Category Archives: Decorations

Everyone loves Hollywood

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Hollywood parties are perfect for dinner parties, a cocktail party, or as part of an Oscar watching party! It is a great opportunity to highlight an adult birthday party by making the birthday guest the “star!”

Hollywood Theme Invitations
Print details on a ½ sheets of cardstock, cut into a star shape and decorate with glitter.
Create an invitation that looks like a movie ticket.
Create an invitation that looks like a movie poster.
Use a basic, very elegant invitation, something that would go out for the Oscars.

Hollywood Decorations
A Red Carpet Runner is a must!
Incorporate Gold Stars into your decorations
Hollywood Scene Setters are a great way to transform your party space fast!
Use Movie Popcorn Buckets
Own a Movie Director Chair? Time to get it out to use as seating at the party.
Hollywood Clapboards can be used as signs for food, as decorations, or scattered around the room.
Hang up Movie Posters (you may be able to get some from free at your local cinema)
Used Film Reel Decorations in your centerpieces
Another great decoration – Hollywood Sidewalk Star
Hollywood cutouts
Playing your favourite party music always works!
Add to the movie theme by playing music from your favourite movies.

Hollywood Party Games
As guests arrive, take their pictures on the red carpet. If possible, have some screaming fans to try to get their autographs as they arrive and have several photographers (paparazzi) flashing their photos.

Ask your guests to come to the party dressed as a famous celebrity or movie character and award prizes (Oscar statue trophies would be perfect!)

Balloon Decorating

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Balloons are the ultimate party decoration and are used for decorating birthday parties, weddings, corporate functions, school events, and for other festive gatherings. The artists who use the round balloons to build are called “stackers” and the artists who use pencil balloons to build are called “twisters.” Most commonly associated with helium balloon decor, more recently balloon decorators have been moving towards the creation of air-filled balloon decorations due to the non-renewable natural resource of helium limited in supply. The most common types of balloon decor include arches, columns, centerpieces, balloon drops, sculptures, and balloon bouquets. With the increased aptitude for balloon twisting as well as balloon stacking, the rise of the deco-twister manifests itself as the combination of stacking techniques as well as twisting techniques to create unique and interesting balloon decor option.

Decorative rainbow colored arches made of party balloons used at the gay pride parade in São Paulo, Brazil.

Party balloons are mostly made of a natural latex tapped from rubber trees, and can be filled with air, helium, water, or any other suitable liquid or gas. The rubber elasticity makes the volume adjustable.

Twisting balloons can be used to create decor centerpieces for events and to create a more unique look than can be provided by foil balloons.

Often the term “Party Balloon” will refer to a twisting balloon or pencil balloon. These balloons are manipulated to create shapes and figures for parties and events, typically along with entertainment.
Filling the balloon with air can be done with the mouth, a manual or electric inflater (such as a hand pump), or with a source of compressed gas.

When rubber or plastic balloons are filled with helium so that they float, they typically retain their buoyancy for only a day or so, sometimes longer. The enclosed helium atoms escape through small pores in the latex which are larger than the helium atoms. Balloons filled with air usually hold their size and shape much longer, sometimes for up to a week.

Even a perfect rubber balloon eventually loses gas to the outside. The process by which a substance or solute migrates from a region of high concentration, through a barrier or membrane, to a region of lower concentration is called diffusion. The inside of balloons can be treated with a special gel (for instance, the polymer solution sold under the “Hi Float” brand) which coats the inside of the balloon to reduce the helium leakage, thus increasing float time to a week or longer.

It is becoming more common for balloons to be filled with air instead of helium, as air-filled balloons will not release into the atmosphere or deplete the earthly helium supply. There are numerous party games and school-related activities that can use air-filled balloons as opposed to helium balloons. When age-appropriate, these activities often include the added fun of blowing the balloons up. In many events, the balloons will contain prices, and party-goers can pop the balloons to retrieve the items inside.

