Category Archives: Suppliers

Entertainment at a corporate event

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There are numerous reasons why you might be looking to hire entertainment for a corporate event but if there is somebody at you company who isn’t quite sure whether it’s a worthy investment, we’ve outlined the reasons below. We hope it helps!

Generate Interest

If your event is a product launch, you’ll be looking to generate interest from the audience. Most product launches occur at large exhibition centres or conferences, where many a brand is competing to show off their wares to attendees and receive the most ‘buzz’ for their product. But how can you entice someone over to your booth? Entertainment such as stilt walkers or live music incorporating drums is sure to grab people’s attention from across the room. Once they’ve wandered over, keep things visual. Nobody will share your product on Instagram or other social media networks if there isn’t something for others away from the exhibition to enjoy. Make no mistake about it, entertainment is crucial at product launches.

Reinforce Brand Values

Perhaps you’re looking for a bespoke form of entertainment that reinforces the brand values of your company. Maybe you’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of the company’s inception. Whatever it may be, brand entertainment is brilliant at reinforcing the values of a corporation. If a company is wanting to appear very cool, then there are numerous bands who would fit the bill. Looking for a classy affair? Circus entertainers such as aerial silk dancers are perfect for just such an occasion. Entertainment doesn’t have to be showy or pushed to the foreground, but utilised correctly, it can be a superb way of maximising brand value in a subtle manner.

To Entertain

We could name a whole host of reasons why entertainment is important without stating the obvious but we thought we should really. The main purpose of entertainment in any setting is to entertain! You don’t want invited guests leaving after one free drink and a couple of canapés, bored out of their mind after speaking to Darren from Accounts for the last hour. If you break up the evening with a few headline entertainment choices (with a few strolling entertainers like magicians and caricaturists thrown in), then everybody will remember your event or party much more fondly than if you simply leave attendees in a room with nothing else planned.

Forging Links

This is a clever one! We just mentioned strolling entertainment but when it comes to networking, there really is nothing better to help break the ice between two parties who might be hoping to have a chat but have no idea how to get talking informally. With a magician, both people can be amazed and use the tricks as a springboard to ‘talking business’. Other forms of entertainment like a caricaturist or silhouette artist often get people talking as well, whilst also enticing a small crowd when reactions are positive. Hiring entertainment might just land you that next big deal!

Enhancing Morale

If you’ve had a long and difficult year, staff may be looking for a reason to stay at the company. A well-timed dinner or office party can do wonders to revitalise your staff and there is nothing better than allowing them to dance to a live band or providing a magician to blow their minds. Hiring entertainment is a sure fire way to increase morale and staff satisfaction.

Planning a picnic event

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‘Picnic’ began life as a 17th-century French word — it wasn’t even close to being an American invention. A 1692 edition of Origines de la Langue Françoise de Ménage mentions ‘piquenique’ as being of recent origin marks the first appearance of the word in print. As for how the French came by this new term, it was likely invented by joining the common form of the verb ‘piquer’ (meaning “to pick” or “peck”) and a nonsense rhyming syllable coined to fit the first half of this new palate-pleaser.

The first documented appearance of the term outside the French language occurred in 1748, but it was 1800 or thereabouts before anyone can prove it made it into the English language. Even then, it still wasn’t in America, it was in England.

Originally, the term described the element of individual contribution each guest was supposed to make towards the repast, as everyone who had been invited to social events styled as “picnics” was expected to turn up bearing a dish to add to the common feast. This element was picked up in other ‘picnic’ terms, such as ‘picnic society,’ which described gatherings of the intelligentsia where everyone was expected to perform or in some other way contribute to the success of the evening.

Over time, the meaning of the word shifted to emphasize an alfresco element that had crept into the evolving concept of what such gatherings were supposed to be. Nowadays one thinks of a picnic as a casual meal partaken in a pastoral setting, not as a repast enjoyed either indoors or outdoors but which was contributed to by everybody. Modern picnic baskets can be provisioned by only one cook, and no one would think anything of it — what matters now is the food be eaten outdoors.

