Category Archives: Party

Plan your Christmas event well in advance

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Even though summer is in full swing, Christmas is never too far away and in fact its heading close to five months until the big day which means that now is the time to begin thinking about the Christmas party and how to make it better than ever before. Chosen Events know exactly how to organise a first class event and we understand what it takes to make a memorable party.

If you are in charge of organising the Christmas Party, then now is the time to begin booking your entertainment to avoid disappointment simply because entertainment is often booked months in advance.

You may have a theme in mind or you may have been told that it has to follow a theme, but do not worry because Chosen Events will have something that will meet your requirements whilst also catering to the needs of those who will be attending – we can promise that your Christmas Party will be one that will be remembered forever!

We appreciate that it can be difficult to choose the right entertainment but this is exactly why we ensure that we have lots to offer so that you can find exactly what you want. You may want to follow orders and book what everyone wants or you could go ahead and book something that is completely different, either way we want to make it easy for you. 

So where do you start?

We have put together a list of entertainment acts that we believe can turn your Christmas party into something spectacular.

The snow globe acrobats is a show that is full of visuals and excitement – a truly unforgettable experience

The act involves two acrobats and it takes place in a stunning snow globe where they carry out an amazing balancing routine whilst they are showered in glitter. This act is enchanting and breath taking and we can guarantee the whole thing will leave your guests amazed. The perfect show, set in a winter wonderland theme it is clear so see why it is so popular

This is the perfect way for your guests to really remember a magnificent event by having their photo taken so that they have something to take home with them. Professional photographers will be snapping away while your guests are in the snow globe and with free unlimited prints, print customisation and a props box, there is lots of fun to be had. The snow globe photo booth comes in a number of sizes but this is the perfect addition. Immediate prints, ready to take away- your guests are guaranteed to remember every moment of your Christmas Party! 

If you want your event to offer something different then the Photo wall is certainly unique.  It may be Christmas but your guests will be able to choose from many backgrounds making their Christmas Party experience one that is full of excitement and fun

It has never been so much fun having your photo taken, but grabbing a friend and choosing a whacky backdrop or film scene will have your guests coming back for more. The whole thing from start to finish takes 30 seconds with your guests being able to take immediate prints, ready to take away.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Corporate Entertainment

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There are plenty of acts and performers geared towards the corporate entertainment market, ensuring that businesses ‘stand out’. But to get the most out of your corporate entertainment you must make sure that:

• You pursue a wow factor or unique entertainment idea that will impress guests and ensure that the event is talked about.

• If the entertainment you require is for an exhibition or trade stand, that the acts or performers you book will increase footfall and draw guests to your stand.

• You use entertainment that can incorporate your logo or corporate message.

• You are aware of the latest entertainment trends to appear ahead of the game/up to date.

Some Corporate Planning Entertainment Ideas

Enquiries for cutting edge entertainment that use the latest technologies and techniques to impress corporate guests at events are increasing as businesses strive to stand out and stay ahead of the game.

These top corporate entertainment ideas will ensure that you make the most out of your corporate event, and that it is talked about for all the right reasons:

• IPad magicians offer cutting edge magic shows that use the latest iPad technologies and performance techniques (and humour!) to wow corporate audiences. Can incorporate products, messages and logos. A definite talking point.

• Corporate percussion groups are geared towards corporate clients and will perform using products i.e. ladders, machinery, etc. These shows also have added wow factor, as they are a fast paced, high energy performance.

• LED and laser shows are the here and now of corporate entertainment. These seriously ‘in’ corporate shows will incorporate logos and even interact with audiences. This is entertainment for businesses that want their event to stand out.

• Walking, talking Robots are great for corporate events that include trade shows, exhibitions and conventions, or as great walk around acts who can meet and greet guests. Interactive robots will impress all the right people whatever your corporate event.

• Video mapping dance groups are proving to be a big hit so far this year for corporate events. New technologies have allowed performers to take their dance/visual performances to the next level as humans and computers merge. These acts can incorporate specific music and graphics, as well as logos and corporate messages.

• Sand artists have been popular with corporate events since Ukraine’s Got Talent featured a female sand artist that took the internet by storm. These talented artists will perform custom made sand animations for a variety of corporate events. These shows have definite wow factor that will ensure your event is remembered!

