Tag Archives: ideas

Ideas for a 1920’s evening

Posted on by

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!

3.1920s 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!

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.

Christmas party ideas

Posted on by

If it’s your turn to plan the annual Christmas party. It’s a lot of pressure, —but don’t fear! Whether you’re planning a fun office party, a classy dinner, or a traditional yuletide soirée, we’ve got some great Christmas party themes to get you thinking..

1. Winter Wonderland
A winter wonderland theme works for almost any Christmas party and event. But, with such a majestic aesthetic, it works especially well for dinner parties!

Frosted and/or clear crystal, white Christmas trees, polished silver, candles, snowflake confetti, metallic decorations, tinsel, fake snow, ice sculptures, and white string lights.

Use a String Quartet, Jazz Band, Harpist, Acoustic Act, or Classical Ensemble.

2. Christmas Themes Around the World
Christmas is celebrated in a number of different ways around the world. Throwing a Christmas Around the World party is a great way to learn about other cultures! With so many various traditions, you’ll have plenty of options — mince pies and Guinness of Ireland, the Christmas Eve feast of KFC in Japan, the ‘mass’ rollerskating in Venezuela, French nativity scenes made of radishes, and the large straw goat of Gåvle, Sweden that gets burned to the ground almost annually.

International Christmas foods and beverages, flags and informational cards, and decorations made from world maps.

Use, World Music Act, Father Christmas, Carolers, or any of our wonderful International-Inspired Acts.

3. Entertainment
Ballet Dancers, String Quartet, Classical Ensemble, or hire a Choreographer to teach a simple routine! Don’t forget a DJ, not out of the ordinary but classic entertainment!

4. The worst Christmas Jumper
The worst Christmas jumper party has been a popular theme for several years and there’s no doubt why — it’s fun! everybody buys their costume at a pound shop and the more pompoms, the better. The worst Christmas jumper parties can be a hit in any crowd, but we think they’re especially fun for office parties (and it’d make for a great office photo).

Want to focus on judging the ugly sweater contest? Leave the rest of the work to a Bar staff, Caterer, Photo Booth, or Photographer!

Toga, Toga Toga

Posted on by

There are only a few requirements for throwing a Toga Party. First and foremost: dress code. No Toga, no party. To create your Toga, you will need white bed sheets, rope sandals, and an ivy headdress. Cut, wrap, and tie your bedsheets into a Roman-inspired dress. This is a universal look, but creativity is expected. Construct an ivy halo from materials found at your local craft shop. Throw on the hippie rope sandals you’ve been saving in your closet since freshman year, and you’re ready to go!

Organised games for your party-goers are a must. Expect your guests to be three sheets to the wind at this point, so keep game rules buzz-friendly. Choose games like Chariot Races, where participants will pair up for a piggy-back race to the finish line without spilling their beers, or Still As Roman Statues, where your party-goers will pose as Greek statues and see who lasts the longest. Beer Pong and Flip Cup are also acceptable.

Although Grecian-inspired games and drinking contests are entertaining in their own right, it’s best to have multiple forms of party entertainment for your guests. Book a DJ or Band to keep the party alive all night long. Hire a Bartender to serve up Roman-inspired cocktails and beer.

Togas, drinking, and Roman-inspired games – it’s pretty hard to mess this up. Just have fun and drink responsibly, and don’t forget Toga! Toga! Toga!

Plan wisely

Posted on by

When you’re first deciding how to plan an event 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 for your event, 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.

Knowing how to schedule and organise correctly can make for a wiser selection, and have better organisation at your event.

Dinner party entertainment ideas

Posted on by

Pianists
Pianists are fantastic for creating mood and providing a soundtrack to your evening, no matter the function. Providing a repertoire of modern and classic hits, they tend to provide a fun and informal atmosphere for a whole host of events including dinner, drinks receptions or a small networking function.

Classical Guitarist
What is there to say about classical guitarists that hasn’t already been said (or assumed)? Well, for starters it’s not only western styles of music that are often booked; flamenco is extremely popular whilst many prefer a slightly different sound to what they ordinarily listen to as it promotes a sense of occasion for the evening.

