Abba Gold

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Why not book from Red Masque entertainment Directory ‘Abba Gold’ for your event venue? A party wouldn’t be a party without a bit of Abba, so why not organise your party and add a bit of class. This featured act is above all the best out there, drawing in crowds and being booked time after time.

With acts as polished as this one you’ll find it hard to book better. They are able to sing a genre of music for all tastes in that era and will make sure that they sing all your favourite tracks.

They are most suited for Corporate events, private parties, Weddings or really anything you wanted; (just make sure you book a big venue, so you can invite lots of guests). This band is getting more and more popular they are even taking International bookings. This group really do have the ‘likeability factor’ and it clear to see that they really are close friends.

They are able to engage their crowd and make your guests smile.

So what else can this band offer?

This band is young and fun and as we mentioned is a tribute to the Motown music. The two beautiful female vocalists really go to town with their enthusiastic dance moves, and stunning harmonies.

All costumes in their tribute band have been meticulously recreated. The Abba Gold show includes a minimum of 8 costume changes

During their breaks, for no extra charge, the band provides a professionally mixed playlist, which can feature music along the same genre. They can also design you an ‘Ultimate Playlist’ of your favourite party tunes (they just would like to know beforehand so they can get it organised for you).

So don’t delay book Abba Gold before somebody else snaps them up!!

1920’s inspired events

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If you’re looking for that knockout concept for your next corporate event, why not take advantage of the popularity of the movie version of The Great Gatsby and people’s love of all things vintage?
Whether it’s a private party, product launch or corporate event, check out these ten event ideas inspired by the 1920s.

1.Cabaret Evening

The roaring twenties was an era full of decadence and entertainment, so a cabaret evening would suit the 1920s theme perfectly, and will be a whole lot of fun for guests! You have a whole range of fantastic entertainment ideas open to you, like lounge singers, aerial acrobats or even risqué burlesque performers.

2.Murder Mystery Night

If your client’s looking for something unusual for a smaller group (ten to twenty guests is ideal), a 1920s themed murder mystery night will definitely fit the bill. This works well for both private and corporate events, but will rely heavily on participation, so your client needs to be sure that their guests will be happy to join in!

3.Secret Speakeasy

The 1920s was an era when prohibition was in full force, and parties had to take place in secret. Why not make the most of this idea and plan a speakeasy themed event? Including a secret code-word on invitations that attendees have to use to enter adds an extra bit of authenticity and fun to proceedings.

4.Jazz Night

A live jazz band will really let guests get into the swing of things; the 1920s were, after all, known as the Jazz Age. Out of all the event ideas inspired by the 1920s, this is just the thing for music lovers.

5.Dance Event

A 1920s dance with live music is perfect for capitalizing on 1920s fever, and when you’re thinking about the perfect venue for this, don’t just consider the obvious. Maybe there’s a slightly run-down hotel in the area that you wouldn’t usually consider as a venue, but that could be hiding a fantastic art deco ballroom?

6.Cocktail Party

For a glamorous cocktail evening, think decadence and style. 1920s cocktails like Mint Juleps are sure to go down well, and a champagne tower will make attendees feel like they’re in the home of Jay Gatsby himself.

7.1920s Canapé Party

If your event needs to be dazzling but on the informal side, work with your caterers to produce a 1920s canapé menu. Canapés really came into their own during the 1920s, as they were perfect for soaking up all that bootleg liquor!

8.1920s-Inspired Formal Dinner

This would work from anything from a formal gala to an intimate corporate dinner, and you can combine food, cocktails and décor from the era for a fantastic atmosphere.

9.Gatsby Garden Party

Garden parties were all the rage in the 1920s, so if weather and location permit, go crazy with the fairy lights and paper lanterns for an enchanting outdoor event.

10.Dress to Impress

For any of these event ideas inspired by the 1920s, having a dress code will only add to the atmosphere and enjoyment. You may think that people won’t like the idea of adults playing dress-up, but you’ll probably find that they can’t wait to slip into flapper dresses, ostrich feathers and zoot suits!

These are just a few ideas for planning a 1920s inspired event; if you think creatively you can combine a number of elements of theme or style to produce an event with your own personal flair.

Stay Within Your Event Budget

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Planning corporate events or another major event can be expensive. The average cost of a wedding is moving closer and closer to £30,000. Even large private parties like an anniversary or graduation party can cost thousands. If you plan a corporate event, the cost can go up exponentially.
As a party planner, it’s important to work with your clients to stay on budget while also planning the event of their dreams.