Halloween party ideas

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Halloween isn’t really as popular here in the UK as it is in the US, where they go absolutely crazy for All Hallow’s Eve. Even so, we have noticed a significant upturn in Halloween-themed events over the last few years so here is some spooky entertainment for your next party.

Costumed Characters
Is it fair to say ‘costumed characters’ when what we mean is something far scarier? We normally hire costumed characters as vintage entertainment for corporate events and they tend to be a lot more demure! They can either liven up their usual outfits or simply go all out on the scares and have ghastly ghouls and terrifying vampires. Stuck for ideas? Zombies are always popular.

Magic
What can be more fitting for a Halloween party than a bit of magic for the event. Whether you identify as a witch, wizard or warlock – to name just a few – a magician is the perfect accompaniment for any event. You’ve heard of magicians managing to make pens disappear but what if, just for Halloween, that pen was actually a bone from a skeleton? Numerous additions can be made to keep things creepy!

Stilt Walker
We absolutely love circus acts and a stilt-walker is sure to astonish your guests on Halloween, as well as being a brilliant choice for photo opportunities. Your stilt walker could come with unique costumes and will surely be a sight to see and of course with it being Halloween the costume will have to be spooky!

Living Statues
What could be more brilliant at a Halloween party than the idea of hiring living statues to jump out at your unsuspecting guests? A group of statues that move when you look away, or go one further than that by rigging up a statue with makeup to ensure that as you walk past, he cries blood. This will be a huge hit on this Halloween!

The year of the Dog 2018

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Chinese New Year celebrations last for 15 days. Fifteen. Now, if you’re anything like us, you just can’t see yourself partying for 15 days without losing your job, so for the sake of having one big celebration, this is how to throw a Chinese New Year party for one night only.

Set the theme

It’s customary to ask your guests to remove their shoes at the door. All of this is said to lead to good luck and a smooth transition into the new year. Once your home is spotless, it’s time to decorate.
Red and gold – that’s your colour scheme. In many Asian cultures, red envelopes symbolize a monetary gift for a special occasion. So, you may consider sending your invitations in red envelopes to go along with your theme (you can include chocolate coins to replace the money). You’ll want to hang beautiful Chinese lanterns throughout your home (and outside, too, so that new guests can easily identify your home). Cover your table with a rich, red table cloth and use gold-trimmed plates or gold napkins, placemats, or other finishing touches. Many choose to adorn their tables with Chinese dragons as centrepieces. However, you can also decorate by placing bowls of mandarin oranges (which represent wealth, luck, and happiness) out for your guests to enjoy.

You can also hire party suppliers, which are great for this type of event. It adds to the ambiance to have some music playing in the background. Consider instrumental, western, pop, or ethnic music to add to your event.

Dinner is served!

Crispy Duck, spring rolls, lettuce wraps, won tons, and crispy orange beef, chicken chow Mein are just a few dishes you can serve at Chinese New Year. If you’re not up for cooking, hire a Caterer to make up delicious traditional Chinese dishes for you and your guests. Your desserts should be orange based or otherwise relate to your Chinese New Year theme. When it comes to alcohol, you should talk to your Bar man about serving drinks that involve oranges. Do not serve anything with cream or that is white in colour, as white represents death and mourning.

Party favours

Buy Chinese take-out boxes and fill them with party favours for each of your guests. Some great favours to celebrate Chinese New Year are chocolate gold coins, fortune cookies, oriental fans, Chinese opera masks, character bead bracelets, mini paper lanterns or dragons, and other traditional Chinese sweets or gifts. If your budget allows, you may also consider booking a Photobooth for your corporate event and laying out themed props. You and your guests can pose with paper dragons, red boas, and other fun props – and the photo strips make great party favours!

Chinese New Year is all about new beginnings, luck, and happiness. So celebrate with your loved ones and have a happy new year!

