Baby shower at The Dorchester, Penthouse & Pavilion
I would have liked to have had a baby shower, but wasn’t anticipating it to be at The Dorchester! I’m so grateful to have had this experience and even more thrilled to be sharing the day with you…
The Dorchester’s Penthouse & Pavilion was absolutely stunning; it’s a beautiful suite made up of different rooms with an outdoor terrace. And the day itself was wonderful, celebrating with family and friends. But it is unfortunate that the service wasn’t as good as it could have been. Especially in contrast to having a bridal shower afternoon tea at The Langham back in June 2018 (I’ve shared pics of The Langham afternoon tea at the end).
Where The Dorchester is concerned, I would have thought I’d just be sharing pictures of the day and not really any kind of summary or feedback. And whilst that still stands (a few snaps below) and nor will I go into too much detail (send me an email here if you’d like detailed feedback should you be thinking of hiring the Penthouse & Pavilion), I will nonetheless share just a couple of (first world) delights and disappointments:
To start with, The Dorchester couldn’t grasp the concept of wanting afternoon tea not presented on the traditional tier stands and instead just having it laid out on the table (the way The Langham and even St James Court Taj Hotel managed to present the tea) and ended up offering a silver service for sandwiches and scones. This wouldn’t have been a problem if their staff were on full form; they were absolutely lovely people but just didn’t know how to work a room. It was also disappointing that for an afternoon tea booking, they didn’t have a tea menu like you ordinarily get a selection of teas to choose from.
I am not sure whether our event was compromised by the wedding that was about to take place in their ballroom on the same day (maybe all their trained staff ended up being allocated there?) whether it was due to the pandemic or whether actually this is what their service is usually like. Either way, when it comes to large groups and events, there will of course be mishaps and that in itself wasn’t the issue at all. Just compared to our experience of private dining in other hotels, I guess the expectations for this was set much higher than anticipated.
Further reinforcing the dissapointing expectations is The Guardian’s poor review on The Dorchester’s recently opened Polo bar; what’s supposed to be one of the most uber luxury hotels in London is not having a good run at the moment!
Having said all that, the scones were dee-licious (one of the best I’ve had), we requested to have rustic cheese and fruit platters towards the end for people to pick on, and these were done so beautifully - surpassed what I had in mind. And the manager on the day, Andrea, was so wonderful. I can’t fault their effort and intentions, despite the execution having gone a tad awry.
Nonetheless, what mattered the most was having an intimate afternoon with loved ones and well wishers. In that respect it was absolutely perfect.
At the end of this post I’ve listed where I purchased some of the decor details (nearly all of it from Etsy) and my outfit. I never bought any maternity wear (with the exception of a couple of jeans and literally just x2 casual tops) because I think maternity clothing is so dull and outdated. So I was just buying clothes from my preferred places but just a few sizes up…
One of the highlights of my day was actually when this cake toppled over! When transporting it, the baker hadn’t secured it well and it collapsed in the car. Thankfully the chefs at The Dorchester were able to work some magic on it and put it back together (the blue orchids were already part of the cake, but the small blue flowers circling around it were placed by the pastry chef to cover the flaws). For this reason, the cake was already unstable and out of nowhere towards the end of the day towered over. Whilst everyone gasped, I had to clasp my hands around my mouth to stop myself from laughing. There was no need to take things like this seriously - it ended up being a bit of fun.
Where to buy…
Decor details
These were just as gorgeous as they looked in the pictures.
Stunning and arrived exactly as pictured.
Candles (as on guestbook table)
We bought three of these and spread them around the rooms; the scent was so beautiful and strong. You could really pick it up even when walking past them.Invitations
I had these printed then stuck them on ombre glitter card myself. The only reason why I had to do that was because the size of the card wasn’t the same as the size of the envelope and it was a nightmare trying to get that right. At the end I opted to just ‘make the card bigger’ by sticking it on glitter card which actually made the invitations look so incredibly beautiful.Favours
I actually would not recommend these. They look so beautiful in the pictures but when they arrived the plastic boxes were all chipped, the flowers on top had some yellow colouring (which apparently was supposed to make it look vintage) and the glitter dust from the sweets actually spread the powder all over the inside of the box, making it look messy. Nonetheless, they perfectly (and unintentionally) complemented the room and look lovely on the table.Cake - local baker
My outfit
Dress: Shrimps (matching with the decor was not intentional :p)
Bag: Pucci
Shoes: Malone Souliers
And you can’t see my earrings but they’re from my absolute fave jewellery brand Laurence Coste (the selection on her website does absolutely no justice to what she has in her showrooms - you must visit!) Here’s a close up simply because I’m so in love…
Bridal shower afternoon tea at The Langham, Roux at The Landau
Whilst the flowers were my own doing, the way The Langham presented the afternoon tea was stunning. And as mentioned above, the service was impeccable, everything went so smoothly, they were so attentive, gave such lovely additions for the two children we had (colouring sets and teddy bears - again not something we asked for, they themselves provided) and we truly felt well looked after and in safe hands…
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