April 17, 2017

Love Surgery 16th May

 

Join former Sunday Times It’s a Date columnists Cosmo Landesman & Dolly Alderton for a sit down treat of hilarious and edifying chitchat on all things dating, where we can share our most amusing or outrageous dating tips, disasters and nightmares.

Twice married, currently divorced Cosmo,62, has five failed proposals behind him and a lifetime of anecdotes and life lessons, while his blonde, short-skirted sparring partner Dolly, 27, already has a rich history of liaisons under her (suspender?) belt.

Their great on-page chemistry translates brilliantly in the flesh, making the Love Surgery a must for daters.  Watch the movie from our last event.   Film stars – I’m sorry, but we won’t be filming this years event.

Location & what’s included

Ticket price includes a welcome cocktail; seated Love Surgery fun and delicious with canapés.

At 9pm as the event draws to a close, we have a private area with a paying bar in The Playboy Club’s stunning room.

Guests

Cosmo being 62 and Dolly 28 makes this perfect joint Vida8/Rendezvous joint event, so expect a group of varied ages.

Date: Tuesday, 16th May, 2017

Party Size: 85

Time: 7:00pm – 9:30pm

Cost: Members £80 male/female, single £50 - Non-Members £100 male/female

Dress code: Elegant Smart

Whats included: a welcome cocktail; seated Love Surgery fun and delicious with canapés.

Book tickets

Password: Love

March 25, 2017

Tuesday 21st March.  Styling with Suitsupply City Store 

Above the of hum drum of chatting members in this swish outfitter our darling friend and resident Dapper Cad (Jonathan) JT hosted our event with a focus on men’s date-wear.   It was JT who introduced us to slick Dutch tailor Suitsupply and what a great introduction it turned out to be.  I imagine fans of the brand are not too thrilled that we are divulging this little gem of a secret stylish product that utterly screams tailor-made but for a snip of the price.

 

Five of our fabulous guests/models took the plunge for makeover.  Well done men for being such sports.  Jonathan and his team of Suitsupply experts introduced the men as they were and then took them back stage (well into dressing rooms) and proceeded with a complete change of look.

Bring on the boys for a quick twirl (or bow) and then into the audience for a chat while their new look settled into our viewers focus.  The audience voted for the man who best suited their new look.  Not who was most dapper or who wore the suit best – but who was completely transformed by their new look.   The results were amazingly even – I suspect lots of friends were there voting for their friends as good friends should!  But our Construction Company owner Jake wowed the crowds with his just-got-off-a-yacht in Cannes look and won by just a tip of his Panama hat.  What fun – and he got to choose a dapper blazer to compliment his new look.

Dapper Cad Cocktail

While the winners whirled, the stylish men grabbed their girls…. oops I mean their jackets – we clip-clopped off to the fabulous Bar20. What a welcome we got Mariusz, Massimo, Massimiliano and Andrea presenting us with an array of Gin cocktails delicious and perfectly paired by Sipsmith Gin.

The Dapper Cad, Tactile Property and Made to Measure exquisitely tailored for our members with divine spring flavours including strawberry, rhubarb and lavender.

Talking of Spring I do hope you’re joining us for our famous Franco’s Rose Wine Tasting it’s on the 26th of April; tickets are available now.

February 26, 2017

Suits you Sir – Tuesday 21st March

Once upon a time at an event long long ago…actually it was a Thomas Dakin Gin tasting at Bar 20 to be exact. One of our guests remarked that a certain Rendezvous guest the dapper Jonathan should start his own Instagram account, and thus The Dapper Cad was born.
Zip forward a year and Jonathan is more dapper than ever and we’re delighted to have him co-hosting an event designed to get our Rendezvous men Suiting us all Sir.
Upmarket Dutch Tailoring company Suitsupply are our hosts, they create the sort of pieces that should be in every man’s wardrobe – smart enough, trendy enough and definitely dapper enough. And the price is ridiculously reasonable for a tailored product.
Jonathan will be choosing six of our Rendezvous guests to have a style make over. Yes sir, no sir, definitely suits you sir.

If you are a man who would like to take part or you have a male friend who you’d like to nominate to take part, please email us on Barbara@rendezvous-london.com
The audience will be choosing their favourite of the six makeovers and the winning man/look will win a new suit jacket – very kindly supplied by Suitsupply
Any purchases on the night above £100 will receive a free tie valued at £50.

Choc chat & Apps
February 25, 2017

Chocolate, Chat and Apps. Ladies-only event.

