SHINEfor MCGRATH foundation DINEamong theBLOOMS
I feel incredibly lucky to be in the position I am in. With a collective following of 100,000 people, we believe as a brand, that comes with an unwritten responsibility. A responsibility to communicate; honestly, transparently.
choose to work with organisations like McGrath Foundation. It is an amazing foundation, providing breast care nurses across the country to women & their families who are fighting the hard fight against cancer.
I also believe there is an unwritten responsibility working the fashion industry. Because it is my belief that there is absolutely no need for what we do.
In this issue, we will take you through our very first charity event, with all money raised from ticket sales and fundraising acitivity going directly to The McGrath Foundation. It was a huge success with almost $7,000 being raised for our pink friends.
We work in an industry that is based purely around want, and as a fashion brand, we must be giving back in some way. Whether that be by raising funds, awareness or giving time; there has got to be some form of pay back. It is for this reason we choose to work with foundations like McGrath foundation. It is for this reason we choose to work with organisations like McGrath Foundation. It is an amazing foundation, providing breast care nurses It is for this reason we
Lastly, I wanted to thank you. Thank you to those who attended, for being generous with your time & money. And finally, thank you for your energy & love online. It is incredibly inspiring & empowering to be a part of the online community you have created & continue to be a part of, it’s very gracious of you & I appreciate it incredibly.
SW x
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inspiration BOARD
The inspiration for this event was centered around the core messages that The McGrath Foundation and Samantha Wills pride themselves on, this meant creating an area full of life, light and feminine touches that would transcend with the central focus of the evening. By hosting the event at the Gazebo Wine Garden, located in a dizzy corner of Elizabeth Bay, the SW team, were able to use the lively pre-existing touches of hanging plants, vertical gardens, vintage fittings and eclectic wall displays, to infuse Samantha’s romanticised bohemian design vision into the space. Low lit dining, crystal enclosed tea lights and floral embellishments adorned the space, littering the tables, and adding that splash of pink to remind the guests why they were here.
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PALETTE Although the Gazebo Wine Garden did not offer us a blank canvas, this gave us the opportunity to exercise some real skill into transforming a space with its own existing identity. Particularly for this event where we focused on the signature colours of our brand and The McGrath Foundation - luckily for us they crossed over wonderfully (otherwise this could have been tricky!).
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By infusing feminine pastel shades of pink, and white into the table arrangements, as well as adding our signature wood finishes, we were able to create a feminine style representative of the wonderful relationship shared between the two brands.
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MENU
Prawn cocktail lettuce tacos Homemade sausage rolls ‘Bloody Mary’ king salmon Buffalo curd, smoked almonds, honey In the middle to share Gnocchi, walnuts, broccoli, pecorino Beef bourguignon pie, slow braised brisket, button mushrooms, smoked bacon Served with fat chips & salad Mixture of sparkling and Pink Grape Fruit Spritzer served in champagne flutes.
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ATMOSPHERE
Upon entry guests were treated to a VIP experience, they were offered a glass of bubbly and then personally escorted to their seats at one of the alluringly decorated dining tables. After listening to inspiring speeches from both Samantha and Tracy Bevan, foundation director, ambassador and personal friend of Jane McGrath, guests were treated to a sharing feast dining experience where the atmosphere was warmed with conversation. Guests were then invited to engage in a Q&A session withSamantha where nothing was off limits, guests got the low-down on Samantha’s partner Will, her inspiration and the story behind her humble beginnings.
After the formalities guests chose to mingle personally with Samantha, as well as Tracy and other members of the McGrath Foundation team, often seizing the opportunity to grab a photo in front of the SAMANTHA WILLS media wall. Guests were treated to a visual feast, having access to, Samantha Wills couture pieces, an exclusive viewing of the Midnight’s Sunrise collection, the limited edition Bohemian Nights ring display, and the heavily adorned raffle prize table. The air grew electric as the raffle was drawn and guests walked away with prizes from Burberry, LA MER, Palm Beach Collection, Prada, OPSM and more. While some were dazed by the luxury of the jewels, others were engaged deep in conversation, and as the night carried on guests shared similar inspiring stories with one another, all feeling inspired by what they had experienced and suddenly the reason why it was necessary to give back to the community became abundantly clear.
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JEWELS The jewels that maintained the focus of the evening were the SAMANTHA WILLS limited edition Bohemian Nights rings that were available to purchase that evening only. This limited edition collection was featured in a combination of white/white, white/pink and pink/pink in either a burnished gold or silver setting.
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tips • Work with your location, if you’ve got an image in mind don’t be afraid to change it and work it into something new if that isn’t going to turn out as well as you had hoped. • Don’t be afraid to use natural based hues and textures, often they provide a base for your display and ensure that your colour palette isn’t confusing. Wood finishes work fantastically for us, however if you’re not ready to base your display around this, even just by adding some earthy details, like brown paper, or twine you can transform your image. • Give your event some substance. People respond when they feel they are emotionally connected to the experience, by basing your display around something personal you evoke a deeper association with your audience, even if it is just adding a small touch like your favourite flower, or colour to finish off in a way that is unique. • Build from the bottom up. When creating displays we find that working from the bottom and manoeuvering pieces from there helps us achieve our best results, and if it isn’t coming together nicely take it down and start again.
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Samantha looked stunning in a winter perfect long sleeve Seduce dress. She paired this back with the Safari Nights ring and a signature Bohemian Bardot ring and of course, her Sagittarius necklace which she never takes off.
The look was completed with her super luxe nude Christian Louboutin Décolleté leather pumps.
WITH THANKS VENUE Gazebo Wine garden - gazebowinegarden.com.au/ FLOWERS Buds and bowers - budsandbowers.com
SPONSERS Mount Franklin - mountfranklinwater.com.au SK-II - www.sk-ii.com.au Burberry - au.burberry.com Park Hyatt - sydney.park.hyatt.com OPSM - www.opsm.com.au Sunglass Hut - sunglasshut.com.au The Tea Room - thetearoom.com.au Palm Beach Collection - palmbeachcollection.com.au Youngblood - youngbloodmineralcosmetics.com.au Yes To - yestocarrots.com Hello Fresh - hellofresh.com.au Endota Spa - endotadayspa.com.au Oriental Spa - orientalspa.com.au TE HANA Sparkling - tehanasparkling.co.nz
SAMANTHAWILLS.COM