Guy Fawkes entertainment ideas

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Fireworks Night, otherwise known as Guy Fawkes’ Night or Bonfire Night, is a quintessentially UK celebration, marking the time that Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators didn’t blow up the Houses of Parliament on the 5th November. It’s become more of an excuse to watch some fireworks, wrap up in cosy clothing, eat hearty food and drink warming beverages, all whilst getting toasty by the bonfire.

Fireworks

It’s an obvious one of course, but if you’re hosting a Fireworks Night event, fireworks are a must! If you don’t think you’ll feel safe running the display yourself, you could hire a supplier or company to come in and do them for you.

If you do tackle the display yourself, make sure you do so responsibly and safely, and adhere to Government safety rules. And with fireworks, must come sparklers too, so make sure you get plenty of these, as people do love them!

Bonfire

Another staple of any Fireworks Night is the bonfire. Although this was originally to burn the Guy, this is a great way to keep everyone toasty during the night and can even be used to cook some bonfire treats.

Guy Fawkes

As mentioned before, this is the traditional origins of the night. People would make Guy Fawkes, which we call ‘a Guy’. This would normally be made out of old clothes stuffed with newspaper, or hay and added onto the bonfire as the main event.

If you’re not looking to be as traditional as this, you could always have some of the masks of Guy Fawkes, that feature in the film V for Vendetta, or why not make a bonfire cake with a little Guy Fawkes on top?

Bonfire Night Food

Catering at events is important; mainly because it’s a great way of warming up the crowds with some hearty food. Serving jacket potatoes has always been a classic, but why not take this further with these shepherd’s pies, cooked in a baked potato shell?

Cooking a large dish of chilli is always a crowd pleaser at private parties and is easy to make in a big batch. Or why not consider cooking up some bangers with a bit of fire (keeping it on theme) by adding some chilli for chilli sausages?

Decorative food

Whilst hearty food may keep everyone warm, it’s worth making some visually pleasing treats that fit in with the theme of the night, like bonfire cakes, firework cookies and chocolate sparklers.

Freak Out!!

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Red Masque directory have several Halloween event ideas and tips to help make your next Halloween event become the talk of the town. From unique costume parties for kids and adults to cocktail parties at the office (after hours of course) and creating the scariest house on the block, we can make your dreams a reality.

Halloween use to be a one night only excuse to dress up in your favourite costume and get together with friends and family while indulging in sugary treats and watching a scary movie. Today however, the traditions of Halloween have extended far past October 31st and now tend to encompass a month’s’ worth of costume parties, haunted houses, and scary movies on TV & in theatres. Planning a costume party can be a daunting task however with a few simple tips you can become a pro.

Pick a day – If Halloween falls on a weekday to ensure your guests will be available to attend, planning the party on the weekend before or after Halloween is always best.

Select your party venue – Be sure to ask about any restrictions with using atmospheric effects such as smoke machines. Smoke or haze in the venue adds a great “spooky” effect and increases the visibility of the lighting used. Of course, hosting the event at your home is always a great choice as you will have no restrictions on decorations or effects used.

Creating a Theme – Adding a party theme to your costume party is a great way to get your guests to be a bit more creative. Some great Halloween costume party themes include: Famous couples, western, and decade specific costumes such as 60s/Mad Men or 20s/Great Gatsby. Tying in drinks from your theme will really bring it all together.

Incorporating Decorations – After picking a theme, decorations will fall into place easy. Ghosts, mummies, and witches are always great go to items for any Halloween party but expanding off your theme and colours will help bring the event together. Adding accent lighting around the venue or home is always a safe bet and utilizing low flying smoke will give your guests the added wow factor of “floating in the clouds” or “walking through a scary movie”. Utilizing strobe lights flashing at specific rates along with ambient sound FX throughout the venue will really step up the “fear factor” of the venue.