Artisan du Chocolat. 21st February 2017

We had an amazing evening this week at Artisan du Chocolat. I don’t know about you, but I am so fond of my female friends and having a night with just the girls for a change was a treat. At Rendezvous we believe that if you’re single you should explore every avenue to find your perfect partner. Now Dating Apps aren’t for everyone and certainly not for the faint hearted, but if there are a few of us out there who are brave enough to venture out and meet some new men via the safe apps that digital expert Louise Robertson recommended during our event and then bring them along to a Rendezvous event to join the fun….what is there to lose!

Delightful Dating Coach Ané Auret chatted to us about not limiting ourselves to the ‘he’s not my type’ shrug-off we all know so well. But rather being open to finding someone who will respect and adore you just as much as you can do for them.

Read Ané’s blog below.

Barbara x

Some lovely feedback:

“Once again Barbara, you have excelled! A truly inspirational evening for ladies with fabulous Chocolate, Chats and Apps on the menu at Artisan Du Chocolat.
Introducing us all to the safe apps, giving some of us lessons to take away and experiment with, and chatting to like-minded ladies. Ane Auret is a true delight. Her experience and insights were so global, it was reassuring! I will certainly be looking forward to chatting with her further. Thank you for a wonderful evening, and I look forward to future events with a renewed confidence!”
S x

“Dear Barbara
Thank you for a lovely night last night. It was such an indulgent environment to gain the confidence to tackle those dating Apps! Lou was hugely reassuring about the safety aspects and the Ane offered insight into how we could help ourselves find the right relationship. And there was lots of chocolate!”
S x

 

Ané’s blog – ‘he’s not my type’

The evening marked nearly 7 years since I first met my (second) husband. I shared the story of how I walked into a room –– and there he was. Bald, 12 years older than me and not the kind of 6-foot rugby player that I had insisted was my type.

But what was impossible to ignore was his amazingly strong, confident presence. His ‘vibe’ or energy, some might say aura. It’s the thing that we as human beings have the most amazing ability to tune into and creates the deepest of connections.

To this day, I still think his vibe is his most attractive quality. Aside from thinking he’s the sexiest man alive!

So what do I mean by vibe exactly?

Your vibe is what you consistently project to others around you – consciously and unconsciously. It is what you believe to be true about yourself: your desire to love and to be loved. Your desire to be accepted and seen. It is your shadow and your light. It is the fears, doubts and insecurities you carry. But it is also your deepest held beliefs about love, relationships, dating, men, women, intimacy, sex and commitment – and your place in it.

In our own unique ways, our vibe can be the main thing that blocks us from being open to love. It can be all-powerful, like it was for my husband, or it can stop love in its tracks. Just like that.

When I work with my clients, we spend a lot of time getting to the root of what may be blocking them or holding them back from finding love. We explore:

– What do I project to others?
– What are my destructive beliefs, stories, insecurities, fears and unresolved pain?
– What might I have been doing for a lifetime that I need to learn to leave behind?

Until we get to the root of what is blocking love from our lives we won’t change our experience of love.

The truth about finding love (again) and attracting the right person for you is not about the external tactics – the ‘rules’ or game strategies – but the inner work and shifts you have the power to make. This is the key to stop second guessing yourself and the worry about whether you are getting it right or wrong on the dating scene.

5 ways you may be blocking yourself from finding love (again)

1. Ambivalence
My clients often tell me they are ready for a committed relationship but at the same time, they are sabotaging their chances of success because of an internal commitment that is actually more important to them at this stage in their lives. It may be their career, it may be their freedom or it may be that they’re not sure about sharing their life, home, family or even finances again.

2. Being out of alignment
This happens when your desires, thoughts, actions and beliefs are out of line. An example of this is when you say you want a committed relationship, but keep investing time in hookups, short term flings or spending time with someone you know deep down is not right for you. You keep hoping this person will change into what you want them to be.
It could also be that you say you want a relationship, but deep down have no belief that it will happen for you, stay in night after night and don’t create any new connections or expand your social circle.

3. Not being ready
Let’s be honest: the dating scene is in no way an even playing field. There are plenty of people out there who aren’t ready for a relationship, but they start relationships – sometimes over and over again. When you’re not truly relationship ready, you may push people away as soon as they get close, or you may still be emotionally connected to your ex. You can check out whether you need a little readiness TLC with my quick and easy Relationship Readiness Quiz here: www.datingcoach.uk/quiz

4. Unresolved wounds and triggers
Bringing unresolved grief, trauma and emotions into your dating journey and a new relationship can cause so much hurt. Again, these are things that we project onto others – fear of being hurt again, fear of trusting someone again, fear of rejection. Getting into dating and a relationship from a position of fear and loneliness is not the best starting point for the healthy, happy and mature relationship you’re looking for.

