The Challenge

For the second consecutive year, Soho House invited Good Life Events to bring their Lunar New Year celebration at 180 House to life. Building on the success of our 2025 collaboration, the brief was to go bigger and bolder - creating a fully immersive, culturally rich experience that would genuinely surprise and delight members. With 2026 marking the Year of the Horse, the event needed a centrepiece that was impossible to forget.

​

The Idea

The horse is a symbol of strength, freedom, and prosperity - and we wanted guests to feel all of that the moment they walked in. Our creative team conceptualised a bespoke 1.5-metre willow-weave horse head lantern, handcrafted and suspended above the dining table as the dramatic focal point of the entire room. Inspired by traditional Chinese lantern-making, the sculpture was internally lit to glow a deep, vivid red - casting a warm, otherworldly light across the venue.

​

Around it, we layered a full venue transformation: cascading red paper lanterns strung across the ceiling, red and gold table settings, traditional red envelope (hongbao) place settings, blue-and-white porcelain floral centrepieces, and crimson taper candles lining the banquet table for warmth and intimacy.

​

The Experience

• A 1.5m bespoke willow-weave horse lantern, handcrafted and suspended above the long banquet table, glowing deep red and serving as the visual heart of the entire event. Visible throughout the venue and from the London skyline beyond the windows, it set the tone from the first moment guests arrived.

​

• Hundreds of red lanterns cascaded across the ceiling of 180 House, transforming the space from a members' bar into an atmospheric, festival-ready venue. Red and gold decor ran the full length of the room, echoing the colours of prosperity and good fortune.

​

• Each place setting featured a Lunar New Year dinner menu, traditional red envelopes, fortune cookies, and crimson linen napkins - all arranged on crisp white tablecloths alongside blue-and-white porcelain vases filled with deep red orchids, anthuriums, and winter berries.

​

• Guests shared a bespoke Lunar New Year feast - steamed milk buns with Sichuan butter, shrimp toast, vegetable spring rolls, pork and chive jiaozi, whole baked seabass, and sticky rice - designed to honour traditional celebratory dishes within a Soho House dining experience.

​

• As guests raised their glasses in a toast beneath the glowing horse, the energy in the room captured everything the Lunar New Year is about - warmth, connection, abundance, and celebration. The city lights of London shimmered through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind them.

 

The Results

The 2026 Lunar New Year dinner at 180 House was a step-change from an already successful 2025 event. The bespoke horse lantern became an instant talking point - photographed, admired, and shared widely - while the full venue transformation gave guests the feeling of being transported into a private celebration rather than a dinner. Every detail, from the handwritten menus to the traditional red envelopes at each place, told a cohesive cultural story.

It's a testament to what happens when deep creative care, skilled craftsmanship, and a trusted client relationship come together.