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April Luca, Founder and Event Producer at  Gold Sky Productions  recently hosted a dinner party in one of the most unique venues we’ve seen–a sound stage located in Los Angeles’ Silverlake neighborhood. Adding to the endless reasons it’s pretty rad to live in California, the dinner party’s venue allowed for photos as stunning as the memories. 

Tell us a bit about Gold Sky Productions. How did this project come about?

Gold Sky is an event design, production, and catering company specializing in bold, powerful brand experiences for global companies such as Paramount, Rolls Royce, and FX Networks. Our team brings incredible experience in music, film and fashion.

This is one of the most intriguing dinner party venues we’ve seen. Why a sound stage?

The idea for the sound stage came from a colleague who’s friends with the owner of Mack Sennett Studios. We wanted a unique space with an intimate feel and the studio had just opened up this new area at the tip of the building. It seemed like a perfect fit for our very exclusive 28-guest dinner party.

What was the biggest challenge in putting this event together?

Hanging the chandeliers so they perfectly hung over the tables, and then covering the wiring. The team took painstaking efforts to keep with the rustic chic — taking raw, natural fiber rope and tightly coiling it around the chandelier power cord to cover the connecting plugs. What a tedious task, but very worthwhile to complete the look!

What inspired the design of this event?

The exposed wood beams and raw concrete floors inspired the rustic-chic design. We were so excited when the studio owner let us explore his studio props (all original to the studio) and found some incredible vintage chandeliers that added the perfect “chic” to my vision! They also provided vintage cinema props (from the 1930s & 1940s) to add décor that was consistent with the studio setting. Since the dinner took place at the beginning of summer, I used the season to inspire the floral — arranging bright orange and yellow dahlias in grey wooden boxes for the centerpieces.

What was served?

We started with homemade breads and specialty butters, artichoke carpaccio and grapefruit, Cynar & mint. Then moved onto locally-sourced Los Alamos pork neck and parsnips, cress & truffle. The chef also arranged for the dinner to have  a wine pairing with each course.

Any favorite memories of the evening you’d like to share?

The guests’ reaction to the room design and setting! After the guests had all arrived and gathered at the studio entrance, they were greeted by our staff and brought to the dinner area for a reveal. The surprise was a success — they were so delighted by the dinner party design, they couldn’t stop talking about what a gorgeous setting we had created.

How can readers incorporate design elements you used here in their own entertaining?

I really love the details. We spent a long time designing the setting of this table for function and to create the perfect visual mix of rustic, minimal but still a chic look. One special touch was antique mix and match silverware (real silver!), which adds the perfect touch to a high-end rustic design. Readers can go to local antique stores and pick up mix and match silverware to use for all different types of dinners, and specifically to achieve this gorgeous rustic chic look. Another favorite detail is the white linen hemstitch napkins. Those really take your table to the next level, as guests surely notice the attention to detail.