Waitrose Garden Party: Welcome Home, Food Lovers

This was an immersive dinner party to end all dinner parties.

Leaning into Waitrose’s core brand elements and a Food Lovers theme, we designed an event that captures the warmth of a great dinner with friends but elevated to a grander scale. Greeted by a white picket fence and a row of houses façade on Waitrose Way, guests were immediately made to feel at home.

Set up along the riverbank, guests were encouraged to have drinks out in the garden first. The Sponsors’ Lawn was filled with home-y details: from picnic tables and plush patio seating to armchairs shaped from grass and the quickly iconic house outlines. This allowed guests to make the most of the beautiful summer weather and stunning views of the river, as well as providing valuable opportunities for sponsors to engage with attendees.

Guests were then welcomed into the orangery for the drinks reception. Taking design cues from a well-loved kitchen, we made use of props like cookbooks, tea towels and even a Welcome Mat to create that feeling of chatting in your friend’s kitchen as they put the finishing touches on dinner.

When dinner was served, guests finally moved into the dining room: full of familiar touches like framed prints and wallpapered panels. Tablescapes felt lush and floral, with brightly coloured linens reinforcing the garden party theme. And behind it all was the beautiful riverside view, a worthy backdrop to the evening’s proceedings.  

More than just the creative minds behind the event, N2O also carefully coordinated all the behind-the-scenes details to keep an event of this scale feeling effortless. Traffic management, registration, guest communications, table planning and dedicated connectivity were well considered, helping guests move smoothly through the evening, while the Waitrose experience remained front and centre.