In Conclusion

Corporate event planners must keep a few key points in mind to ensure that their event is a success. 

Entertainment for corporate events needs to be targeted specifically towards key target audiences, ensuring that it is suitable for guests and attendees. Event professionals dealing with corporate environments must continually strive to seek out the best entertainment that will make an impact and a lasting impression. 

The acts, shows or performers must be current, be able to incorporate logos and branding, but most importantly, they must be unique. Make sure entertainment is interactive for a truly personal experience, and this will go a long way towards impressing your guests. Event entertainment is big business. Event planners are simply spoilt for choice when it comes to choosing acts and performers for events, as there is a plethora of entertainment to choose from.

Happy Birthday sweet 16

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Sweet 16 is a time of coming of age and celebrating it in true style. Many 16th birthday parties are becoming quite similar these days so why not make your 16th birthday party one to remember.

Firstly choose a venue; this could be your own house. Secondly choose a theme. Trust us, this will make your 16th birthday party that extra bit more unique and give your guests the excitement leading up to your party.

Finally your entertainment… make your 16th birthday party stand out from the crowd and have some of the most interesting and lively entertainment. Underneath is a variety of 16 birthday party entertainment ideas to help you!

16th Birthday Party Entertainment

16th Birthday Party Music

DJ – Every party needs great music. You will not need to worry about changing songs over on your IPod when a DJ can do it all for you by using the latest technology. You can tell the DJ exactly what music you would like played so your music can be catered specifically for you!

16th Birthday Party Entertainers

Photo booth – Why not keep a little memory of your 16th birthday party night by hiring a photo booth. Your guests will have so much fun trying on colourful props and overall having fun in the photo booth. Instant photos will be available for your guests and you will receive a DVD of all photos taken on the night.

Themed nights– Give your party that Vegas feel by having your very own fun casino. Spin the wheel, place your fun bets and have a laugh with all your guests. The Fun Casino is a great way to get your friends having a laugh and the style of entertainment is top class. Nobody else will have a casino at their 16th!

Magician – A walk around magician is perfectly suited to a Sweet 16 party. The magician will stun your guests with various tricks that will definitely catch them out. The magician could also be a comedian on the side, so Dynamo mixed with a bit of Lee Evans will go down a storm at your 16th birthday party.

16th Birthday Party Food

Fish and Chip Van – If you are unsure of the catering you would like for your party, then why not hire out a fish and chip van. The food caters for everybody’s tastes and your guests will enjoy their very own freshly cooked food. You can tailor the food to your requirements as well, burgers, sausages, goujons… whatever you want you can have!

Overall, enjoy your 16th birthday party. This is your big night; it’s not every day you take that step from a childhood to adulthood. Your 16th birthday party will be all about you, show it off, and make sure to get the perfect entertainment for your party. But the best thing you can do is smile and create some amazing memories and plan the best 16th birthday party ideas right here!

It’s all for charity

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You are about to organise one of the most rewarding events possible, a Charity event!

A charity event takes time, organisation and a lot of patience. But when carried out correctly, your event could be the highlight of your guest’s lives.

Charity events can range from the ever so pretty cake sale, or even a coffee morning, right up to a lavish black tie event. Whichever type of event you decide for your charity night the main aim is to create awareness for this charity and to hopefully raise some funds.

Underneath are your top ten tips when organising a charity event. Please feel free to add your own valuable ideas below which could help others organising a charity event.

Top 10 Tips for a Charity Event

Tip 1- The purpose – You should decide what the purpose of your charity event is and confirm this early to start initial planning. Is this full a fundraising event? Or does it have other goals in mind such as gaining awareness, publicity and to reach out to a new network of people. Many charitable events have more than one goal and these need to be decided before any further action takes place. Confirming and planning the details for your charity event will depend on knowing what goals you are trying to achieve.

Tip 2- Date, Time & Venue – Give yourself plenty of time to organise any type of event. At least 3 months in advance. You don’t want this to be a rushed job so ensure that all aspects are planned to perfection. Your venue is also entirely up to you, yet should reflect your theme, your purpose and your charity. If you believe that your house can hold the demand then feel free to do so but for a large event then a venue such as a hotel may be better suited. Ask the venue for some freebies, if you don’t ask then you will never know.