Summer Garden Parties

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If the weather holds out this summer, you might be considering a traditional garden party. Red Masque has put together its top 5 list of summer garden party entertainment ideas for something with vocals and a touch of the familiar, how about a Swing Jazz band – often playing Rat Pack, Sinatra, Michael Bublé and Jamie Cullum. Unlike a Dixie band, they will need electricity for their amplification, but they can tone the volume to suit a garden party just fine.

Strapped for space? Try a duo, this is the easiest type of act to accommodate and makes more of a visual statement than a solo artist alone.

Steel drum band music stems from the Caribbean with a mixture of Calypso, Latin, Reggae, Pop, and Rock n’ Roll. Steel bands bring the Caribbean to your doorstep!

Traditionally, a string quartet gives recitals of works by the classical masters, but more recently has diversified into a more popular repertoire which includes pop, jazz, folk and ragtime. String quartets are ideal for summer garden parties. As they are generally acoustic (they require no amplification or electricity), they are portable and can change location during your event.

Whether it’s Giant Jenga, Giant Wii Sport, Giant Table Football or Giant Operation – Giant Games is the fun way to enhance your big event with a fantastic range of games for all ages!

For a lively garden party with plenty of dancing, a Salsa band is the ideal addition. Salsa encompasses a variety of rhythmic styles and musical forms. Think Rio Carnival, the Caribbean, South America and Latin Jazz. With Salsa music, the rhythm is infectious and the costumes colourful. Many acts can also include Salsa dance instruction as part of their package.

A few things to consider when organising entertainment for a summer garden party.

Electricity – some acts don’t need electricity as they play acoustic instruments, and are therefore easier to move around the garden. Any act with vocals, electric guitars or keyboards will need electricity and you’ll need to ensure a safe supply.

Cover – in case of bad weather (or even in case of full sun) most musical acts will need a provision of cover such as a gazebo or marquee.

Noise – make sure you warn the neighbours if you book a band later in the evening, as you won’t want the police turning up and dampening the mood.

Lawn Protection – as the musicians will likely be moving around on one small spot of garden, if the ground is at all damp it would be wise to cover the lawn in that area. A ground sheet would be fine, but even better, you can buy “ground protection mats” from places like Homebase. For a small band you’ll need to cover roughly 3 x 3 metres

A Traditional Christmas Party

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There are lots of ways to celebrate Christmas at the end of year office party. Many companies go for a themed occasion deciding that ‘Christmas’ doesn’t suffice. There’s Winter Wonderland, Narnia, Frozen, Nightmare Before Christmas… But you can also strip it back a little bit. Away from the electronic entertainment and acts that require a loud sound system. You can take it all the way back to traditional Christmas party ideas, perhaps highlighting the true values of the holiday.

Costumed Characters

The number one thing you need to do if your employees are going to really feel as though they’ve gone back in time is to hire costumed characters. They don’t have to be famous Victorians but one or two certainly look nice (Charles Dickens for example), whilst others can mingle with the crowds, adding to the atmosphere of the occasion. A Dickensian Christmas is actually another popular theme; why not add Scrooge to the festivities whilst you’re at it?

Christmas Carol Singers

What Victorian Christmas party is complete without some Christmas carol singers. The best thing about this form of musical entertainment is that the group can wander about the venue, singing as they go, or you can make their background music a centre piece to the party.
Christmas Brass Band

In the same sort of territory as Christmas carol singers, a Christmas brass band can provide all the Christmas classics your party requires. They can either stick to strictly Victorian carols or play a few more modern Christmas hits once the drinks start flowing (nobody will notice the change of era once they’ve downed yet another sherry). Perfect for evoking the spirit of Christmas, opting to hire a brass band for your Christmas party always goes down well.

Victorian Performers

When thinking back to Victorian times, you might find yourself wandering what they managed to do with themselves with no television or films. We know, it’s hard to imagine. Of course, it was the theatre that they loved to visit and no doubt they were entertained by street performers en route.

