Welcome to the Garden

Sophie Charles, Amy Inglefield and Valentina Pollonais like cocktails. They also like to party. So, the next logical step, they thought, would be to combine the two. And just like that, The Garden Parties Company was born.

Business Day spoke to the three Garden Party planners at their first event, The Garden: A Margaritas Inclusive Event at Grundlos Kollective, Cipriani Blvd two weeks ago.

“The idea behind The Garden is we want to create a series of parties that are always fun, easygoing, and not too expensive but for people like ourselves. We’ve created an event for ourselves and we want to share it,” Sophie said.

“We’re going to have themes at each event, creating something different. People can get bored going out every night to the same place, with the same music. We want to create different themes and at different venues so people can have something new to look forward to,” added Valentina.

But most importantly, it has to be reasonably priced. “Everybody is on a budget right now but everybody loves premium drinks. So at this point it’s an experiential event for people to come and pay a decent price and get lots of different drinks to try — all-inclusive — so you don’t have to keep paying over $50 for a cocktail if you went to a bar,” Amy said.

And Margaritas weren’t the only drink on the menu. The women amassed a plethora of partners, including well-known brands like Absolut, Campari, Stoli, Disaronno, Avion Tequila and Val D’Oca, Haagen Dazs, Caribbean Roasters, Oasis and Viva. Each bar offered its own unique cocktail menu and for just $250, guests could sample as many mixes as they want.

The Garden also partnered with Drop Taxi service to offer ten per cent off for attendees to discourage drunk driving. (Amy’s mother, Sharon Inglefield, is president of road safety advocacy group Arrive Alive.)

Convincing these top brands to join their party wasn’t as hard as they thought it might have been, but Amy said, companies were persuaded by their vision and what they had to offer — a way for brands to interact more intimately with their consumers.

“It took some convincing because it was a new event so the uncertainty of being a success is always there, but because of our networks as well it was kind of easy to convince that it was a way to raise their visibility outside of Carnival,” she said.

“It’s another platform for them to showcase their product. Even at Carnival sometimes they have their booths but it’s away from the action. This brings them closer to the consumer,” Sophie added.

“In conceptualising this event, it was crucial that it really appealed to a wide cross-section of party lovers, of different generations, interests and backgrounds,” said Valentina.

Also in their favour is the fact that all three have already established themselves in their respective careers: Sophie is the creative director at a major advertising agency; Amy is a marketing consultant with several prominent alcohol brands, and Valentina is a project manager with a background in energy law.

The Garden, then, is a passion project. And with one successful effort under their belts, the girls are already planning their next event, scheduled for October. “For a first time party, I think we did really well, so we’re excited for the next one,” said Amy.

Check out the Garden on Instagram @thegardenparties and their website https://www.thegardenparties.com/