Magician
Now you may be thinking that a magician wouldn’t fit in at all at your intimate soiree but they can be extremely effective for engaging a room and have been proven to be great for informal networking events. For dinner parties, there are some brilliantly parlour magicians that can sit with you at the tables.

Cello
The cello is the perfect sound for a classy dinner private party amongst a few choice guests. It has a sound that many people absolutely adore, its low timbre fitting perfectly with a number of other instruments or in a solo setting.

Violin
The Violin is popular across all private parties and corporate events, no matter intimate or otherwise. Mixing a Cello and a Violin are extremely popular which fits for virtually any occasion. Another act combination that people enjoy for intimate dinner parties is violin and…

Harp
The harp is a gorgeous, gentle instrument that many adore but rather interestingly, rarely get to experience live. It could be because it’s a rather bulky instrument for a child to play, so many performers actually learn when they’re adults. Perfect as an accompaniment to dinner, the harp is also great in combination with strings or woodwind.

As ever with these things, it’s all about finding the right entertainment for you.

A quintessentially English game

Posted on by

The game of croquet was introduced to Victorian England by John Jaques and marketed to the growing middle class via the manufacture of croquet sets, which were showcased at The Great Exhibition of 1851. Great Exhibition sets were reissued in the 21st century by Jaques of London to mark 150 years since the introduction of croquet to England.

The popularity of the game in Victorian times engendered a wave of publications. Each publication offered a different number of rules, ranging from 20 to 126! Consensus arrived in 1870 with the publication of The Conference Rules of Laws. The current Laws of Association Croquet number a modest 55, though that number climbs into the hundreds if you count the many sub-sections.

As the world went to war in 1914, Stanley Paul & Co. published Lord Tollemache Croquet. The text describes the game of the Edwardian golden age, supported by event photographs demonstrating the techniques of a sequence game (as golf croquet today), involving ‘tight croqueting’ where the striker put his foot on his ball and hit it to move the ball in contact over the lawn, sending it ‘up the country’.

Croquet illustrates hoops run from circles rounding them on a square court with 4 baulks, 6 hoops and 2 pegs (1st below fifth hoop, 2nd above sixth hoop). The player was required to hit the 2nd peg (turning peg) with the striker’s ball, thus gaining one stroke before advancing to 1-back. The end game involved a peg-out at the peg below the fifth hoop.

As croquet grew in popularity, so clubs were formed. In 1860 the first club was established at Worthing in west Sussex, followed by the All England Croquet Club at Wimbledon in 1868. A need to coordinate the activities of a growing number of clubs led to the formation of The Croquet Association (CA) in 1897; it remains today the national governing body for the sport in England and produces the Laws of Croquet for both Association and Golf.

The introduction of lawn tennis in 1875 challenged the popularity of croquet, but croquet continued to be played and perhaps benefited from the higher standards of lawn care that tennis demanded. Lawn mowers, first invented in 1830, improved and evolved to suit the leisure market.

Christmas party ideas

Posted on by

There are lots of ways to celebrate Christmas at the end of year office party. Many companies go for a themed occasion, but you can also strip it back a little bit. Away from the electronic entertainment and acts that require a loud sound system. You can take it all the way back to traditional Christmas party ideas, perhaps highlighting the true values of the holiday.

Victorian Performers
When thinking back to Victorian times, you might find yourself wondering what they managed to do with themselves with no television or films. We know, it’s hard to imagine. Of course, it was the theatre that they loved to visit and no doubt they were entertained by street performers en route.

Parlour Games
With all this wonderful entertainment on display, you might be thinking of wanting to hire interactive entertainment! This doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice your Victorian theme and bring in loud noises and bright lights; we’re talking parlour games like quoits. If anyone is successful then they may just win a Christmas present from the company or maybe a little more time off. Go on, be generous, it’s Christmas!