Parlour Games

With all this wonderful Christmas entertainment on display, you might be thinking of wanting to hire interactive entertainment! This doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice your Victorian theme and bring in loud noises and bright lights; we’re talking parlour games like quoits. If anyone is successful then they may just win a Christmas present from the company or maybe a little more time off. Go on, be generous, it’s Christmas!

Oh and don’t forget your Christmas tree. We recommend a living one to scare patrons as they arrive!

The top event themes for 2017

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For all 2017 corporate events and parties, décor will be key. Your venue needs to wow your guests from the moment they walk in, creating a special and uniquely defined space for your event. Two highly contrasting themes are high tech interactive and natural materials, enabling your company to show off its tech prowess, or boost its eco credentials.

By combining the hottest corporate event trends for 2017 and some very special party entertainment, you can create a corporate event entertainment that’s still talked about long after.

If you choose a high tech theme, your event entertainment must be 100% integrated to the whole tech ambience. Look for entertainers that offer a tech twist in their act, such as iPad illusionists, LED Light entertainers and street magicians that work with the latest phones and mobile gadgets.

Choose musicians that blend performances with tech, such as our interactive VJ’S, or a live DJ. Get your guests interacting with each other playing giant games with your very own theme.

If you are thinking about a winter corporate event into a natural winter wonderland with ice sculptures and decorated living statues, walkabout characters, and seasonal winter menus. Welcome guests with the warming aromas of mulled wine, or entice people out into the crisp winter air with heated seating areas, piles of rugs and sweet chestnuts roasting on a real coal brazier.

You could extend the theme beyond décor and food into acoustic musical acts, for a more ‘natural’ sound. Entertain with a gospel singing Christmas songs, or a trendy a Capella groups, or guitar and sax soloists.

When you want your corporate party to finally hot up, keep the theme with classic tracks that really evoke the sights and sounds with top UK function and party bands who know their Adele’s and their Maroon 5’s.

Take lighting to the next level and illuminate your event to create spectacle and visual interest. Any venue can be transformed with clever and creative use of lighting even on the more limited of budgets. Use lighting to throw unusual shadows, to colour tables rather than using flowers, and use wireless technology to alter lighting states to reflect the various stages of your event.

Your entertainment should be equally well lit! Look for party DJ’S with their own light shows, rock and pop function bands that provide their own lighting, and artists that use light in imaginative ways.

For larger events, book artists that have a strong visual impact enhanced by theatrical style lighting, such as dance troupes, ballet dancers or aerial artists.

Find ways to make your entertainment a pleasure for everyone by choosing acts that blend superb musicianship with accessible humour, such as a comedy string quartet. Or present musical acts with an international flavour, such as 1920s swing band just make people smile!

Don’t forget Decorations at your event

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Why not feel like a guest at your own event by organising some creative decorations at your special event or party. You may not be that artistic or you may just not have time to think of inspiration. Then why not get somebody else to be artistic for you? Whether it’s a wedding marque to impress your guests which will have a jaw dropping effect when they arrive, a corporate event where tables have to be elegant or maybe a birthday party where garden decorations provide a stunning look for your guests.

Whatever you had in mind we are sure you will choose the perfect decorations for your event, your decorations will live up to your expectations if not more than you’d ever imagined. Setting the scene is very important, so the right decorations are key to getting every last detail just right. They can create just the right ambience and make the dullest of places look spectacular.

Choose from pretty fairy lights, table wear, chair covers, wall coverings and much more… Let your imagination run wild and you can achieve more than you could believe.

We are confident that you will find just that you are looking for within Red Masque entertainment directory. Just scroll down the list of the best event decorations that are on offer to you. You can be in contact with your decorator direct so you can be sure you can discuss everything with them to get your event looking just right. An online booking form is situated within our website which is very easy to fill in. If you have any queries, or if we can offer advice. Please do not hesitate to contact Red Masque directory so we can be of assistance.