Category Archives: Suppliers

Practical considerations

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Health and safety

Take care to do what you can to avoid accidents and injuries at your event. It is useful to conduct a risk assessment, to help make sure you have thought things through systematically. See our information on health and safety for community groups.

 First aid

Decide who will be responsible for first aid on the day. For large events, you could ask a first aid organisation to attend. Even if you are just using your own volunteers, you need to have a visible first aid point at the event and people who are taking the role of first aiders. Some of your volunteers may already have first aid training. If not, here is a list of first aid training providers.

Transport

How will people get to the event? Make sure your publicity gives details of public transport and parking. Will you need to put up signs in the surrounding streets to make the event easier to find?

Access

You should do what you can to ensure that disabled people can take part in your event. For example, if possible, choose a venue which is accessible for wheelchair users, and provide a British Sign Language interpreter for speeches and performances. Put information on your publicity about how accessible your event will be, so that people will know in advance if their needs are going to be catered for. You could also invite people to contact you in advance if they have a particular access need, so that you can adjust your plans to make the event accessible for them.

Children’s activities

If you plan to have children’s activities, be clear in your publicity whether you are providing care for unsupervised children, or whether children need to bring an adult to look after them. If you plan to provide childcare, you may find it useful to look at our information on running a crèche.

Photography

Do you want or need to photograph or film your event entertainment? You should put up signs informing people if they might be photographed, and you should gain parental consent before photographing children. Have a look at our information on photo consent.

Insurance

Consider whether you want to take out public liability insurance.

All about the Bride

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The big day is almost here and things can get a little stressful and hectic. Planning a wedding can take up months of a bride’s life and can leave her feeling more relief to get the day over with than excitement for the day to come. Because of this, it is important for the bride to take a day off. A day to relax, eat cake, spend time with friends and family, play games and receive some gifts. Throwing a great bridal shower will be just what the bride needs to regain some of her sanity after months of wedding planning. Red Masque has everything you need to help you plan the perfect Bridal Shower. 

Plan Ahead

Usually the maid of honour, bridesmaid, mother or sister will be responsible for throwing the bride her bridal shower. It does not all have to fall on one person though. It is actually a good idea to have two or three people assist in the planning and covering costs. You should allow yourself about 6-8 weeks to plan the shower. Some of the first things you need to work out: What kind of party will this be? Formal or casual? Where will it be hosted? Your home, someone else’s home, a restaurant, a park, etc.? Will there be a theme? Sometimes it can be fun to have a gift theme; such as, lingerie, travel items or kitchen ware. Once you have these basics nailed down, send out the invitations as quickly as possible. Purchase generic ones and fill them out or have specialty invitations printed that match the theme or colours you have chosen. This is a special day to be shared with people that are special to the bride, so have her help with the guest list. 

Entertain (and Maybe Embarrass) Her

Primarily, bridal showers are about both relaxing and getting gifts that are both fun and useful for the bride and groom. However, it is also important that everyone, both the bride and the guests, have a lot of fun. The most popular form of entertainment for a bridal shower are games. There are lots of resources online with lists and lists of different games to play. It’s important to choose games that match your bride’s personality. If she’s a shy person by nature, don’t pick the games that will embarrass her and make her uncomfortable. If the bride does not want games at all and wants the shower to be more of a party, then book entertainment. For a larger party, you might want to hire a jazz band classical ensemble or strolling violinist to provide background music as your guests mingle. It would also be interesting to hire an impersonator of one of the bride’s favourite celebrities for a meet and greet and to take photos with the guests. If the location for the shower is appropriate for it, perhaps you could hire a comedian or hypnotist to put on a short show for the guests. 

For a smaller bridal shower with just a handful of guests, you might instead want to consider something other than a party. Take the bride and small group to the spa for the day, go antique shopping or maybe even plan an entire weekend out of town somewhere the bride loves or has always wanted to visit. Really, it all comes down to what the bride wants, so it’s a good idea to keep her involved. 

