Ma Chérie: French Boutique Bridal Shower Design in Calgary
Experiential Design · Venue 308 · Calgary, AB · Spring 2025
The request was deceptively simple: design a bridal shower that felt like stepping into a Parisian boutique. Not a theme party. Not a Pinterest board brought to life. A genuine spatial experience, one where every object, surface, and sightline contributed to a single, cohesive atmosphere. The bride-to-be wanted something intimate yet considered, personal yet polished. The kind of event where guests feel the design before they notice it.
KINN Studios approached Ma Chérie as we approach every project, through the lens of architecture and spatial narrative. We selected Venue 308 in Calgary for its clean lines and natural light, a raw canvas that would absorb the French boutique aesthetic without competing with it.
The Design
The centrepiece of the experience was a custom-built perfume cart, designed and fabricated specifically for this event. Styled with fresh florals, curated fragrance bottles, and hand-lettered signage bearing the Ma Chérie mark, the cart functioned as both an installation and an interactive moment. Guests could explore scents, engage with the display, and take something tangible from the day.
We design spaces that feel like memories before they become ones.
It was not decoration. It was experiential design in the truest sense: an object that created behaviour, invited participation, and anchored the spatial story of the room.
The material palette drew from the language of French patisseries and vintage boutiques: soft creams, muted pinks, aged gold accents, and textured linens. Every element was intentional. The typography was hand-selected to echo Parisian signage traditions. The colour story ran from the florals through to the tableware, the napkin folds, and into the dessert display, creating an unbroken visual thread that gave the space its quiet coherence.
Cherry-Themed Desserts by Deep's Delights Catering
The culinary component was designed in collaboration with Deep's Delights Catering, a Calgary-based Indian-fusion dessert and catering studio. The dessert table was conceived as an extension of the spatial design, not a separate catering brief. Cherry-themed confections, gluten-friendly options, and a display architecture that echoed the French boutique language of the room.
The result was a dessert experience that guests could see from across the venue, drawing them through the space the way a storefront window draws you off the sidewalk.
Cherry-themed dessert display, designed in collaboration with Deep's Delights Catering Calgary
The Experience
What distinguished Ma Chérie from a conventional bridal shower was the totality of the design. There was no seam between the spatial concept and the guest experience. The perfume cart was not a rental; it was purpose-built. The desserts were not ordered from a menu; they were designed into the room. The venue was not decorated; it was transformed.
This is the difference between event styling and experiential design, and it is the work that KINN Studios exists to do.
Calgary's event design landscape is evolving. Clients are moving past generic decor packages toward genuine spatial experiences, events designed with the same rigour and intentionality you would bring to a retail interior or a gallery installation. Ma Chérie was a demonstration of that shift: a private celebration designed with architectural thinking, cultural sensitivity, and an obsessive attention to the details that make a space feel complete.