Tip 3 – Budget Plan – Every fundraising event plan should contain a detailed budget plan of all of the expenses that will be required to hold the event. 

Your budget plan should include staff, invitations, venue, catering, entertainment, utilities, and anything else that will be required to make the event successful. Your budget should take into account your fundraising goal, ensuring that you raise that amount above and beyond all expenses. Top tip for your budget is to always have a spare amount, you just never know when an emergency will appear and that extra bit of cash could really help you out 

Tip 4 – Round up your troops – For your charity event to be a true success you will need a strong workforce behind you. This could be family and friends, volunteers of the charity or even try and recruit some new volunteers to help. Your team could help you in so many different ways such as helping you with the planning, collecting money outside supermarkets, selling tickets for the charity event and also on the day of your event it is always great to have a spare pair of hands.

Tip 5 – Read All about It – You have to let the public know
about your charity event, or nobody will know anything about it. Ask the charity to help by putting up the information on their Facebook page, create some simple flyers and leave them in shops in your area, create an “event” on Facebook and invite people, go and speak to your newspapers and get them to interview you about the charity event and if possible ring your local radio station and get a small interview slot. The more people know about the charity event, the more of a success it will be. 

Tip 6 – Entertainment is key – Your entertainment has to be fresh, exciting and fun. Why not hire a fun casino which is great fun and also brilliant for fundraising. Or a magician who can walk about the room and make your guests “wow” in amazement. You could even hire out a crazy golf course;
you may even have the next Tiger Woods in your mists. The entertainment needs to be organised quite early on in the planning process if you don’t want to be disappointed. 

Tip 7 – Stick by the law – I would advise anybody to always go and research the laws and regulation when organising any event, especially a charity event. There are certain guidelines which need to be put in place to surrounding fundraising in public areas; you would need to speak to the local council about these. They are only small regulations so should not be anything to serious to worry about, but always check and get support from your local council

Tip 8 – Collecting the money- On the night of your event, you have to collect s the money if it is a fund raiser. You could collect the money by walking around the room with a branded bucket, have a raffle and collect the money when selling tickets or you could place an envelope for each guest
at their table where they place their desired amount into and you collect at a designated time of the night. There are so many options on how to do this, but these three seem to be
the most effective.

Tip 9 – Mind your manners! – Always remember to say Thank You both straight after the event and in the days that follow. Your guests, volunteers and sponsors need to be appreciated. They have taken time out of their lives to help with your charity event. Make a small speech simply thanking everybody for coming along, send a personal email again thanking them or even send them a moment of the night. Take a group photograph of everybody who attended and print these out for each volunteer and sponsor. A simple thank you on the back is all that is need and it gives your event that personal touch.

Tip 10 – HAVE FUN – You have done your planning, you have done your research and you have everything in place. Now it’s time to have fun. Mingle with your guests and have a laugh, if they see you relaxed then they will also feel relaxed. And remember it’s for charity, so no matter what you do you are making a difference.


Think outside the box…

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So you’re planning an event and you want to go beyond the run-of-the-mill DJ or band and give your guests a unique experience that they will remember for a long time. Here are 7 ideas for the best party and event entertainment that are sure to be memorable:

1. Hire a caricature artist. These artists will paint portraits of your guests so that they have something to take home with them from your event. Great for small intimate events and they can fit into a networking event without distracting anyone.

2. Sushi rolling is something outside of most people’s comfort zone, which might be exactly what you’re after. Hire a sushi chef or two to instruct your guests on how to create the perfect Rainbow Roll.

3. Hire a professional “toastmaster”. This is someone who makes a career out of coming up with the perfect things to say to celebrate your guests and your event. A good toast master will do his research and find out things about honoured guests or your company and come up with a story (a long toast) that is uplifting, funny and entertaining. If he or she is really good they might be versed in the art of Champagne Sabrage, or slicing the cork off a Champagne bottle with a sabre

4. Have a go kart tournament complete with qualifying, elimination and championship races followed by an Awards Ceremony. .