Filling in the Details

No matter why time of day you have chosen for the shower, you must provide refreshments. Of course, the most important food to be present is the cake. Hire a cake decorator to design a cake that matches the theme or wedding colours. If the time of the shower lands between meals, then cake may be all you need in regards to snacks, but be sure to provide beverages as well or an alternative treat for those crazy guests that might not like cake. If budget allows, have the shower over a meal and hire a caterer to plan the menu and a waiting staff to handle all the work involved. If the caterer does not provide a bar service and you do want drinks provided, you might want to hire a bartender to serve cocktails, wine or champagne. Or to spice things up a little, hire a cocktail waiter! The guests can be entertained by juggling, flipping and magic tricks while also enjoying professionally mixed drinks! 

Once you have all your ideas and plans in place, it is time start putting them into action. Set the scene with some great decorations that match the theme you’ve chosen, or if there is no theme, then just decor or flowers that match the wedding colours. It is also a good idea to provide some sort of party favours to give to the guests as a thank you for their attendance and contribution to the bride’s special day. Some good favours for a bridal shower would be candy, candles, picture frames or for smaller gatherings, something personalized for each guest. One fun idea is to have each guest take a picture with the bride-to-be and have a copy of the picture for both the bride and for the guest. You could have the photos printed on the spot, perhaps in a photo booth style set up, or just have them printed after the shower and the bride can send each picture to the guest with their thank you card. You can handle all the picture taking yourself, assign it to another guest, or for a bigger event, you may want to hire a photographer to be there so that everyone can focus on the fun and no one has to worry about capturing it all through a lens. 

If all of this sounds like a lot to take on, you could always hire a party planner to handle it for you. However, with the right resources, and maybe a little help from friends, you can do it yourself and have a lot of fun doing it!

Plan your Christmas Party now!!!

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It’s just over 4 months to go until the big man from the North Pole polishes off his boots and sets off on his epic journey to deliver thousands of presents across the world.

We are of course, talking about no other than Father Christmas!

It is almost that time of year when you dig out your fluffy jumper, drink mulled wine and enjoy the holiday with friends and families. 

Did you know that almost 11 million Brits will go to their works’ Christmas party this year? It is an annual event to let your hair down and have fun and what Christmas party would be complete without some embarrassing dancing?!?

If you haven’t yet started thinking about how you will celebrate this year, now is definitely the time to get brainstorming. Restaurants and venues will start getting booked up and before you know it, it will be just a few weeks away and you’ll have nothing planned. 

So without further ado, here are 10 fun ideas for your work party in 2015:

1. Santa’s Grotto

This can be a truly magical way to bring some fun into the office! Why not get the boss to hand out everyone’s Secret Santa presents in a grotto whilst dressed like Father Christmas himself against a Winter Wonderland backdrop?

2. Snow/Foam Machine

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Add some festive spirit to your event with fake snow. Activate it to sprinkle soft snow drops over everyone as they arrive to the party. Everyone loves snow and it can transform the venue into a magical wonderland 

3. Rodeo Reindeer

Who can resist having a go on a bucking, spinning and twisting bronco reindeer? Everyone in the office will have a barrel of laughs trying to stay on as long as possible. The question is, who out of the team will win?

4. Santa and Elf Hire

If you don’t want to dress up, why not hire the Santa and Elf characters? They are the perfect addition to your Christmas event and can help liven up the crowd to create a fun, memorable evening. 

5. Santa’s Thrones

What better way to surprise the boss than hire an Elaborate Santa throne? Fit for a King (or Queen), these beauties would look amazing in your office and definitely create a festive feel to get everyone excited for the holidays.

6. Christmas Prop Hire

If you just plan on throwing the works do at the office during work hours, go to town with Christmas decorations! We have a fabulous range of props that you can hire including a cute frosty snowman, beautifully decorated presents to put under the Christmas tree, reindeer ornaments and much more. 

7. Christmas Cash Grabber

Take your mind back to The Crystal Maze and ever wondered how you would do in the final trying to grab all that cash quickly? Well you could find out for real with our fun Christmas Cash Cube Grabber. And you decide what the flying paper targets are be it vouchers, funny money or stickers! They can be perfect for office promotions.