Research Costs

Before you can create a budget, you need to have a good idea of what things cost. You may be shocked to learn what caterers cost, or you may have had no idea that a photographer could cost so much. Call around to get a few estimates based on some standard details, or do an online search to get a ballpark for what others have paid in your area. Once you have that information, you can get a rough idea of what you might like to spend for each item on your party planning checklist.

Create an Overall Budget Amount

Start by determining how much you can afford for your event. Create a couple of amounts: Set the amount you’d like to spend, and set the amount that you could spend if you stretched things a bit. By having a budget range, you will have some wiggle room for unexpected expenses. You’ll also give yourself some flexibility to indulge if you find a more expensive caterer that you love or you decide you want to spring for a nicer venue.

Create Estimates for Each Category

Break down your budget into categories for each item you will need for your event. For example, a typical event planning checklist for a wedding would include things like catering, venue, wedding cake, the officiant, flowers and wedding attire. Create a range for each budget item, ensuring that the total still falls within your overall budget range.
Don’t Overlook Small Costs
When you are shopping for party supplies, you might think their costs fall within your budget, but you might overlook the smaller costs than can push you over. For example, if you have £5,000 budgeted for catering and you find a caterer that gives you an estimate of £4,800, you might think you will be saving some money. However, after tax is added and you pay the tip, you could be well over your budget. Be sure to include these smaller expenses when calculating your budget.

Working within your budget also ensures that you stay on track and that you find ways to cut corners without sacrificing on quality.

Hiring staff for corporate events

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Hiring event staff at party and event venues is an investment in your company and it’s important to find the right mix of skills and abilities in the people you hire – whether they’re part of your day-to-day team or contracted for a specific event.

No business owner has single-handedly built a successful and sustainable business on their own and it takes a great team to thrive.

Create an ideal employee description – write out a description of the person you’re looking for that defines their work ethic, what skills they have and their job responsibilities.
Speak to your accountant so you know how to legally handle full- or part-time employees vs. contract employees.
To save time and help narrow your search, create an online application.This is a great way to see someone’s personality and their communication skills before you decide to meet them in person.
Reach out to your business contacts for referrals– often this results in the best candidates when you hire event staff.
Interview Questions To Ask During The Interview
Once you’ve identified who you’re looking for, it’s time to narrow your search and interview and screen the top candidates. Here are some questions to ask during the interview.

Describe your event planning experience
What attracted you to this position?
How do you make decisions?
What are your strengths and how do you use them when planning an event or working for an event planner?
What area(s) of event planning do you need more improvement or training in?
How do you handle a situation when things don’t go as planned?
What makes you love coming to work everyday (or for each event)?
Describe a time when you were asked to do something you weren’t trained to do. How did you handle it?
What do you like to do in your free time?
Is there anything stopping you from working long hours, weekends, evenings or last minute?

Event Planning

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When you’re first deciding how to be an event planner there are many things you need to do.
There’s an overwhelming amount of information and action to take – especially if you’re looking online.

Event planning is the process of budgeting, scheduling, choosing a venue or event site, coordinating permits and licenses, arranging entertainment including bands and speakers, and meeting with caterers to choose a menu. The term event planning is used when planning party and event venues.

Event Management is the process of overseeing and managing the entire event from start to finish, including the event team and/or volunteers. Typically, event managers have more experience than a planner and manage the entire project. The term event management is usually used when referring to large-scale events like festivals, conferences, or concerts.

Regardless of which title you choose to give yourself, there are 3 key qualities that an event planner must have to succeed.

Time Management – you must be able to coordinate multiple schedules at once, in order to be a successful event planner.

Resourcefulness – thinking quickly on your feet is critical to planning events – no matter what size – because even the best laid plans don’t always go as planned and you’ll need to know how to seamlessly fix issues without your client or the event guests knowing.

Budgeting – one of the most important skills to have as an event planner, yet often ignored because many of us like the creative side of event planning more than dealing with the bottom line. However, in order to be a successful event planner and make a profit, you must know your numbers. If budgeting scares you, sign up for a class at a local college to learn the basics.

3 Reasons Event Planning is Not For You
What if you love planning corporate events but you aren’t sure it’s the right career path for you?
Giving yourself permission to plan events on the side or for fun is absolutely OK, but if you’re wondering if it should be a full-time job, ask yourself if you struggle with these 3 skill busters.

Procrastination – if you’ve been dabbling in event planning for more than 6 months, this may not be the right career choice for you. Taking action quickly, being responsive and decision-making is all part of the job.

Discretion – lacking discretion and understanding how and when to send client updates is fundamental. If you feel the need to update your client about every (little) detail when you should spend time fixing problems and/or finding solutions, event planning is not right for you.

Listening Skills – not having the ability to listen and understand client needs leads to mistakes and bad decisions. Effectively listening to your clients, vendors and team makes your job a lot easier.

