed NYE party, this time she'd like to recreate 'bright young things' in the same space, plenty of coffee and note taking went on! Then onto the O2 Continental Hotel to meet an Event Manager to work out the Arabian themed décor for an Awards Ceremony next month where we will be using over 400m of fabric to create a tented effect in the ceiling of a section of the main hall. Then onto a Book Festival opening tomorrow to deliver two William Morris covered chez lounges that they decided they wanted to use at the last minute within the William Morris interior tent.
Thursday:
Thursdays and Fridays are when most of our tents for the weekends events are set up. Our hard working crew, drivers, drapers and a whole host of other specialist staff work ingeniously so that our framed and pole tents are pitch perfect on the day. It makes it all worthwhile though when you see the reaction of the clients!
Today I oversaw the setup of the Arabian and the Cornish Cream framed tents in Sussex. It was chosen by the clients as an infusion of their two cultures, with the bold and exotic interior evoking the warmth of the Arabian desert, and thousands of tiny mirrors bouncing the light a cast the linings. The Cornish Cream was chosen to dine in, creating a subtle, fairy-tale like ambience with delicate hand block printed linings, catching the light with tiny mirrors sewn into the linings. Pretty magical and makes for a perfect unique party ideas!
Friday
Some Viva La Fiesta Bat Mitzvah inspiration! Brainstorming today with a Bat-Mitzvah-to-be, I showed her our Viva La Fiesta framed tent. One of my personal favourites, we have brightly coloured floral motifs for the ceiling swags and wall drapes, all on a grey lace effect, topped off with pompoms, and a giant parrot adorning the ceiling. We showed her this photo shoot we did recently for some Viva La Inspiration!