8. Photo Booth 

What better way to get all the staff together and have fun than in front of a festive background, wearing funny props and making fools of themselves? Hiring a photo booth can be the perfect entertainment idea and the staff can even record their own holiday cheer messages to each other with a video option. 

9. Casino Tables

From poker to blackjack to enthralling roulette, casino tables offer a thrilling and addictive experience that will leave the entire office wanting more! Even if gambling isn’t your forte, we guarantee everyone will have an amazing time and our authentic casino tables will definitely impress.

10. Christmas Tree Buzz Wire

Have you got nerves of steel to take on the Christmas Tree Buzz Wire challenge? Who in the office has the steadiest hand and who will crack under pressure? This simple but fun entertainment idea will have everyone biting their fingernails in anticipation. With the timer counting down and your heart beating out of your chest, will you be able to withstand the tension to come out victorious?

So there you have it; 10 sure-fire ways to make your office Christmas party that little bit different this year! After all, who wants just boring party with a DJ and food when you can have a bucking bronco reindeer and a photo booth?

 

Bring back the deck chair!!

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When the sun does eventually shine in the UK most of us heads to the seaside to catch some rays.

Usually we bring a blanket to put down on the beach. But for the some of us that find it difficult to get back up again after, a deck chair may be quite attractive!! Lugging a deck chair to the beach doesn’t really appeal does it? 

Many large English resorts, like Blackpool, used to rent deck chairs out for just £1.50 a day. Over 68,000 chairs were rented out in 2003 but over the years they have been slowly phased out.

But what happens when you hire a deck chair; how do you actually put it up and how do you get into it gracefully? 

It’s not rocket science to be able to put up a deck chair but for some, it can seem quite a tricky process and if you aren’t careful, you can get your fingers trapped. If you have never put a deck chair up before, it can be bewildering but practice makes perfect.

So here is an A-Z on how to put up a deck chair with zero-fuss and get into it smoothly:

Point both folding arms upwards and stand the folded chair vertically. 

Next, rotate the longer arm away from the frame until it can no longer go any further.

Then, repeat step 2 with the shorter arm and fix the bar in place in one of the pivots/notches of the longer arm. 

Place the upright chair on the ground and adjust the seating accordingly. Make sure it is stable.

Lay your feet firmly on the ground and slowly sit down, holding onto the arms for support. If you’re wearing a dress or a skirt, keep your feet together when you sit down and try sitting down on a side angle.

And relax! Sit back and enjoy your event in style. However, be careful not to lean back too much or you could end up tumbling backwards. 

Remember to always hold onto the arms for support when standing up, or you could end up on your bottom. Alternatively, just ask someone to give you a hand!

Don’t shy away from these fantastic alternative furniture items; they always make people smile and are a fantastic talking point for your event! 

Interested in hiring a deck chair for your event? If you need some inspiration, please check out our directory for more beach themed event hire! 

Here are some fab, fun facts on the history of deck chairs:

Mr John Thomas Moore was the very first person that took out a patent for the adjustable folding chair back in 1886. 

The British businessman manufactured deck chairs in Macclesfield and even supplied them to the infamous Titanic, of which only six survived the sinking. One was even sold at auction for £35,000 back in 2001.  

However, the comfy pieces of furniture can also be traced as far back as the ancient Egyptians. 

RECOMMENDATIONS ON PLANNING THE PERFECT PARTY

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When organising a party, it is crucial that you choose a venue that is easily accessible. By choosing a good venue, you will greatly decrease the amount of time and effort it takes you to dress it up. Whether you are planning a Bar Mitzvah, Christmas party, wedding, corporate event there are plenty of interesting venues to choose from.

If you have guests arriving from out of town, it is a good idea to ensure that the venue is easy to find. In addition, consider parking access and whether or not there are accommodations nearby where your guests can stay.