Charity event tips

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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 corporate event will depend on knowing what goals you are trying to achieve.

Tip 2- Date, Time & Venue – Give yourself plenty of time to organise an 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 party 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 party entertainers 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 – We 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 too 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- 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.

Could you pull off a surprise party?

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Surprise parties are great, but not for the surprise party planner. Trying to find party entertainers, 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 Uncle Bob who is going away. Your unsuspecting VIP guest will be well surprised that the family get together is actually just for them!! Of course Uncle Bob would have to be someone who can keep a secret and is very good at keeping Mum, (there’s always one member of the family who is extremely discreet and you can trust them implicitly)

So now it’s time to hire party and event performers and cabaret 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!

18 Birthday Party

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18 is a time of coming of age and celebrating it in true style. Many 18th private parties are becoming quite similar these days so why not make your 18th birthday party one to remember.

We’ve chosen a 18th Birthday, but this could be for any Birthday, just tailor to the age.

Firstly, choose a birthday party venue; this could be your own house. Secondly choose a theme. Trust us, this will make your 18th birthday party that extra bit more unique and give your guests the excitement leading up to your party.

Finally, hire party entertainers.. make your 18th birthday party stand out from the crowd and have some of the most interesting and lively entertainment. Underneath is a variety of 18 birthday party entertainment ideas to help you!

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!

Photo booth – Why not keep a little memory of your 18th 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. Get your friends having a laugh and the style of entertainment is top class. Nobody else will have a casino at their 18th!

Magician – A walk around magician is perfectly suited to an 18th Birthday 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 18th private party.

Fish and Chip Van – If you are unsure of the party 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 18th birthday party. This is your big night; it’s not every day you take that step from a childhood to adulthood. Your 18th 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 18th birthday party ideas right here!

Hire some entertainment for your BBQ

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The BBQ Party season is nearly here. That’s when you know it’s time to bring out the BBQ and host your own party. But why not make your BBQ party unique and fun by incorporating some Party Ideas in the form of party entertainment and games throughout the day and evening.

Underneath are a few simple ideas to make your BBQ party the highlight of the summer.

Hire some large outdoor games such as giant jenga, archery, giant connect 4 and even twister. This will keep your guests entertained throughout the BBQ party and will give them a chance to mix and mingle as well. Giant games are such an easy and effective style of entertainment that will definitely make your BBQ party the talk of the street. Other BBQ Party ideas could include bouncy castles, rodeo, or even bubble machines.

Beverages at a BBQ party are of high importance. Here are some party ideas to make your catering that little something different. To save you money and time ask your guests to bring their own drink. Or try out the new craze sweeping across the nation relating to beverage catering at BBQ parties, your very own Cocktail artist and bar. Hire a cocktail artist to greet your guests with some freshly made cocktails at your BBQ party. You could even name the cocktails to fit in with your summer BBQ. Trust me when I say this… you and your guests will love sipping on a cold cocktail in the warm sunshine.

Every BBQ party needs music. But sometimes a playlist being played on a MP3 player can be quite monotonous and played out. So why not put that extra spark (pun intended) into your BBQ party and hire a musician or a DJ. A classical guitarist would create the perfect atmosphere at your BBQ party and give it that extra wow factor… seriously, how many BBQ’s have you been to with a professional guitarist playing just for you. Not many, so get on it. Also hire a local DJ to provide the evening music, this gives you the chance to mingle with your guests knowing that the music is in safe hands.

So kick off the summer season in style with a fun and lively BBQ party. Take some inspiration from the above BBQ Party Ideas and enjoy the long evenings with your closest friends and family. Summer won’t last forever so if you’re going to have a BBQ party, have it in style.

How to bring the community together

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Local events are a great way to bring communities closer together. Whether you want to raise funds for a worthy cause, bring about positive change in your area, celebrate something special or simply get to know your neighbours, a community event will help rally the masses.

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 10 tried and trusted ideas for community events that should help get everyone together.

1. Host a party

Street private 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.

2. 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!

3. Organise an arts & crafts festival

In every community there are budding artists and craft enthusiasts that you could bring together by creating your own arts & crafts festival.

The term arts & crafts covers such a magnitude of different disciplines, that there really isn’t anything stopping you setting up stalls selling anything you want; from pottery to water colours, knitted wear to jewellery, there’ll be something for everyone to buy.

4. 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 walkabout artist? 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.

Use the seasons to your advantage to entice people to see your performance. Everyone loves getting into the Christmas Spirit around December, so why not perform ‘A Christmas Carol’? Or you could make use of a nearby forest or gardens to perform ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ when the summer months are here.