5. Have a mixologist come in and teach your guests how to make the perfect cocktails, or help them come up with their own cocktails. Lychee-pepper martini anyone?

6. Create a master chef competition where there are teams, each with a professional chef leading them. All teams are given the same ingredients and must create a dish, or a meal. You can have a prominent local celebrity chef to judge for the best presentation and taste.

7. Japanese Tea Ceremony led by a Japanese tea master. These can include a history of the ceremony followed by sharing tea. Just the fact that everyone will be kneeling on the floor around a small table will break the ice, and people will naturally want to talk to each other as typical Western social conventions are set aside.

There are many ideas to choose from, if we have inspired you, why not look on our advertised artists to see who you will hire next?

Surprising uses of stilts

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Most people think that stilts are something for circuses and children’s parties but they have been used in a number of strange ways since ancient times, in fact stilts have a long proud history of weirdness that continues today. 

In the 19th century, Landes, France was a brushy wasteland that turned swampy whenever it rained. Locals dealt with this harsh environment by walking on stilts—everyone, from housewives to the mailman, had a pair.

Landes shepherds used these changes, or “big legs,” to direct their flocks. Wearing sleeveless fur jackets and berets, they maneuverer over the landscape with ease, using their walking sticks as a crook. When they rested, they sat on a tripod of the stilts and walking stick so they could watch their sheep from on high. To pass the time, they knitted.

Not surprisingly, Landesians were adept at stilt walking, able to pick up pebbles from the ground and run at fast speeds. 

2. Stilt Marathons

In 1891, a Landes shepherd named Sylvain Dornon stilt walked from Paris to Moscow in 58 days. It was the first of many stilt marathons. Others include 12-year-old Emma Disley scaling Wales’ highest mountain on stilts in 1977, Saimaiti Yiming in China stilt walking 49 miles in one day in 2003, and Neil Sauter crossing Michigan to raise money for cerebral palsy in 2013.

The record for the longest stilt walk goes to Joe Bowen, who walked 3008 miles from LA to Kentucky in 1980. 

3. Stilt Jousting

For 600 years, Namur, Belgium has held a stilt jousting tournament called the Golden Stilt. Teams of jousters in red-and-white costumes try to take each other down by shoving, shoulder butting, poking, kicking, and knocking out their opponent’s stilts. The person still standing at the end wins.

Namur’s stilt jousting is all in fun, but there’s evidence it started out violently. In the middle Ages, locals took to using stilts whenever the rivers flooded. At some point, stilt fighting became so common that the city banned it in 1411. Apparently, the ban didn’t stick and stilt jousting became an event, with stories of thousands of people competing in the town square. It’s a long tradition that Namur continues today.

4. Working on Stilts

Fruit pickers, window washers, and dry-wallers all use stilts to avoid messing with a ladder. And then there are the stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka.

For decades, these fishermen have climbed on stilts sticking up in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Suspended above the coral reef on a thin perch attached to the stilt, they use rods to catch herring and mackerel. This practice started after World War II, when fishermen began hanging on discarded iron pipes from the war to avoid disturbing the fish.

Although stilt fishing is attracting tourists to the region, the fishermen only make pennies per fish. That’s low pay by any standard, and many say stilt fishing is disappearing as the men find more lucrative work in other industries, like, say, tourism.

5. An Extreme Sport

Powerbocking is a sport that has popped up around spring-loaded stilts. Invented by German engineer Alexander Boeck in the 1990s, jumping stilts have fiberglass leaf springs that are attached to a curved aluminium frame that tapers to a footplate called the hoof. They let you jump 3 to 5 feet, take 9-foot kangaroo-like strides, and run 20 miles per hour. It’s like a trampoline is attached to your feet.

Butler Facts;

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Find the best party butlers available for hire in the UK today. If you want a party that everyone will be talking about, then party butlers make the ultimate party accessory. Have the party that everyone’s talking about with some extra special service provided by professional staff. These guys are available to compliment your party, greet your guests, serve cocktails, top up your drinks and help you get your party started.

