Events

The Knightsbridge Edition

The Sort of Room That Gets People Talking

September brings that lovely moment when London wakes up again. Holidays are over, diaries fill up, and suddenly everyone seems ready to go out.

For our first Rendezvous evening at Pavilion Club Knightsbridge, the setting couldn’t have been better. The September sun was still doing its thing, the room was glorious, and behind the scenes our team had been working hard to ensure the room had the balance we always promise.

A room with a sense of occasion

Set within the beautifully restored former Danish Club, Pavilion has an elegance that doesn’t need to shout. High ceilings, a mezzanine, and abundant light give the room a wonderful sense of space, while the enormous central bar became the natural heart of the evening.

It worked brilliantly. People could move around it easily, drifting between conversations and making those little introductions that are so much easier when nobody is pinned to a table.

One guest described the room simply as “beautiful, elegant” and particularly liked how the circular layout made it easy to move around.

A little something from the bar

Pavilion’s drinks offering kept things suitably summery: Chandon Spritz with pink fruit soda and Virgin Mojitos, alongside SAS beers and Terrazas Malbec.

The canapés were equally well judged: butternut squash and sage arancini, grilled chilli prawns with avocado mousse, and duck leg croquettes with quince jam.

A special thank you to Pablo and Margot for bringing the evening together so beautifully, and to our friend Elaine, whose original suggestion introduced us to Pavilion in the first place.

And then the conversations began

We brought together the Rendezvous community, Maclynn’s members and Pavilion’s guests, and the room quickly became one large conversation rather than three separate groups.

For some, it was their first discovery of Pavilion. Several guests told us they had no idea the club was there, tucked away in Knightsbridge, and were intrigued to find out more about membership.

And then there was the usual Rendezvous magic: people arriving not knowing quite who they would meet and leaving with conversations they wanted to continue.

One guest summed up the evening rather nicely: “The place was nice, people seemed to like it. Elegant.”

We rather agree.

And as ever, the real measure of a Rendezvous evening is what happens afterwards. New conversations continuing, details being exchanged, and people already wondering when they’ll see each other again.

A very good reason to keep saying yes to September.

Summer & Sociability at 12 Hay Hill

There was something wonderfully relaxed about our Summer & Sociability evening at 12 Hay Hill. With some guests already back from summer holidays and others counting down the days until theirs began, conversations quickly turned to favourite destinations, long lunches and plans still to come.

Despite another 33-degree day in London, the beautifully cool surroundings of The Bar at this historic Mayfair private members’ club offered the perfect retreat. Guests arrived to elegant long glasses of Tidal Rum cocktails, crisp, refreshing and unmistakably summery, before the room gradually filled with the warm hum of people meeting for the first time.

Our guests certainly embraced the dress code. Sharp, stylish and impeccably turned out, they looked every bit at home beneath the marble, soft lighting and beautiful interiors. Several guests even commented on how refreshing it was to arrive at an event where everyone had made such an effort.

The canapés, beautifully prepared by the team at 12 Hay Hill, were a real talking point throughout the evening. The Severn & Wye smoked salmon blinis with keta caviar and crème fraiche were a sophisticated twist on a classic, the Devon crab brioche rolls with avocado and pickled fennel were wonderfully fresh, while the truffle and parmesan arancini with black garlic emulsion proved dangerously moreish.

As always, it’s the messages we receive afterwards that tell the real story.

“Thank you for a super evening.”

“Meeting people this way is far nicer than dating apps.”

“A first-class event.”

“Thank you for being such an attentive hostess.”

What particularly delighted us this time was hearing from so many of the gentlemen afterwards. Several took the time to write simply to say thank you, others asked to join us again, and several guests left hoping to see each other again. We took that as a rather good sign that we’d assembled exactly the right crowd.

A huge thank you to Greta and the exceptional team, Botond, Dominic and Taylor,  at 12 Hay Hill. From the flawless organisation to the warm hospitality behind the bar, every detail was delivered with effortless professionalism and helped create the relaxed, welcoming atmosphere our guests enjoyed so much.

Judging by the messages we woke up to the following morning, quite a few conversations continued long after the evening had come to an end. Some evenings finish when the bar closes. The best ones carry on long afterwards.

When Everything Aligns: An Evening at The Sloane Club

Every now and then, an event comes together so perfectly that you almost don’t notice all the ingredients that made it so. As Goldilocks might have said, it was perfect in every way.

After a week of blistering temperatures, the city settled into one of those blissfully balmy June evenings when 24 degrees somehow feels just right. At The Sloane Club’s beautiful LILA Bar, the retractable glass roof slid open to reveal a cloudless blue sky, and we were reminded why London summers, when they decide to behave, are among the finest in the world.