To show your guests how much you appreciate them coming to your event, greet them with a drink. This gives you a chance to welcome them, set a positive vibe, and get your guests in the mood to party. A popular entertainment option to do this is by hiring one of Red Masque Living Human Table, the tables will entertain in the character of your choice, create an exciting buzz and meet and greet your guests on arrival with champagne, or a drink of your choice.

It also works for practical reasons. After all, it will prevent long queues from forming at the bar, which only results in irritated and frustrated guests.

When booking your venue, it is important to get a confirmation of the number of bar staff that will be included. You will need to be certain there is an adequate number of bar staff to ensure a fast turnaround of drinks at the bar. Otherwise, your guests will spend most of their night standing around waiting for a drink.

It’s a good idea to book a venue where the bar is in the same room as your party. If not, your dance floor will rarely be more than half full. If the bar is in an entirely different room, people will end up congregating there to talk.

To encourage mingling, start the party off with some exciting party entertainment. This is a particularly good time to break the ice in those awkward moments when you have only just met other guests and family for the first time. Red Masque directory has something completely unexpected, such as a magician, fortune teller, celebrity lookalikes, or a caricaturist. Guests will be drawn together to discuss what is going on, which will get them interacting with each other.

If you choose a caricaturists, it also creates the opportunity to send your guests home with a truly unique party favour.

Whether you are planning a Private Party, Wedding, Prom, Bar Mitzvah, or Corporate Event, you can’t go wrong by hiring a live band. While it’s true that most guests are content with a party DJ, anyone who has ever attended a party with a live band will tell you that it made the night so much better. In fact, it is not unusual for guests or even the person the party is honouring to admit that a live band is what made the night truly unforgettable.

After all, live party bands will get your guests excited and pumped up. While not everyone likes to dance, even the most ardent anti dancer won’t be able to stop themselves when a great live band is performing classic and modern party songs.

This is your party, so you need to be right in the middle of your guests having just as much fun as they are. Don’t spend the night running around trying to organise everything. If you are having a good time, everybody else will too. If you are having a miserable, stressful night, expect that vibe to rub off on your guests.

Have the night of your life!!

Planning is key to a perfect Corporate Event

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Corporate events are a very important part of any company’s annual calendar, as they help promote the business internally and externally, as well as reinforcing brand values and corporate messages. 

They can also forge links with existing and potential clients and improve staff morale. A lot can hinge on a corporate event – be it a convention, exhibition, awards dinner or conference – including the good name of the company and its reputation.

A successful corporate event will be down to many factors including location, food, and atmosphere and, of course, the all-important entertainment. 

Entertainment can make or break a corporate event and making the most out of any act, show or performer can be hugely beneficial. Good corporate entertainment can leave guests with a memorable experience and reinforce a company’s image, brand and corporate message. Good entertainment can even attract publicity (of the good sort!).

Deciding on the Right Entertainment

Corporate event professionals will first have to take a few factors into consideration when ensuring that the entertainment ‘fits’ the event:

• Determine age, social background and sex, and choose entertainment accordingly. A tribute to ‘One Direction’ or ‘Justin Bieber’ may be suitable for a corporate family day event, but not for a black tie gala dinner.

• Venue size and location is a factor that many event planners and organisers forget (or remember at the last minute!). This is important, as it will play a part in deciding whether or not you can have that aerial team you want or full scale swing band!

• Cost. Do you have a strict budget that you have to work within, or is money not a problem? The amount of money a company is prepared to spend on entertainment will affect the options available.

Arrange a surprise party

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Surprise parties are great, but not for the surprise party planner. Trying to organize entertainment, invite guests, get your catering sorted and make sure the whole event goes off without a hitch (while keeping everything under wraps from your VIP guest) can be a real headache! Entertainment Ideas is here to help you take the mystery out of booking entertainment online by promoting only the acts we know and love and can personally guarantee.

The key to a great surprise party is to keep it just that. Sometimes when the person whose party it is for has inkling there may be a party planned for them you can actually tell on their face; the whole element of surprise will be forced.

