WHAT
INSPIRES
YOU
Having Melissa Andre as Chloe Magazine’s entertaining expert, along with her fashion
background and numerous celebrity clients, has provided our readers with a special
insight into glamorous nights and beautiful events.With a lavish eye for detail, her
unique set of qualifications and experience has made her into one of the most
sought-after event designers in the business.
What inspires you?
Interesting colour combinations, whimsical props, movie
sets, fairytales, patterned fabric, travel, architecture, fine art,
pop art, hot air balloons, secret gardens, ferris wheels, and
nursery rhymes. I love designing events for people who love
to dream.
Whats the best advice you have for someone planning
and designing their own event?
When you think you’ve come up with the best idea for an
event or a design, keep thinking and come up with
something 10x better.
What is your most important “Must-have” for
entertaining at home?
A fully-styled and stocked bar cart. I have a beautiful
gold vintage one in my loft. I always keep a few bottles of
champagne on hand as well as Grand Marnier, Cognac,
Hendrick’s Gin, and lemons to make Barbotage and French
75 cocktails. Chambord and St Germain are also absolutely
necessary and beautiful to display at home. I love beautiful
garnishes like edible flowers and colourful fruit twists.
I display gold-rimmed flutes and rock glasses, as well as
my beautiful Brazilian agate coasters. They’re made of a
gorgeous variety quartz composed of crystals. Each one is
unique and they come in the most beautiful hues.
A beautiful and luxurious bar cart display really sets the tone
for a fun cocktail party.
What are your thoughts on the best food to
serve at a party?
I love small bites that can be passed so they’re constantly
fresh. Oysters are always a top pick of mine because they’re
luxurious and easy at the same time. I love the idea of frozen
popsicles for dessert as well. The ones pictured here were
custom creation for one of the parties we designed with a
nautical aesthetic. Our client wanted to host guests for a
party on their yacht and we wanted to give the event a nautical
feel while keeping a sophisticated edge. Since we chose to
skip the more typical nautical references like anchors, we
tied the look and feel of the event together with a perfectly
styled menu, stationery, and place setting. We worked with
La Carnita to design the most perfect soft sea foam blue
frozen desserts. They were a huge hit for our floating party.
Any other tips on creating a memorable event?
The invitation sets the tone for the entire event so I love to
spend a bit more time thinking of a way to make it stand
out. We tried to come up with a really special invitation
design for this party. Laser Cutting the words “Come Away
with Us” into the paper and turning a flat invitation into a
“pop-up card” hand delivered in a gold box, got the guests
really excited for the event. I mean, wh en the invitation is
that good, you really need to follow up with an amazing
party to blow everyone away (which we did).