By the 19th century, ‘picnic’ had successfully made this linguistic shift in meaning. Its history (and that of every other word in the English language) is documented in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Hire some excitement

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Do you love to see acts that keep you at the edge of your seat or are toe curling? Do you in need of a bit of excitement? Why not hire a few acts that will do just that.

Be more creative and hire some party entertainers which would be a bit extraordinary and a crowd drawing experience. Dare to be different and make it a night to remember where your guests will be talking about your party for months to come.

Fire acts are very entertaining where the act or acts jump through fire hoops or indeed set alight!! Knife throwers are also nail biting, dare your audience to participate while this professional act throws knives at him or her.

A sword swallower is another act which is very intriguing to watch albeit between your fingers!! We’ve all seen the Britain’s got Talent sword swallower, that got everybody talking!!
Maybe you want to be ahead of the rest and want to hire some tightrope walkers or stilt walkers to draw in the crowds to direct them to your special event. Maybe you could be launching a new product where people will be curious as to what was going on.

You would have to agree a stilt walker handing out flyers would be a bit more unusual than your average Joe handing out leaflets.

If you need some inspiration think about Covent Garden in London. We think it’s not just about the shops or the great restaurants but the ambiance of the street entertainers. If you have ever been to Covent Garden, you will see there are always small crowds wrapped around a Mime artist or indeed Living statues intently watching their every move or lack of movement if they are a statue!!!

May the force be with you

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Star Wars never goes out of fashion so here’s a few ideas to get you started as you ponder whether you should go as Luke Skywalker, Han Solo or Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Upon entering the party, have a drink – a Star Wars cocktail perhaps? – at your Star Wars themed bar before venturing on and sampling the entertainment. Hopefully this won’t be in a galaxy far, far away but fairly close by.

As you meander through your hired event venue, you might begin to notice a few recognisable faces. Whether you’ve gone for lookalikes or costumed characters, a Star Wars party is only really complete when you feel as though you’re in amongst the action. Other Star Wars party ideas might include an area to duel with lightsabers.

Naturally upon entering the party, you’ll be wanting to experience the delight of Star Wars from the get-go with a string quartet playing the Star Wars theme. This has worked at many previous film-themed events. It gets people in the mood to have fun and more importantly, puts them in the right mindset for what is going to be a thrilling experience.

We love a BB-8 inflatable balloons, naturally you can always pick someone else from The Force Awakens, but BB-8 is quite clearly the cutest choice. And once that’s done, you can savour the memory of the occasion by basking in the glory of a Star Wars Photo Booth.

And finally, as the party is fully underway, it might be an idea to ask your party band to turn up the music and play the ultimate song. Enjoy your evening and ‘May the Force be with you’!!!

Sweet and Sugary

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If this has got you craving some of the fluffy goodness, we can certainly help! At Red Masque, we have a great selection of Candy Floss options for your party entertainment, amongst lots of other sweet treats.

Candy floss carts from party suppliers are a great feature at any event. Your guests can grab a stick (or bag) of the sugary stuff from our friendly fun experts, or see a demonstration on how to make the Candy Floss, before having a go themselves.
If popcorn is more your thing, then a popcorn machine is just the thing for your event, whether it be a birthday party, wedding or corporate event. That sweet smell of popcorn will draw all of your guests in and have them coming back for more and more!

Cotton Candy, also known as Candy Floss, Fairy Floss, Papa’s beard and even Old Woman’s Hair is made by spinning flossine sugar. The first records of Candy Floss in Europe date back to the 18th century, with it becoming popular in 1904 after the invention of the candy floss spinning machine we are all now familiar with. It was in April of that year that Candy Floss was taken to the World’s Fair where over 68,000 boxes were sold for 25 cents each (approx. £4 today), which was half the cost of admission! It was clear from this day onwards that candy floss would be extremely popular for people of all ages.

