Dinner on the Pitch | A VIP Corporate Event at Allianz Stadium, Sydney

An intimate dinner for 34 guests, surrounded by thousands of empty seats and a rather spectacular view.

A Dinner with a Difference

We've worked in some pretty interesting venues over the years, but setting up flowers on the pitch at Allianz Stadium in Sydney was certainly something different.

This wasn't a football match, a concert or even a large corporate function. It was an intimate VIP dinner for just 34 people, with one long table set up alongside the playing field.

There were no players, no spectators and no noise from the stands. Just the enormous stadium, the green pitch and a beautifully set table waiting for its guests.

Walking out onto the field and looking around at all those empty seats was quite an experience. It's not every day you get to see an international sporting stadium from this perspective, let alone arrange flowers in the middle of it all.

Flowers on the Field

For the dinner, we'd been asked to create a series of colourful, low floral arrangements to run along the length of the table.

With such an enormous space surrounding us, we wanted the flowers to bring a bit of warmth and intimacy to the dining setting without blocking the extraordinary view.

We used a mixture of hot pink roses, orange and peach flowers, Australian natives and fresh green foliage. The arrangements included bright pink waratahs, pincushion proteas and other flowers with plenty of colour and texture.

Each arrangement was kept relatively low so guests could see and talk to one another across the table.

The flowers ran almost continuously down the centre, giving the long table a lovely sense of connection.

A Table for 34 in a Stadium Built for Thousands

One of the things that made this event so interesting was the scale.

Allianz Stadium can seat around 42,500 people, yet here we were setting up a dinner for just 34. It's a venue familiar to Sydney Roosters supporters and followers of Australian rugby — but there wasn't a player or spectator in sight for this occasion.

The table was dressed with crisp white linen, simple place settings and black bentwood chairs. Against the green playing field and the blue seating of the stadium, the flowers really stood out.

It was quite a contrast — this intimate, colourful dinner setting surrounded by the architecture of a major sporting venue.

We didn't need enormous floral installations or complicated structures. The location was impressive enough on its own.

Our job was to make the table feel welcoming and special while letting the stadium remain the star of the show.

A Very Different Kind of Corporate Event

We've styled all sorts of corporate events across Sydney, from gala dinners and product launches to smaller private functions. We also create flowers for private celebrations and special events.

This one was a reminder that a memorable event doesn't necessarily need hundreds of guests or elaborate decoration.

Sometimes it's the location itself that makes the occasion.

For us, the best part was being able to walk out onto the stadium pitch, set up our flowers and take in the view from somewhere we're normally only used to seeing on television.

Getting everything onto the field was an experience in itself. We delivered the flowers via a hidden two-lane service road running underground beneath the stadium, which brought us directly to pitch level. It's an approach to Allianz Stadium the public doesn't normally see, and it made the set-up all the more interesting.

There was something rather surreal about emerging from underneath the stadium with our flowers and seeing rows and rows of empty seats.

The dinner was catered by Merivale, Allianz Stadium's food and beverage partner. It was a pleasure to see our flowers form part of such an unusual private dining setting.

And once the table was finished, the whole setting came together beautifully.

Corporate Event Flowers by Susan Avery

At Susan Avery Flowers & Events, we've been creating flowers for Sydney events for more than 40 years.

Every venue presents different opportunities, and we're always happy to work somewhere a little out of the ordinary.

For this VIP dinner at Allianz Stadium, we kept the flowers colourful, the arrangements low and the styling simple.

It was a pleasure to be involved, and certainly one of the more unusual places we've set a dinner table.

If you're planning a corporate dinner, VIP function or special event in Sydney, we'd love to talk about the flowers.

Find out more about our corporate event flowers and styling in Sydney.

Susan Avery Flowers & Events
susanavery.com

Photography: Charles McKean for Susan Avery.