Resolution needs to come before connection.

5. Blind spots around your habits and patterns
We are all beautiful and wonderful in our own way. And we all have set ways of behaving in a relationship that are based on how we feel about ourselves. These can be constructive or destructive. It is our job to get to the root of the habits and patterns that don’t serve us well – and it’s not always that easy because we often have blind spots when it comes to our own behaviour.

One of the harshest truths I ever had to face about my journey to find love again was this:

The relationships we attract mirror the relationship we have with ourselves.

If you’re not getting the results you want in your love life, or you keep attracting the ‘wrong’ kind of people, I’d encourage you to look inwards first.

You can change the dating site, app, parties, events and even partners as often as you like, but unless you do the work you uniquely need to do, you may keep ending up back at square one.

Your best relationship is still ahead of you. And I’m excited for you!

Love,

AnéREAD MORE

Jazz at Boisdale
January 26, 2017

Jazz up your January party. Tuesday Jan 10th. Boisdale of Bishopsgate

So down a very dark and narrow alley we went – that being the eccentric approach to the venue of our January party. But then there’s a lot about Boisdale that’s eccentric, which, no surprise, is exactly what attracted me to the kooky-kitsch, red-walled, tartan-clad, cigar-smoking, jazz-loving group of restaurants in the first place!
With its charming and capable fun-pectation team (not naming any names…Mark Shelton GM), what could possibly go wrong?
Mark’s team, lead by unflappable Ines and cocktail maestro Anna, introduced us to a cocktail so delicious you really must try it at home.

The Dubliner Twist
45ml Dubliner whisky
15ml orange juice
10ml homemade vanilla syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir, strain in a rocks-filled glass

The night took off at a gallop and there were so many of us we were split into two groups. Dublin Liberties Irish Whiskey Ambassador Geoff Spieron with his soft Irish lilt led the assault on our palates with a glorious taste tour and masterclass. But wait, where’s the assault of Scottish proportions as we know it? This Irish stuff is mellow – it won’t singe your nose hair if you mistakenly think its wine and sniff it and is gone before you can say that’s a fret.
Boisdale! If you’re listening, we all loved The Dublin Liberties whiskeys and can’t wait to try them again!
As Geoff charmed our palates with his whiskey non-assault course, delightful Artisan du Chocolates ambassador Danny wowed us with a chocolate pairing combination that really hit the spot. She paired:
Dublin Liberties Oak Devil with dark chocolate ganache with honey
Dubliner 10-year old single malt with liquid sea salted caramel with pink and black peppercorns

Finally, we finished off with Feeney’s Irish liqueur and vanilla ganache, leaving no stone of our taste-bud-challenged palates unturned.
Moving upstairs to the bar our boisterous crowd barely drew breath. Lots of new friendships were formed, numbers exchanged and, empowered with our deeper awareness of whiskey and chocolat, we snuck back up the alley. Eventually, that is – the last of our 8.30 finishers (er, including moi) were quietly, but firmly asked to leave the building at 11.00. We found another hot spot – The Devonshire Club around the corner, who were unbelievably tolerant of our slightly-slurred giggly cocktail demands. What a blast! To everyone involved in setting up this epic fun-feast, let’s do it again soon!

Edeenne collection
December 17, 2016

Art of Jewels

Weds 14th December. 68 Kinnerton Street. Knightsbridge. London SW1X 8ER

Rendezvous Club members mingled with The Golden Network members for a sparkling evening of champagne, diamonds and art in a gorgeous photographer’s studio.

Our glasses were kept charged with Colcombet champagne Introduced by the charming Henri Colcombet this boutique brand’s owner. This beautiful champagne is available from the  Mayfair wine emporium Hedonism. Our non-fizz drinkers were kept happy with plentiful wine choices. Bancroft wines Sophie Maclean shared her wine knowledge with us and introduced the superb Bouchon vineyard wines….a whole smooth drinkable choice for every palate.

Parisian designer Edeenne brought together her stunning creations by telling each designs individual story. As well as being captivated by her fun and inspiring story we tried on the sparkles and hoped that one would be under our tree in a few days’ time! Santa baby leave one under the tree, for me.

What a privilege to be in Andrea Hamilton’s artist studio in Knightsbridge, a must visit for anyone looking for Christmas Art The Blue Edition is perfect, curated by our talented friend Nico Kos Earle. Nico introduced the show helping us to discover works exclusively for the show around the concept of blue, created by ten major female artists – exploring the infinite variations of blue across a wide range of media

We loved mingling with our members sipping Champagne, fine wine, admiring jewels, beautiful inspiring people and art…..nothing to be blue about in that mix.