Sweet treats don’t stop there though, if you are planning an event for next summer and would like a sweet treat to cool your guests down, Ice cream bike hire will do just that! Alternatively, if you would like a healthier treat, fruit selection carts would be great.

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.

Ideas for local events

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Deciding what type of event you should hold will depend on your goals, as well as the size and demographic of your target audience. However, here are some tried and trusted ideas for community events that should help get everyone together.

Use a themed event day
There are a multitude of different themed days you could utilise; you only need to look at the internet to see how many “National’ days are out there.

A firm favourite, which will also help your local library, is World Book Day. The best way to get the community involved is by getting everyone to dress as their favourite character from any book they choose. This could mean dressing as Where’s Wally, The Cat in the Hat, Mr Darcy even! The possibilities are endless!

Invite local authors, or even famous authors who have ties to your community. You can organise a selection of readings with an open-mic night, and why not organise a poetry competition and get a local bookshop to donate prizes?

Organise a performance
Amateur dramatics has been a long standing part of the community, so why not gather some aspiring thespians together and organise a show?

This doesn’t have to be on a stage in the community hall, why not change things up and create a walking performance? Get the audience to follow a set course around town, where they can watch parts of the play in certain areas. Have your actors do scenes or interact with the audience in-between stops, making them part of the performance.

Food Festival/Farmer’s Market
Who can say no to delicious food? Especially when the town is filled with the most amazing smells!
Whether you get some local farmers, caterers or local food shops together, this is a great way to highlight the local produce and local sellers in the area. As well as getting to eat all the delicious food at an event, people will know they will be able to buy this produce locally on any other given day.

Why not think Great British Bake Off and ask the community to create their own showstopper cakes and raffle them off. No one can turn down cake, especially if you have a tea stand nearby!

Host a street party
Street parties are now being held at any time, for all ages, to build community spirit at the street level. They are a more relaxed affair with attendees asked to bring a dish to share or with a barbecue arranged.

Put on a film screening
Who doesn’t enjoy watching a great movie on a big screen with a tub of tasty popcorn? You can organise a film screening at a local school, church, community centre or even outside, under the stars. Choose to screen a recent blockbuster or go for an old classic and embrace a theme, like ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ with guests encouraged to come in fancy dress.

But don’t forget, under UK copyright law, if you are playing films outside your domestic or home circle, you will need to obtain a licence to do so (even for free of charge events and fundraisers).

Organise a pub quiz
A quiz night with general knowledge questions can appeal to a broad audience, or you can target particular groups by focusing on specialist subjects, such as football or music. Theming your quiz can also give it an extra edge; for example, how about holding one on Halloween with questions about horror films, along with spooky decorations to get everyone in the spirit!

The hardest part of holding a quiz night is inevitably writing the questions. If you research your own trivia on the internet, then be careful how you select the sites you choose to get the questions from. Do not just crib from the first list of horror movie facts you come across – your participants may well have been on the same website!

Gather a gardening gang
If there’s a green space in your community that has seen better days, why not organise a group of volunteers to restore it to its former glory? Digging out weeds, picking litter and planting flowers will transform it into something for all to enjoy and encourage people to take an active part in caring for their local area.

Or perhaps your child’s school has an area of unused playing field that could be put to better use? Approach the PTA about turning it into a vegetable patch with the help of parents and pupils, growing produce for school dinners while teaching the children about where food comes from.

Plan a Fireworks event

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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 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 company to come in and do it 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!

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?

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 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?

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 sparkle

There are different ways to approach Fireworks Night, whether you decide to go for something traditional, with traditional food and drink; or decide to go all-out and add a few twists and turns to surprise your guests, creating more of a spectacle. Whatever you do, make sure everyone is warm, cosy, safe and enjoying some of that autumnal fresh air!

