Mim & Me: Scoping the sweet ‘scape

Posted on 1 July, 2015

From seasonal celebrations to special occasions, when it comes to the finishing touches and decor you don’t always need a theme to set the scene. It’s all in the elements and how they collectively come together on the table. It’s about light and shade; colour and composition; style and scale; texture and tone. And it’s an art form that Canberra-based MIM & ME have perfected with their sweet tablescapes…

Beatrice Smith chats with Sami Mann-Rea about parfait ladders, ice-cream carts and how the perfect tablescape can, and should, tell a very unique story.

Beatrice: For those who don’t know, what is a ‘tablescape’?  

Sami: A tablescape incorporates many elements, which collectively, shouldn’t only compliment each other, but the space and environment in which they stand. While a tablescape in its art form is the creator’s interpretation of the brief, it should reflect the personality and style for whom it is intended and tell their story. For Mim & Me, a sweet tablescape, in all its glory, is the culmination of these elements along with our sweets that captures the essence of the story being told and sets the tone of an event.

What types of events has Mim & Me catered for?  

In its short existence, we’ve created tablescapes for weddings, birthdays, baby showers, christenings and baptisms, however there are no limits to what we can create and are always up for a challenge!

We understand the scale in which our tablescapes manifest are not always required, especially if a dessert course has already been selected. So for those who still crave something unique but on a smaller scale we have an ice-cream cart that is cool (pardon the pun) for summer weddings, and also offer cupcake or parfait ladders and pie tables.

When it comes to choosing elements to include in a tablescape, what’s on offer?

We believe that to create a visual feast that is worth writing home about, there is no room to cut corners; and our packages include every element required to send your guests sensory cells into a spin!

From the tables on which they are built to benches, baskets, rugs, textiles, serving ware, glassware, backdrops, packaging for guests who want to take their treats home to an abundance of blooms and everything in between. We leave no detail behind and work closely with the client to ensure their visions come to life. We want to create tables that people think only exist in their dreams or Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory!

What unique touches do Mim & Me bring to the table(scape) for a wedding or event? 

We are unique in that we are a mother and daughter partnership, and both have very specific roles which combined means we don’t need to outsource any elements of our tables. Mim is the baker and Me, the tablescape maker. Mim bakes 95 per cent of the sweets herself. This grants us the luxury of designing the desserts around the table, as opposed to the table around what desserts are available for sourcing.

It also means the sweets on our tables are unique to the client and the brief they have given us to work with, and we are not held at the helm of supplier stock levels or seasonal sweets to fill our tables. With my background in interior design and styling weighing heavily on the incorporation of furniture, textiles and homewares in the planning and construction of our tables, we offer the complete service.

What are some of your favourite themes that Mim & Me has created tablescapes for? 

For us it’s not so much about themes as it is about telling a story… and we are absolute suckers for a good love story. For MIM & ME, weddings are where the magic happens, and this is why we focus on them. People seem to let their imaginations run wild and let down their walls of limitations. Don’t get us wrong, themes are a really good starting point and a great visual to draw inspiration from, but it is our mission to create tables that are unique to the client, speak their style and remain timeless.

As an example, the vintage and rustic themes have been trending for sometime now and show no sign of slowing anytime soon, but you only have to look at your parents wedding photos to see the contrast in style from then to now. We believe for a tablescape to stand the test of time, we have to think outside the square of a trend. Deconstruct it and focus on the elements the client loves about it and discard the ones they don’t.

These then lay the foundations on which we adapt and use to build a tablescape that doesn’t just represent a trend or mark a ‘phase’ in that persons life, but remains forever faithful to the essence of its owner.

What three words summarise Mim & Me’s approach to creating a unique tablescape for an event? 

Dream. Design. Detail.

Discover the unique beauty of Mim & Me’s tablescapes on Facebook or Instagram.