Here we have gathered some interesting facts about butlers and the private service profession for. The word butler derives from the old French bouteillier, and identified the cup-bearer or the one in charge of the bottles in large households. Bottle and the French equivalent both come from the Medieval Latin buticula, a diminutive of buttis, a cask, which is also the origin of the English word “butt”, given to large wooden container for liquid. The beer cellar in medieval times would have contained butts or wooden casks, not glass bottles.  So the buttery originally had nothing to do with butter but was the place for storing the butts. Only later was the word extended to mean somewhere that provisions in general were stored, perhaps because people mistakenly made that association

Through a complicated process that had to do with the loss of gentlemen servants and changes in social organization, the butler slowly rose to be in charge not only of the buttery, but also of the ewery (where the napkins and basins for washing and shaving were kept) and the pantry (where the bread, butter, cheese and other basic provisions were stored), and later still he took over the cellarer’s duties of looking after the wine. This eventually became one of his principal duties. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the role of the butler reached its full flowering as head of the male domestic servants, in larger households sometimes the butler was given a whole suite of rooms dedicated to his various functions.

The butler could also be taking care of the household accounting and creating household budgets, maintaining the wardrobe and clothing inventory for the gentleman, packing and preparing for the gentleman for travel, assisting with maintaining household security, staff hiring and firing and staff training. The butler is knowledgeable about wines and spirits and oversees the wine cellar and liquor inventory. Thus, the modern butler needs strong communication, organizational and management skills, and ability to multi-task.

Because of the many British TV series and movies featuring butlers, many people believe that butling is a “British thing”. This is an unfortunate myth, just like “British style butlers”. This notion comes from a rather overwhelming number of books, TV series and movies, all featuring a British butler. Due to the phenomenal success of Downton Abbey, British domestic service is yet again a trending topic.

The French invented the butler and the Americans invented the modern butler. Most butlers are employed in the USA and in the Middle East. Most successful butlers are Swiss. The best butler school in the world is located in The Netherlands. The best service in the world can be found in the Far East.

A love for Puppets

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British children’s television in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s made stars of some puppets, from the marionettes ‘Muffin the Mule’, ‘Andy Pandy’, ‘Bill and Ben’, ‘Lady Penelope’, ‘Parker’, ‘Troy Tempest’ and ‘Captain Scarlet’ to the glove puppets ‘Sooty and Sweep’ and ‘Basil Brush’ as well as the American sock puppet ‘Lamb Chop’ (who was still operated by hand). The Pipkins’ ‘Hartley Hare’ was a rod puppet and Jim Henson created many different types of puppets for ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘The Muppets’ which British audiences loved.

Britain’s first purpose-built puppet theatre, The Harlequin Theatre, was opened by Eric Bramall at Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales in 1958, followed by John Wright’s Little Angel Theatre in Islington in 1961, Ray and Joan DaSilva’s Norwich Puppet Theatre in 1980, Gren and Juliet Middleton’s Puppet Theatre Barge on the Regent’s Canal in 1982, and The Biggar Puppet Theatre, opened near Edinburgh by The Purves Puppets in 1986. Artist and Illustrator Mary Shillabeer created various full-scale marionette shows in the 1970s and 1980s, some of which appeared during the Edinburgh Festival, including ‘Peter and the Wolf’, ‘Boite a Jou-Jou’ (The Toy Box) and ‘Babar the Elephant’.

‘Spitting Image’ puppets, created for television in the 1980s by Peter Fluck and Roger Law, renewed the 18th-century tradition of satirical puppetry at a time when many innovative British touring puppet show companies were established, and theatre companies such as Forkbeard Fantasy began using large scale puppetry in their work.

Muffin the Mule, the first marionette to become a television star, is seen here with his presenter Annette Mills.

Muffin was carved in 1934 by Fred Tickner, a famous maker of Punch and Judy puppets, for Ann Hogarth and her husband Jan Bussell, who formed The Hogarth Puppets in 1932. For their show they wanted a comic-looking mule with a big head that could kick his back legs at a marionette clown.

When television started again after the war in 1946, Annette Mills – sister of the actor John Mills – asked the Hogarth’s if they would make some puppets to go with her songs for the programme ‘For the Children’. The Hogarth’s suggested she used some of their puppets instead, so she wrote new songs to go with the puppets she chose – the mule and clown – which she called Muffin and Crumpet.