Heritage, beautifully reimagined

Founded in 1922, The Sloane Club has entered an exciting new chapter following an extensive restoration. It has achieved that rare balance of respecting its history while embracing a thoroughly modern vision centred around wellbeing, community and connection.

More than a venue

What makes somewhere truly memorable isn’t just the design; it’s the people.

Of course, creating that atmosphere takes two teams working as one. Danusia welcomed guests on arrival, while Anna and Liv greeted everyone in LILA, helping those arriving alone feel instantly at ease. Hannah and I quietly orchestrated introductions throughout the evening, while Maclynn’s matchmakers – Joanna, Frankie and Ozora – were on hand, chatting to members and sharing their expertise.

Alex Rich, Head of Membership, welcomed guests with the sort of enthusiasm that can’t be manufactured. Beneath the polish is genuine curiosity and a real desire for people to enjoy themselves.

Behind every effortless evening is someone quietly orchestrating a hundred moving parts, and Emily did exactly that. Together with the LILA and Demob Bar teams, everyone worked seamlessly to make guests feel completely at ease.

Conversations over algorithms

Our first collaboration brought together Sloane Club members, the Rendezvous community and Maclynn’s matchmaking team.

One of the pleasures of hosting Rendezvous is watching people arrive knowing no one, only to leave wondering why they hadn’t met years earlier.

Long after the official finish, small groups were still chatting. Phone numbers had been exchanged, future dinners arranged and, in one particularly successful case, a first date already organised.

One guest later wrote, “I had such a wonderful time. I met two great women – a girls’ night is already being planned – and a charming guy who has asked me on a date.”

Perhaps our favourite comment was, “Good fun and bringing people together is always such a positive thing to do.”

That’s exactly why we do it.

Small plates, big impressions

Between introductions, I managed to sample the canapés.

The hand-rolled prawn spring rolls looked almost too elegant to eat; the beef onglet skewers with vibrant chimichurri were perfectly pink and melted in the mouth, while the pumpkin and scamorza arancini revealed irresistibly stretchy, molten centres with every bite.

Watching beautifully chilled martinis glide past to neighbouring tables eventually proved too much to resist. I ordered one myself, and it was the perfect way to end the evening.

As I left just after 10 pm, around fifteen guests were still deep in conversation in the Demob Bar, with no one in any hurry to leave.

For us, that says everything.

New friendships begin. Sometimes, so do romances. Every now and then, everything really does align.

The Fast Lane to Friendship

Vintage racing posters · Summer gallery party · 50s & 60s · Shepherd Market

There are worse places to spend a June evening than a small gallery in Shepherd Market with a cold glass of rosé in hand and a room full of interesting people.

The weather was doing its best impression of summer: warm rather than hot, but with that unmistakable London closeness in the air. Inside, however, nobody seemed particularly concerned. The gallery was packed, the rosé and Peroni were flowing, and those opting for clearer heads were happily working their way through Dash raspberry and cucumber spritzers and Nirvana’s alcohol-free beers. After all, if you’re hoping to make a good impression at a dating event, keeping your wits about you can be a tactical advantage.

The exhibition itself was extraordinary. Vibrant vintage motor racing posters, original artworks, limited editions and beautifully framed photographs lined the walls, glowing in the evening light that poured through the gallery windows. There was glamour, speed and nostalgia in every direction; reminders of an era when racing drivers looked impossibly heroic and advertising posters were works of art in their own right.

Guiding us through it all was William Lansbury, whose modesty somehow makes his achievements even more impressive. A racing driver, writer and producer, Will has competed and won across Formula First, Formula Ford and Formula Renault, before returning to competitive racing after taking time away to raise his son yet you would never have guessed this from listening to him. His enthusiasm is directed entirely towards the stories behind the collection, bringing each piece to life with the kind of insight that only comes from someone who genuinely loves the world he inhabits.

As conversations flowed, so did the canapés, arriving steadily throughout the evening and disappearing just as quickly. Guests drifted between artwork and conversation, discovering shared interests in travel, motorsport, London life and summer plans. New friendships formed easily, helped by the relaxed atmosphere and the fact that everyone had something beautiful to look at when they needed a moment to gather their thoughts.

The timing turned out to be impeccable. As the evening drew to a close, some newly formed groups headed off together to watch England’s opening World Cup match, proving that it is entirely possible to fit art, socialising, dating and football into a single evening if you put your mind to it.

Others lingered a little longer. My own evening ended next door at Noble Rot with a glass of champagne and a table of charming, funny people whose conversations had started in the gallery and showed no sign of stopping. We talked about summer holidays, favourite cities, future adventures and everything in between.

One guest wrote afterwards to say how lovely it had been to meet people face to face and how much they were looking forward to the next event. Another simply thanked us for a wonderful evening.

Which, in the end, felt like the perfect verdict.

The art may have brought everyone through the door, but it was the conversations, the laughter and the company that stayed with them long after the gallery lights were turned off.