EVENT
A SUSTAINABLE RETREAT
In 2012, if you wanted an all-inclusive wellness retreat in the States, your choice was Canyon Ranch. However, our client, inspired by her evolution into a more plant-based lifestyle, met Kathryn in August, and those original plans...
Well, on the eve of her 49th birthday, Kathryn, equipped with her magic wand, turned her client's 12,000-square-foot Florida estate into a seven-day all-inclusive sanctuary for mind, body, and soul transformation.
Creating this immersive exploration of holistic wellness in the privacy of her own home, our client invited twelve of her closest friends and family to explore and experience the same dramatic improvements in health and mental clarity she had undergone only months before.
Now, onto the show…
Dubbed High on Health for this week-long affair, in September 2012, guests were immersed in an oasis of uncomplicated serenity from the moment they arrived.
Greeted with a fresh coconut and straw, from sunrise to long after sunset, unique experiences and treatments were awaiting them, including massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, an infrared sauna, scheduled yoga sessions, workshops, dips in the pool, time alone, and more.
Whimsical gifts sprinkled throughout—think organic cotton and hemp clothing to personalized organic cotton robes, a Breville juicer, yoga mats, journals, books, and beauty and bath products, to name just a few—purposeful items for use during the week, but also meant to inspire friends to leave their luggage at home.
Oh, and those peacocks meandering about… only our curious neighbors trying to crash in on the fun!
Of course, as beauty starts from within... the highlight was food!
Chef Nicolas Torrent, a trailblazer in the culinary and health plant-forward food movements, and his protege, Sophia Roe, crafted a straightforward and aesthetically pleasing plant-based menu with organic and local produce throughout the week.
However, as if patiently awaiting its moment to shine, as melodic notes from the ivories filled a room of magical lighting, Friday evening's intimate dinner for guests and their spouses was art.
As the custom-designed servers' aprons, napkins, and one epic table acting as canvas; the menu included heirloom shooters, a wedge salad with forage bleu and crispy pancetta, beet carpaccio, pear walnut ravioli, and dolce picante pizzetta, followed by crème cappuccino and an assortment of handcrafted nut cheeses and raw cacao truffles for dessert.
And while various tonics and elixirs, nut milk, and more were enjoyed throughout the week, this night, biodynamic wines and cocktails that cure were generously poured.
And then there was Saturday.
Not to be outdone, we kept those organic cocktails that cure flowing as she hosted a bash for 100 of her closest friends, family, and co-workers.
Reconfiguring design elements from the night before, we added custom-designed food stations and a bar with "pockets," outfitted additional staff in the same natural fiber clothing and vegan shoes, even the band...
Interactive food stations serving flatbread pizza (yes, you picked your own tomatoes), tacos, sushi, and ravioli were sprinkled throughout the backyard and anchored by the custom-built curved bar, its back walls becoming a vertical herb garden and allowing for fresh-picked additions to cocktails all night.
As the sun set over the lake, our favorite New York City DJ, Jeffery Tonnesen, electrified the energy as JD Ferguson captured it on film. Eventually pausing his set, Jeffrey handed his mic over to a Miami-based salsa band and, between these two acts, kept everyone on their feet and dancing until the early morning hours.
It was the perfect late September evening, one in which the humidity made everyone glow, and an exceptional cherry-on-top moment for the ultimate girls' stay-cay vacation!
WHAT WE DID
Creative Direction + Experiential Design, Executive Production + Event Management, Holistic Wellness Curation + Scheduling + Workshop Program Development, Sustainable Styling + Gifting + Strategy, Product Design + Development + Manufacturing, Custom Fabrication Design, Foam Free Floral Design
