Hello, Petal
April’s 30s & 40s Party, in Fine Hello Petal Form
There are spring evenings in London that feel as though the city has decided to show off a little, and this was one of them.
When we returned to The Other House this week for our latest Rendezvous x Maclynn mixer, the whole mood was transformed from our last gathering in January. Then it had been bleak, dark, and everyone arriving wrapped in coats. This time, there was still light in the sky, that soft spring brightness that seems to put people immediately at ease.
We were in The Keeping Room, which I can only assume is so named because it does precisely that: it keeps you in. The rooms seem to stretch on forever, unfolding into one another in a way that feels both intimate and expansive, exactly what you want when welcoming 85 guests.
And what a crowd.
Polished, bright, accomplished people in their 30s and 40s, all looking as though they had somewhere far more glamorous to be, and yet happily staying put. The atmosphere had that rare thing you hope for but can’t entirely manufacture: instant warmth.
The team at The Other House were, quite simply, superb. Ella and Fran handled the behind-the-scenes execution with the sort of calm efficiency that makes everything appear effortless. Jeanetta seemed to be everywhere at once, and the bar team ensured not a single queue formed, no small feat with that many guests and elegant drinks flowing.
The food played its part: Scottish smoked salmon blinis, beef croquette bites with horseradish cream cheese, falafel with sweet potato and red pepper hummus, filo-coated prawns with sweet chilli sauce. The sort of trayfuls that keep everyone happy while conversations gather pace.
And gather pace they did.
One of the loveliest parts of the evening was how many members of The Other House joined us. It’s such an unusually inclusive club, none of that lonely-laptop atmosphere that can make members’ spaces feels faintly joyless. Before the event had even begun, I was invited to join a members’ table at the bar, which felt wonderfully warm and entirely in keeping with the spirit of the place.
By all accounts, sparks were flying. The drinks rolled into dinner for twenty, and the evening stretched all the way to midnight because, quite simply, nobody wanted to leave.
The messages the next day were exactly what one hopes for: amazing conversations, a fabulous time, please do another one soon.
Which, of course, we will.