Costumed Characters
The number one thing you need to do if your employees are going to really feel as though they’ve gone back in time is to hire costumed characters. They don’t have to be famous Victorians but one or two certainly look nice (Charles Dickens for example), whilst others can mingle with the crowds, adding to the atmosphere of the occasion. A Dickensian Christmas is actually another popular theme; why not add Scrooge to the festivities whilst you’re at it?

Christmas Carol Singers
What Victorian Christmas party is complete without some Christmas carol singers. The best thing about this form of musical entertainment is that the group can wander about the venue, singing as they go, or you can make their background music a centre piece to the party.

Christmas Brass Band
A Christmas brass band can provide all the Christmas classics your party requires. They can either stick to strictly Victorian carols or play a few more modern Christmas hits once the drinks start flowing (nobody will notice the change of era once they’ve downed yet another sherry). Perfect for evoking the spirit of Christmas, opting to hire a brass band for your Christmas party always goes down well.

Mystery Parties

Posted on by

How a Mystery Party Works…

Your invitation will include details about which character the guest will play. Encourage them to dress up – this is a big part of the fun! During the course of the evening, an announcement will be made that a murder has happened. Clues will be revealed over time, and characters will get information cards periodically to help them with their responses and guide them on what information they should reveal (or not reveal).

Your Job at the Party
As a good host, you’ll make sure that guests know what character they will be before they arrive (so they can dress the part),make sure that clues are set up along the way, and make sure that each character has the information he or she needs to play their part.

Why is a Mystery Party So Much Fun?
These are a lot of fun, especially if you have friends who will really get into their characters and come dressed for their role.

Sometimes guests who assume another person’s identities, from the way they walk, talk and act. Those who assume accents can be hysterical!

These parties are also fun because they can revolve around dinner, so they serve a double purpose as a dinner party AND murder mystery!

A good game is one where the instructions are clear for the host and the characters, making it easy to play their part.

This is your Life

Posted on by

It began as a radio show in 1948, and has appeared on television in several countries since that time.
It has even been spoofed on cartoons, comedy shows and other TV specials, and it is sometimes done at the best adult birthday parties!

In the show, the host would read a sort of biography of the guest of honour, who was surprised by “mystery” guests from their past.

We think that doing a “This is your Life Party” as a surprise party is best of all. If the party isn’t a surprise, make sure that he/she doesn’t know the entire guest list That will be part of the surprise!

Make sure that the guests who will take part in the “this is your life” program remain a mystery and stay out of sight! That way the guest of honour won’t know that they are there at the party until the right moment.

When planning a birthday party, seat the guest of honour in a special chair in front of everyone. Have several “surprise” guests from different stages in his or her life hide behind a curtain or outside the room.

One at a time, have each of them tell a story about the guest of honour – some will be funny, some will be touching. Then it is up to him/her to guess who the speaker is.

For This is Your Life Party decorations, you could…

Blow up photos of him/her from different times in their lives – from birth to present!
Decorate with things that the guest of honour loves – for example, gardening, books, travel, etc.
decorate with items representative of the different decades and group them together as a centerpiece, area of the room, etc. Such as stuff from the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc.

For birthday party music at a This is Your Life Party, play the favourites from their youth – their teens and twenties. They, and their friends, will love it!

If you wish – tell guests for the birthday party beforehand that a gift isn’t necessary – their presence will be the best present of all!

School fundraising

Posted on by

Raising funds for your school does not have to be difficult.These ideas are all easy and with brilliant top tips to help you, not only raise more money, but also have a bit of entertainment and fun with your school’s fundraising.

From primary school fundraisers to senior school fundraising ideas we have the very best money making ideas for your school. Schools always need money and instead of doing the same old thing, why not try and come up with some different ideas which parents and kids will love.

Bingo Night Fundraiser

Fundraising Car Wash

No Uniform Day / Mufti Day

School Dance Fundraiser

School Fashion Show Fundraiser

School Sleepover

Snail Racing

Spelling Bee Fundraiser

Sponsored Silence

Teacher Baby Photo Competition

Wine Tasting Fundraiser

So have fun and raise as much cash as you can…