When I was lucky enough to live just a few steps from Islington’s Upper Street, I used to frequent this venue in its former life on many a Thursday night.

Since then, it’s been re-incarnated by its antipodean team into the mysteriously named Dead Dolls House.

I popped in last week to meet Emily, the events manager, Nadine, the general manager, owners Gregory Barry and Morten Jensen and their friendly colleagues. We meandered around the three-storey Victorian house, through the Parlour Bar, up to the Library and Drawing Room and topping it all off at the Ballroom. Each room has its own bar and state-of-the-art sound system.

Dead Dolls House plays host to all manner of events that make use of either the whole house or one of the intimate private spaces. Emily has helped plan interactive theatre performances, hen parties, xmas parties, baby showers, tea parties (Mad Hatter style!), bar mitzvahs, halloween parties (The Rocky Horror Show theme last year went down brilliantly) and countless late 20s / early 30s birthday parties. Weddings, however, are definitely Emily’s favourite as each one takes on its own personality. She goes on to describe the venue as ‘wonderfully feminine, with its own unique decor… hand-drawn paintings and candelabras dotted all around the house’.

Emily loves discussing her own ideas with the couple planning their wedding over a leisurely food and cocktail tasting. ‘It’s just so rewarding to see how the style and format of a wedding can evolve between our first discussion with the clients and the day itself. We take plenty of time together to discuss food, layouts, flowers, music and more… over a number of meetings, I’ll show them photos of what’s worked well here over the last three years’.

She goes on to describe herself as a perfectionist, working on every detail from start to finish. Emily’s favourite wedding set up takes advantage of the atmospheric decor and lighting that lend itself so well to Dead Dolls House. The sharing plates approach means it’s best to keep table decor to a minimum… maybe a milk bottle with wild flowers… meanwhile the fairy light wall and disco ball chandelier can be used to accentuate different moods at different stages of a wedding day and night, or early hours. You really can take it all the way through the night here with the venue’s incredible 4am license.

Emily’s colleagues clearly give her a lot of personal energy. The team here is very tight, fun-loving, thoughtful and driven, but quite jokey. Nadine, Emily’s boss, described how the core team has worked together for several years now, which ‘is hugely beneficial in making the events run smoothly, but also means we can add some of our team’s personality and bravery to an event’.

Since Emily has the advantage of working in such a unique spot, we thought we’d ask her what other venues she’s also a big fan of. She craves the ambience of a really nice (defined as ‘not grimy or dirty’) London pub, a totally different feel than the pubs back in Adelaide, her hometown. Her recommendations for weekend pints, hipster weddings and private dinners include the Pub on the Park in London Fields or the Owl and Pussycat in Shoreditch.

As we devoured a delicious taster of the chef’s best canapes, Emily went on to explain that The Dead Dolls House has plenty of untapped potential. The options for corporate events are endless: meetings, workshops, brainstorms, award ceremonies, product launches, photo shoots and private dining… particularly as the venue is often under-utilised during the daytime. The assortment of spaces means that the venue can accommodate pretty much any kind of event. Emily mentioned a recent interactive painting experience with Haygarth, a creative agency, that went down very well with all 40 team members.

Interested in finding out more? Be sure to meet Emily, the ultimate perfectionist. Or pop in and experience Dead Dolls House for yourself. It’s open to random punters like you and I and the design of the space means you can pop in for evening cocktails or have an intimate dinner followed by a bar or club experience all in one little house, just a few steps from the city…