New offices. Old conviction: we never do things by halves.
Client XXL HAPPYNESS
Event type Opening
Participants 50
Date 17 Apr 2025
XXL Happyness inaugurates its new offices in Les Chartrons. We could have had a drink with friends. Instead we threw an evening our clients, prospects and partners are still talking about.
The challenge
Inaugurate a new workplace while telling our guests something essential: this is who we are, this is how we work, this is what you can expect from us.
An office inauguration is a rare opportunity. The chance to gather everyone who matters in one place (clients, prospects, partners) and show them concretely what we’re capable of. Not with words. With an evening.
We took the advice we give our clients
Create an immersive experience, coherent from start to finish, that embodies our values and the way we work. Les Chartrons as the stage. Our best contacts as the audience. And our usual high standards as the only brief.
We’ve been organising events for others for 7 years. This evening was
What did we build? Our 7 Culture Makers Moments
Immersive set design
The décor before anything else. New offices turned into a party venue: lighting, materials, volumes, a set design conceived so that the space says something about XXL Happyness at first glance. We weren’t inaugurating walls: we were inaugurating an atmosphere, a way of being, a promise.
Oyster tasting & local produce on the plancha
Bordeaux on the plate, right from the door. Fresh oysters, local produce cooked on the plancha, the gesture of hospitality rooted in our region and our way of hosting. Generous, direct, no fuss. Like us.
Grazing table & signature cocktails
A continuous tasting table: cheeses, charcuterie, fruit, artisan breads, so that guests can graze, linger, come back. Signature cocktails created for the evening, which became a talking point in themselves. The table as a space for connection as much as pleasure.
Activity: “The Almost Perfect Agency”
The moment we laugh at ourselves, with style. A bespoke show playing on the world of events, our backstage, our quirks, telling guests we’re a team that doesn’t take itself too seriously, even when doing serious things. Humour as a way of bringing people closer.
Photobooth themed on local destinations
Bordeaux, Cap Ferret, the Dordogne, Arcachon Bay… our playgrounds turned into photobooth backdrops. A nod to our local roots and our projects, a way to take guests travelling without leaving Les Chartrons. A keepsake to take home, in the colours of our region.
Watercolour artist to capture the moment
An artist creating live watercolours of the evening: the faces, the atmosphere, the details. An artistic gesture that says something about how XXL Happyness thinks about its events: with beauty, care, and always an eye for capturing what deserves to last.
Mood lighting & DJ set
An atmosphere that builds gradually, a DJ set that takes the evening from cocktails to full-blown party without anyone noticing. Because a good evening doesn’t stop, it evolves.
Behind the scenes
Holding ourselves to our own standards
Organising your own inauguration when you’re an event agency is the toughest test there is. Our guests know our work; they know what we can do for others. The bar was high. We raised it higher still, because that’s how we operate.
Les Chartrons as an editorial choice
We didn’t set up in Les Chartrons by chance. This vibrant, creative neighbourhood, rooted in Bordeaux’s history and geared towards innovation, says something about who we are. The inauguration had to extend that choice: an evening that was itself in the spirit of Les Chartrons. Alive, authentic, with character.
Coherence as the thread running through every detail
Local oysters, Bordeaux destinations in the photobooth, a watercolour artist, a show built on our own world: everything tells the same story. Not one element is there by chance or for convenience. That’s our daily work for our clients: end-to-end narrative coherence. We owed it to ourselves to embody it that night.
Hosting the way we advise
We tell our clients that a successful event creates pride in belonging, lasting connections and a memorable experience. This evening was our way of proving it by example: not by talking about what we do, but by doing it in front of the very people we offer it to.
You’re inaugurating a venue, launching a business, looking to impress your partners.
We know how to turn an evening into a lasting selling point.
