007 Party Ideas

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Here’s our guide to throwing the ultimate James Bond party to celebrate!

Asking guests to dress to fit the James Bond theme will really help give your party that special secret agent atmosphere. There is the obvious choice of the classic 007 look with the tuxedo but there are more options available. We have met many villains over the years including the infamous Dr No in his classic grey suit, so if your guests don’t have a tux tell them not to worry and remind them of the vast array of outfit choices!

Of course for the ladies, there are a fair few Bond Girls to dress up as. Most of your female guests will have a simple and elegant red or black dress which is ideal, or if anyone’s extra brave they can don the Ursula Andres bikini!

Party Decorations

Good decoration can really make a party. From a grand entrance and red carpet to flame lights lighting the way to the big event, your guests will enter the party ready to really embrace the night and have a great time.

The Bar

It goes without saying that the bar should be well stocked for vodka martinis, shaken not stirred but champagne / sparkling wine will also go very well with the James Bond theme.

Games

It wouldn’t be a James Bond movie without some suspect looks exchanged across a casino table, so the likes of Blackjack and Roulette are a must. Just remember not everyone will be clued up on the rules of card games so a Wheel of Fortune, Play Your Cards Right or Horse Racing are all great fun and a good laugh.

Music

Background music is vital at any party whatever the theme. There are of course some obvious choices for music including the classic theme song “A view to a Kill” or “Goldfinger”, but you’ll need more than two songs to play throughout the evening. Start thinking about a playlist well ahead of the party so that all you need to do on the night is plug in the speakers or PA system and press play!

Jazz it up!

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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 Jazz 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.

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 entertainment that you could get. You may want a piano player to play background music during your cocktail hour, something “jazzy”.

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.

Some deposits are Non-Refundable

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When you enter into a contract with your entertainment provider, whether it’s a wedding band, a magician or a DJ, you normally will be expected to provide some kind of non-refundable deposit along with your signature to secure the date. The amount may vary, but a 50% deposit is fairly common.

If you’re a bride, or planning a corporate event party and this is first time you’ve ever hired entertainment services, this can be a scary thing. What if the event gets cancelled? What if someone dies the week before? What if it rains on our outdoor beach birthday party? Do I get my deposit back?

Of course the answer will depend on the wording of the deposit clause in the contract, but most likely if the event is cancelled because of unforeseen circumstances; you will likely be out your deposit. But let’s dig deeper.

It’s easier for people to understand why a caterer or even a venue would request a deposit. They have to buy food or they are reserving the space exclusively for you and must turn down other business. But a musician isn’t purchasing any perishables, right? Well, not exactly. The busy nights for any event entertainer are Saturdays, followed closely by Fridays. There are only 52 Saturdays in a year and each one represents an opportunity cost. If for example a family tragedy occurs 2 days before your graduation party, the band still needs to be compensated for that Saturday night that they committed to your party. It is entirely possible that they have turned down other clients to commit to your party. While it’s very sad that a member of family decided to pass two days before your big event, this is not the fault of your hired act.

What can you do if the unforeseen happens? The first thing is to have a conversation with your hired entertainment. While they may be under no obligation to reschedule, many will try to work with you and apply part or all of your deposit to another date. The flexibility they have will depend on how in demand they are, how full their calendar is and on what day of the week you want your new date. You certainly can’t expect them to bump another client because you need to reschedule. And nor can you expect them to give you another Saturday night on the busiest part of wedding season. But maybe they’re willing to apply all (or some) of your deposit to a Tuesday night, or an off-season Friday night.

This is a conversation you can have with your entertainer BEFORE signing the contract. Ask the “what if” scenarios. Just understand that if this conversation drags out too long, your vendor may start to question your commitment to the date.

Another option is to take out Event Cancellation Insurance for your date.

What is typically covered by event cancellation insurance?
Fire, earthquakes, flooding, blizzards, hurricanes, terrorism, headline entertainers or speaker cancellation, outbreak of disease.

Event cancellation insurance probably won’t cover things like lack of ticket sales, or the time spent planning the event.

Don’t let your venue ruin a great party

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You’ve already found great party entertainment. But finding the right entertainment venue is one of the more traditionally tricky aspects of event party planning. In the interests of making that process a little less fraught, here are a few tips to help you make the best decision.

Consider the season. You may have the absolute perfect venue in mind, but if it’s most charming features can only be enjoyed in warmer weather, and you’ve got a February event, keep looking

Planning a special event is exciting- and more than a little rough on the nerves. For the love of God, you never want your event to be remembered for the ‘AWFUL venue, entertainment, food, atmosphere etc.’

