200 guests arrived at The Savoy on a cold winter’s evening, dressed Bedroom Chic, our dress code for the evening. At the top of the Art Deco staircase, our audience passed a Parisian armoire where they were encouraged to theatrically “freshen-up” by brushing their teeth and washing their hands before “heading to bed.”

Our scent specialists, Design In Scent, created edible atomisers of mint flavoured toothpastes, for example Sensodyne with the taste of mint choc chip, and Colgate was peppermint, reminiscent of a beautiful cup of mint tea. Each guest was encouraged to spray the atomisers and to use warm hand towels scented with lemon to wash their hands.

The room was set for a glowing sunset, our first 45-minute act. As guests moved into the room they were transported into a dreamy world where we positioned seven king size beds dressed exquisitely in The Savoy style. These beds were essentially acting as the performance stages for the evening, positioned for people to engage with, which were surrounded by soft furnishings.

Each performer played an integral role within the experience and its narrative. Guests noticed a lady asleep in bed as they entered the room, where she remained throughout the experience. Her dreams were manifested into reality as guests witnessed a range of interesting characters enter the room.

A mad hatter and white rabbit appeared inspecting the sleeping lady, as if being conjured from the book on her bedside table (Alice in Wonderland). Feeling mischievous these cheeky characters interacted with the audience, but remained in their own world, discovering side cupboards, setting out their own tea party and controlling the entertainment in the room.

Guests were witness to our first story whilst sipping a sunset cocktail and feasting on canapés, each served with a scented napkin and additional fragrances such as the scent of fresh cotton. A contortion act followed, with a playful cat chasing a fish on the other side of the room.

After each 45 minute period, moving from sunset to twilight, through midnight to dawn, the characteristics and performers changed to reflect the individual associations with that specific time of night. Using carefully curated lighting design and soundscapes, we were able to create the impression of time accelerating, marked by our White Rabbit and Mad Hatter in a frenzy as the room re-set for the next part of the evening.

Additional dreamy characters were added to the room, including ladies in Victorian nightgowns slowly dancing their way from one side of the room to the other, and a beautiful puppet theatre dress, acting like the host of the party, a lady of leisure, gliding about like a princess at a ball. She was then joined by one of the nightdress girls who acted as puppeteer, entering the scene holding two puppets, playfully childlike and giddy. She climbed under the skirt and started making the puppets move, creating the impression of child playing with dolls under the bed, invoking a younger dreamer in us all.

As the clock struck midnight, with the lights fading to deep and rich party tones, our guests were treated to a sensational ballet performance. Three beautiful ballerinas appeared in the room and effortlessly performed a scene from the Nutcracker ballet, but with a contemporary twist. Adorned with LED lights these dancers brought the ballet to the future, blending into our theme in an entirely unique way.

DJ Fox sprung to life playing lullabies in the form of disco songs as guests threw off their shoes and took to the dance floor. Other guests took advantage of our custom-made photobooth bed, hosted by the charming John Nassari, our designated photographer and videographer for the evening.

Whilst guests were busy shimmying to the likes of Whitney Houston and the Spice Girls, one poor person was having trouble getting to sleep in our very own insomnia corner. Positioned here was the most spectacular Counting Sheep cake design by the inimitable Tuck Box cakes, matched against a dressing table full of insomnia balms for those having trouble heading to sleep. Let’s just say these treatments worked better for some more than others...