Muffin was later joined by other marionettes including Mr Peregrine Esquire, Louise the Lamb and Oswald the Ostrich. The act consisted of Annette Mills talking to Muffin and singing songs at the grand piano while he and his friends clattered around on its lid. His operator, Ann Hogarth, also stood there, hidden by a partition.

A few dedicated puppet theatres survive in Britain, often in the face of financial indifference from local authorities, but puppetry in 21st-century Britain is also finding new audiences with companies and productions incorporating puppetry into their work, and of course the beloved ‘Punch and Judy’ is still as popular today as ever for both young and older generations.

Stuck for party ideas?

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If you are stuck for some ideas for your event or party then Body Art is another way for young and old alike. You may have opened a new theatre company and wish to use Body Art for a completely different concept, or you may be holding a party where women or men are painted from head to foot in the most amazing paint that you wouldn’t know they had any clothes on!!!  (That’s how talented these Body Art artists are) and then there’s your face painter which can create the most amazing art on anybody’s faces…

Clowns are another good choice, usually you would book them for Children’s parties; and of course you still can, but why not hire a Clown for an adult event. Clowns have been around for centuries, first derived from the ‘court gestures’ of many moons ago to entertain Royalty and the Rich and Famous.   Clown’s slap stick humour is able to make both adults and children engage.

You are able to book Clown’s for any different event depending on what you need, but be safe in the knowledge that we only have the best Clowns on our books.

A contortionist is another slightly ‘off the wall’ act to hire, the amazing way these people bend their bodies to get into the tiniest places – are these people human? In fact the suppleness they have has taken hours of training every day to keep them this supple, to enable them get into these impossible spaces. With an act like this you will find that your guess will be mesmerised and will definitely entertain.

Fire Acts are definitely welcoming crowd pleaser. You could be opening up a new night club where 2 of these Fire Acts could be standing outside your new club. A must if you want that dynamic entrance for your new guests.

Or how about a Hula hooping act to hire? Strange as it may seem hula hooping would be a different but entertaining act to hire; maybe to meet and greet your guests as they arrive, serving drinks but hula hooping at the same time? Hula Hooping for a long time takes skill. Your Hula Hoop Act could have many on them on different parts of the body – great entertainment and a great way to keep fit.

So why not book a whole array of acts for your party – just break out from the usual dull entertainment that’s usually hired at such occasions.

Magical mystery evening…

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Are you hoping to have a ‘magical event’ that is totally spellbinding which will have all your guests sitting on the end of their seats? Well, why not hire a group of amazing acts that can transform your dull usual entertainment into something spectacular. Why not hire an up-to-the minute illusionist that is very clever, having everyone trying to guess how on earth he managed to fool you before your very eyes. An escapologist is another act that is a race against time for him/her to get out of a life or death situation, or a contortionist that would squeeze into the tightest of spaces making it look so very easy but at the same time so mesmerising to watch.

You could be having a corporate affair and want some party entertainment which is a ‘bit out there’ which will be a talking point for months to come. Mind readers are always very fascinating, picking a member of the crowd and asking to write or draw something only for the Mind reader to copy exactly what they have done. 

Another great act is a hypnotist – you can hire hypnotists for medical reasons or they can be booked for entertaining. They can put a group of people together and hypnotise them before hand, every-time the hypnotist says a certain word somebody does something completely out of the ordinary which can be very entertaining for you – slightly embarrassing for them!

Trying to work out the future is something that ‘gifted’ people have been doing for centuries, whether it’s reading somebody’s palm, Crystal ball reading, or reading cards.  Each have their own unique way of interpreting what the future may hold but nonetheless all very enchanting and mysterious. Whether or not you believe in these fortune tellers they are always very welcome at an event or party.

You could be having a charity event where a Palmist, Crystal ball reader or Tarot card reader would raise lots of money with your paying guests.  Or you could be having a fete where acts such as these would draw a crowd.

You can be sure that all the acts you see advertised are professional in what they do and are the best of the best.  Our Red Masque entertainment directory will give you a brief insight into each act and then it is up to you to decide which you would like. Once you have decided you are able to fill out an online form which will go straight to your act, they will be in contact to discuss dates and services.