Can the venue accommodate the kind of entertainment you have in mind? Do they have in-house tech people to set up the stage, or will the performers need to bring all their own equipment and tech people?

Is the venue relatively convenient for the majority of the guests? Of course, for special occasions most people don’t mind going a bit out of their way, but you don’t want your guests to become mired in complex travel arrangements- unless you’re prepared to organise and pay for it all, of course!

Is the venue actually available at the time you have in mind? Many first time party planners mistakenly believe that a couple of months-notice is more than enough. Very popular venues, however, can be booked out in peak months well over a year in advance. Before you get too carried away with the planning, ensure your venue of choice is actually available.

Hire a celebrity Line-Up

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Everyone wants their party to be memorable. One fun idea is to hire celebrity lookalikes to mingle with your guests. Nothing loosens up a stuffy corporate crowd quite like sharing cocktails with Kim & Kanye.

At one party a pianist was hired as entertainment for a corporate party. What he didn’t know was that they had also hired Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey and Elton John impersonators to work the party as well. Before he took the stage, he spoke with all three and asked if they would mind singing with him. He figured out what songs they could all do, and then they began their act. After the act the impersonators were mingling with the guests. The acts continued doing the show again and then 30 minutes later Frank took over the stage with a medley of his greatest hits,

I thought that the choices of Frank and Elton John impersonators were particularly inspired because they are both over-the-top personalities and you can’t help but have a good time and smile in the face of such flamboyance. We think Shirley Bassey, Tina Turner, Beyoncé and other larger-than-life entertainers would all be great choices too.

Just look on our list of celebrity lookalikes and see who could be at your party!!

Have you got an anniversary coming up?

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An anniversary celebration is usually held as a day of remembrance to commemorate a special event, particularly one of historical, national or personal importance: a person’s death, the anniversary of the founding of Rome or more usually a wedding anniversary.

With music being one of the most important aspects of any party you might think about hiring a band or DJ to play music from the era of your wedding. For example, why not book a swing band or Jazz Band for your 50th or 60th wedding anniversary party or a Rock N Roll band for all you 1960’s or 70’s newlyweds.

Many of Red Masque tribute bands will perform in costume which can lead to even greater amusement if you make it compulsory that all your guests must dress up in gear that was trendy in the year you were married, especially if any of them still have original items of clothing from those days!

Maybe you were married abroad, be it Ireland, the Caribbean or Greece so why provide a band who will perform music traditional to that country; which will get everyone jigging, or a top class steel band to re-invoke the sound of the sea and the swaying palms you enjoyed on your Caribbean wedding day.

Many people choose to organise a 1st, 2nd or 3rd year wedding anniversary party featuring the same band they hired for their wedding day. Your guests will have loved them the first time around so it’s a pretty safe bet that the next performance will be just as great.

If you’re asking guests to wear fancy dress, then your room should be decorated in a similar theme.

For a personal treat you should ask all your friends to bring photos, anecdotes and tall tales about your years as a married couple. You can later compile these into an album to look back on and savour for years to come.

Make it a Birthday to remember

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The tradition of holding a party to celebrate the anniversary of birth began centuries ago in Europe when it was feared that evil spirits sought out people on their birthdays. To protect them from harm, friends and family would gather around to bring good thoughts and wishes. Giving gifts brought even more good cheer to ward off evil spirits, and candles were placed on cakes to transport the birthday wishes directly to God.

Initially, only royalty was deemed important enough to have a birthday celebration, but the tradition soon spread with the introduction of the children’s party in Germany, the Kinderfeste.

For the trivia buffs amongst you; the lyrically astounding ‘Happy Birthday to You’ song was written in 1839 by sisters Mildred and Patty Smith Hill!!

Birthday party fancy dress themes work really well let your imagination run wild…

It’s good to ensure there are plenty of attractions to keep guests talking& mingling so you could also consider casino tables which can tie in nicely with a James Bond theme, for example, and create a space for guests to meet, mix and break the ice. Also check out our celebrity lookalikes who will work the floor & get people talking.

For a rocking party, you could book a band to play songs fitting to that theme or just a general Rock, Pop, Soul, and Swing or even a Jazz band to keep your guests dancing all evening long.

Celebrity lookalikes of your birthday girl/ boy’s favourite celebrity would be a great touch. For a great surprise you could hire some comedy music acts who can act “incognito” for part of the evening before bursting into song when your guest’s least expect it!

For loads of ideas on making your Birthday one to remember look on our Entertainment Directory to see every type of entertainment imaginable.