Relive your School days

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Take yourself back in time by planning a school reunion where you and your colleagues can relive your memories. Getting a class together and pulling off a reunion party is no small feat.
There are always other school friends that you are still in contact with that will have school friends that you have forgotten about. Send everyone a paper invitation to get the initial word out and create a Facebook page or website for your event where you can post reminders, updates, and information for your invited guests. Take this opportunity to start getting your guests excited about the reunion!
You may have many school friends on facebook or such like, but if there are people you just can’t remember or if someone has disappeared off the radar then you old school should have a list with all this information.

Theme & Venue
Remember to consider your theme and potential decorations as you hunt for that perfect venue. Use Party suppliers and securing the venue makes planning decor that much easier, so you can begin creating your ideal atmosphere. Follow your general theme and have fun with it! Contact your classmates and request photos and keepsakes from the ‘good ole days’ to hang around the rooms or to create a nostalgia table!

Entertainment
You know the songs that just seem to recapture moments from your school experience? Have a DJ and the music bring you right back to those days with the perfect music to set the tone and liven up the party.
Keep the party going and conversation flowing with collages of old photos and videos. Everyone’s got those slightly embarrassing pictures of good friends they’d love to share. Stick with fun-inducing entertainment, give out prizes for games, or even have awards! Capture the new memories by booking a Photographer or even a photo booth!

We’re confident you’re ready to plan the best possible school reunion your classmates could have imagined!

Planning the next Christmas…

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We are now into 2018 and have left the festivities behind us; but, now you can start organising the next office Christmas party!!!

Whether you are looking for some tips to complete the perfect party or having trouble where to start, we have put together some top considerations to make sure your party is remembered all year long.

Entertainment
The heart of any party is truly memorable entertainment and without it, you are going to have a long awkward night relying on the mood of the attendees to carry you through.

There are many reasons that entertainment is important but the simplest is to keep the attendees engaged. By having great bands or comedians perform to break up the evening, it allows the attendees to relax and laugh while stimulating everyone for the evening ahead. It also has the added benefits of providing a central talking point for those who may be a little shy or for those looking to use the event to network with some senior members of staff.

There is such a vast range of options available currently, so it vitally important to choose the event entertainment wisely. If possible, see the act live in action or on video before fully committing to their services.

Budget and venue will have a major bearing on your decision-making process. Bands who specialise in covers often work very well as they can cater for everyone’s tastes. Alternatively, if your budget allows for the spectacular, why not consider booking street performers or even a live circus act.

Catering
Food has come to be expected at any event but it can be easy to not give thought or consideration to what food exactly will be served at the party. Often it will be a secondary concern, just something for people to nibble on as nobody is really expecting anything spectacular.

However, as experts in corporate event planning ourselves, we know that food can be so much more than that, in fact it can be a showstopper. Beautiful food that is delicious will get guests talking to each other, while also remembering it long after the event had finished.

Also consider that there is likely to be many intolerances and special diets within the attendees to take into consideration. It will be important to offer options that are not only delightful in taste and presentation but diverse enough to ensure that no one leaves the event feeling though they were an afterthought or missed out.

No matter how great the party is, if attendees are hungry they likely won’t be enjoying themselves and this can cast a shadow over the whole event. It is therefore important to take into consideration the length of your event, as longer events will require guests to be fed throughout it. We suggest small strategic canapes to do this without breaking the rhythm.

Venue
As important as the entertainment and food, a venue can really set the tone for the whole event. Too formal and it is unlikely the guests will fully relax or too quirky and some people are just going to feel uncomfortable all-night long.

Your choice of venue is going to have a significant impact on your budget, so it needs careful consideration of your specific needs, such as the number of attendees.

If your space is too small it will likely feel cramped, hot and stuffy. Equally if the venue has too much space it will feel empty and lacking in atmosphere as the guests will be too spread out to mingle. No matter the size of the venue makes sure that the location is conveniently close to transportation links.

Our personal recommendation is to always find a venue that offers that little bit of a wow factor. Places that have a view or a behind the scenes look at well-known landmark work the best as they serve as another memorable conversation starter beside the food and entertainment. Oh, and make sure there is enough toilet facilities… Nobody wants to be queuing.