Here are some tips to try and keep that party a secret. Make sure you do the entire organisation yourself and keep it under wraps then invite your guests at the very last minute. Telling your guests a long time in advance can mean that someone will let the cat out of the bag. Obviously if you’re inviting people from abroad you will need to get your invites out as soon as possible.

You could also pretend to potential guests and your VIP guest that you are having a family get-together for Aunty Maud who is going away. Your unsuspecting VIP guest will be well surprised that the family get together is actually just for them!! Of course Aunty Maud would have to be someone who can keep a secret and is very good at keeping stum, (there’s always one member of the family who is extremely discrete and you can trust them implicitly)

So now it’s time to hire performers and entertainment to really get the party started. Red Masque directory artists advertised are always vetted and approved. Ready to party? Fill out our online enquiry form to book your entertainment. We’re ready to help you get your party started!

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.


All that Jazz…

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You’re having a classy event, perhaps a corporate holiday party or a cocktail hour for your wedding reception. You call up a company like Red Masque and you look on the many hired party entertainment that you could get. You may want a piano player to play background music during your cocktail hour, something “jazzy”. 

Most professional piano entertainers are able to play in the style of jazz to varying degrees, without actually being a legit jazz pianist. For many clients; Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble are jazz, and those are the melodies they want to hear. Maybe they want to hear some light FM melodies sprinkled in. Other clients want to hear classic old time hired Jazz musicians and these clients would require a legitimate jazz trained pianist. Both styles are completely valid for classy cocktail music, and to be brutally honest, the majority of the guests will not know the difference unless it’s pointed out to them. 

From the musician’s point of view, it takes much more training to achieve the status of a true jazz pianist, and as such, they get more respect in the music world. Even cocktail players that play “jazzy”, or “in a jazz style” really have a limited jazz vocabulary and can’t really “hang” with the straight up jazz crowd. 

From the standpoint of a client looking for background music at their event, in our experience, it’s usually not important to them whether they are hearing legitimate jazz improvisation, or “jazzy” version of a melody. Just because it’s not straight up jazz doesn’t make it unsophisticated. 

As for the pricing, with any professional entertainment you are paying for professionalism, experience, musicality, and a classy presentation that can float in the background, adding ambiance and being complimentary to party chatter. Whether it’s “cocktail music” or true jazz, the cost is generally going to be the same. 

There are other things that will impact your cost more than the style you choose.

Sweets for your sweets!

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We love our Canapé Girls for hire here at Red Masque directory and our clients love them too. So what could make them even more fabulous?

The Canapé girls have been planning new fabulous costumes for a while and here they are!  They all have our new fabulous light up bespoke designed trays. Depicting everything vintage and garden tea party, these beautiful canapé girls are a fabulous and unique way to help serve treats, sweets, cakes and canapés to your event guests.

The Canapé trays are now even more spectacular with super bright LED lights adding illuminated colour to each of the canapé hostesses. The colour can be themed to each costume, to your event or even colour changing. So with the combination of this fabulous addition and their outstanding costuming, our canapé hostesses are sure to stand out from the crowd!

One of the Canapé ladies is Perfectly pink is adorned with traditional English garden flowers, sparkling Swarovski crystals, cameo brooches and of course pearls and even has a full tea set in her fabulous wig – topped with a cute teapot!

Another Gorgeous Canapé lady is surrounded by traditional garden flowers, beautiful brooches, sparkling Swarovski crystals and strings of pearls with vintage decorative doves hidden in her hair!

Complete with their purposely created Perspex serving trays, these gorgeous girls can serve selections of sweets, canapé’s or cupcakes. The Canapé trays are now even more spectacular with super bright LED lights adding illuminated colour to each of the canapé hostesses. The colour can be themed to each costume, to your event or even colour changing. So with the combination of this fabulous addition and their outstanding costuming. The canapé hostesses are sure to stand out from the crowd! These fabulous crystal chandelier headdresses can always be seen across a crowded room, catching the light, sparkling and shimmering. Perfect for black tie in their fabulous white silk tail coats, they are beautiful way to serve your guests at award ceremonies, black tie events and parties.