Time to start planning New Year’s Eve

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Plan your New Year’s Eve party this year and make it something truly amazing by booking from Red Masque entertainment directory. You will be able to use a lot more imagination than you thought possible – making 2017 come in with an even bigger bang!!!!

The celebration of New Year is one of the oldest annual rituals, observed globally for thousands of years by all the ancient civilizations from the Egyptians and Mayans to the Chinese and Maoris.

It is possible to take part in a New Year celebration almost every month of the year as our own western observance of New Year’s Day on January 1st only came into practice around 400 years ago.

Most of the older traditions base their new year around important social or astrological activities; the Egyptians celebrated the feast of Opet during the Nile’s inundation, the Mayan New Year varies Chinese New Year changes annually with the year of the Monkey starting on January 22nd 2004 while the Celtic celebration of Samhain is held around Halloween.

Did you know? The first people to make resolutions were the ancient Babylonians over 4000 years ago, in the belief that whatever they did on the first day of the year would affect their entire year.

The ancient Babylonian New Year was dated to the first new moon (visible crescent) after the vernal, or spring, equinox (usually March), so if you need an excuse to party, Red Masque entertainment can offer a whole year of new and unusual opportunities!

Most New Year celebrations incorporate the ideas of fertility and good luck with reviewing the past year whilst hoping for a better year ahead. The customs we follow in the UK stem mainly from old Scottish traditions of Hogmanay, whose roots date back to the pagan mid-winter practice of sun and fire worship which later linked with the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia, a decadent and uninhibited feast of food, wine and fun. So get stuck in and have a very Happy New Year!

Entertainment for a real surprise

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Events are an intriguing proposition. Depending on the stage at which you are at in life, certain acts may be perfectly suited to you. Others perhaps less so. You’re hardly likely to book a wine tasting for a child’s birthday party and the less said about the ‘Happy 75th’ bouncy castle booking the better. With that in mind, we thought it may be useful to run through a few ideas you may wish to have a look at depending on the life stage within which you currently reside.

Who can forget childhood? A time when you were completely carefree but were still liable to be dragged along to events at your parent’s insistence. Thankfully, many times there were acts at these events that were tailor made for you. Ah, life was hugely enjoyable when you were being entertained by such acts like a balloon modeller and a children’s entertainer that you happily got involved, all memories of missing your favourite cartoon on television completely forgotten.

One of the most important part of your day is the party entertainment. Everything else is window dressing but hey, you want the finest window dressing there is. To that end, splashing out for a great venue, nobody will forget a knock out venue in a hurry. Book party entertainment to suit the theme, stilt walkers and aerialists is a great idea. With the photo booth images providing a fun way to scrapbook your event, everyone went home happy.

Of course, many of the acts depicted here can’t really be compartmentalised and we have lots of ideas that you can look through on our entertainment directory. So have fun, pick some entertainers that would be a real surprise and make your whole event a magical one…

Planning your next corporate event!!

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Every year you have to organise the annual corporate event. So, what are the best of the best for corporate entertainment acts for your next corporate event in 2017? Red Masque directory have the hottest trends and acts for corporate, and company parties to ensure your VIPs are very impressed and your boss is very happy.

Aerialists use aerial circus and dance theatre with dynamic lighting and music to create evocative shows using trapeze, ropes and silks. Available as a solo artist for smaller venue, or as large a troupe as you wish, their show can be tailored to create the atmosphere you require, whether humorous, quirky, elegant. With a range of associated acts, including aerial champagne pouring.

Circus entertainers have given the world of corporate entertainment a whole new generation of aerial artists, defying gravity to present unique. Even if you haven’t got a skyscraper to use as your stage, these circus-inspired artists can perform in almost any space, for any corporate event.

Offer your guests a total 007 experience: an elegant stately home or iconic venue, set up as a celebrity lookalike James Bond complete with elegant hostesses serving martinis (shaken not stirred by expert cocktail waiters). Then add musical entertainment combining iconic Bond movie soundtracks and characters with dance and spectacle, such as a top party function band with a James Bond set.

Bespoke dance groups provide a superb spectacle that transcends language, and can be precisely tailored to your corporate event theme. From ballet dancers to contemporary rock dancers, your guests can enjoy a show full of energy, passion, augmented by state of the lighting and sound systems.

Whatever the occasion, you’ll find a dance troupe to suit; that can offer themed events such as Arabian Nights, Argentinean Tango, Burlesque, Flamenco, Irish Dancing, Ballroom Dancing, and Vegas Showgirls for example.