Dinner Party Feels
By Emily Smith
Our dinner party with a few close friends to celebrate Molten 1090’s launch ran on its own joyful momentum.
Perfect does not exist. Although, if you focus on the right things your guests will always leave your dinner parties feeling elevated and inspired—the imperfections make it real. This is the approach my sister Laura and I always take to dinner parties in our respective homes.
Some of my fondest memories are the dinner parties my parents would throw. The New Year’s parties, birthday parties, parties to celebrate family visiting, parties to entertain a friend of a friend visiting Bermuda for the first time.
The excuse to host never needed to be a grand one and for as long as I can remember my sister and I always had a seat at the table, encouraged to engage and have fun alongside the adults, no matter the guest list and no matter our limited life experience. It is no coincidence that we are subconsciously guided by the same dinner party ethos— entertaining is in our blood.
Thinking back, the enchanting nature of those dinner parties were wrapped in the assurance that no matter the audience, the DNA was the same—embrace guests with generosity and joy. Radiate a sense of enjoyment. And make it a dinner party you would want to be invited to. They were eclectic affairs with a scatter of old and new. Antique ceramic serving platters handed down for generations with a hodgepodge of silverware and candles, always candles. Food and ambience were the first order of business when it came to making guests feel welcome and at ease. You didn’t need a complex menu or faff. Just fresh and simple ingredients with some good wine. Everyone responds well to plentiful quantities of nice food and drink.
So, when thinking about how we should celebrate to mark the launch of Molten 1090 and our first tableware collection FLECK, it was only natural to throw a dinner party. After all, the FLECK tumbler concept was birthed during a dinner party–where else?!
"As the setting sun shone through my kitchen window, the Molten 1090 products came to life, scattering reflections across the room. It truly warmed my heart."
Tablescaping
Setting the scene was first on the agenda and we wanted to bring abundance to the table. Molten 1090 products work beautifully with any interiors, but we love using dark tones, like a Hackney Draper aubergine linen tablecloth, to bring the detail of Molten 1090 products to life. We reached out to our friend Kai at My Lady Garden to create some evocative flower arrangements displayed in FLECK vases scattered across the table. Gorgeous hand dipped beeswax candles from Wax Atelier burned long into night.
They say the secret to a great dinner party is preparation, but I say there is another secret—getting your guests involved. We have come to appreciate that combining these two elements creates a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere—a good dinner party is an all-in-it-together experience. Having pre-squeezed limes and chopped chillies and coriander, it was an easy task for one of our guests to add their own flair to making a Picante cocktail, to be served in FLECK tumblers. The tumblers may have started the night as cocktail glasses, but beautifully adapted to the various drinks of choice be it gin & tonic, red wine, rosé, or water.
Putting the full FLECK collection to good use, our bowls made for easy olive nibbling, and I loved how the silver and gold perfectly highlighted the difference between the salt and pepper sellers (aside from the obvious condiments). As the setting sun shone through my kitchen window, the Molten 1090 products came to life, scattering reflections across the room. It truly warmed my heart.
After feeding our guests a particularly delicious homemade lobster tagliatelle that Laura had been preparing since lunch (remember what I said about preparation?) we finished the meal with a ‘tipsy’ mousse, our mum’s secret recipe – maybe I’ll share the recipe one day. And I can confidently say that it did not disappoint. Full disclosure, yes, I had mum on video call instructing through the entire making process. Thank you, mum!
The ripple effect
I often find a dinner party hosted in your home is a great way to give a deadline to those decorating and DIY tasks that I have ignored for a while. This occasion was no exception. The Anna Unwin travertine side table that I had been eyeing finally found its way into my house and gives a mellow warmth to my open plan living space. I also sourced some vintage chairs which I gave a lick of paint. What’s next for the space? Well, the lighting over the dining table is crying out for some Molten pendants, soon to come…
Sharing the launch of Molten with our friends was incredibly special as we simply could not have got this far without their constant support. And, as we all continue to recover from the impact that the Covid pandemic has had on society, I think dinner parties are the way forward to connect again with those moments we have so missed—the convening of spirits at home.