Tag Archives: theme

Everything you need and more

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If you’re prepared to do a bit of decorative work (or have the budget to hire a party organiser) then you can theme your venue or marquee to look like a beach bar, a scene from the Arabian nights or even the Wild West! Fancy dress is optional though it does help bring the whole thing together.

Possible theme locations include The Wild West, Beach/Tropical/Hawaiian, New York, Las Vegas, African/Safari, Ancient Egypt, Atlantis, Ancient Rome, Mardi Gras/New Orleans, the list goes on

In terms of making your venue look the part, you can choose from a wide range of props and accessories. For example, for a Hawaiian themed party you can hire a bamboo beach bar, free standing & table top palm trees, hoola hoops, flower garlands, surf boards, fishing nets and sand pits!

Remember to ensure you have plenty of ice breakers to keep guests chatting and mixing. Close up magicians, caricaturists, meet and greet all work well, as do Chocolate Fountains! For something a bit different, try singing waiters who will really bring the house down!

Live Music. For a Las Vegas or New York themed party, have a look at Frank Sinatra or Rat Pack singers or celebrity lookalike singers. Use your imagination and your themed evening will be a real treat!!

Dance the night away

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Dancers are very entertaining, and if you had an event that demanded some dancers then why not consider hiring some great dancers from Red Masque entertainment directory.  

A Dance Group could be hired to dance in sync where the chorography would be done to perfection, it could be any style of dance that your taste desires from Street Dance to River Dance, Male to Female Dancers. We think we have just about all Dance groups covered advertised within our Red Masque entertainment directory.

If you are holding a launch party that would require some eye candy of the female variety, if so, why don’t you hire some Podium dancers, a risqué burlesque dancer or some showgirls that would be quite a classy type of Le Lido but here in the UK.

These girls are professional, classy and have trained for hours to put on the perfect show for you.

You will be dazzled by the splendid costumes which will be worn by the Showgirls and Podium Dancers even though they’re maybe little of them!!! The burlesque will titillate and tease but done in the best possible taste!!

Salsa and Tango dancers are a definite must, most people want to learn the art of these sexy, sensual dances. You could hire some dancers to teach. Or if you are quite familiar of these dances you could simply hire to put on a quite splendid show that would be breath-taking and remarkable, leaving you wishing you were indeed as talented as these dancers.

Something very alternative are Snake charmers or a belly dancer dancing with a snake!! These amazing creatures – love them or hate them  have something mesmerising about them that you cannot fail to be intrigued to watch or even (if you dare) handle them.

Belly dancers have been around for centuries and it’s also a great way to keep fit.  If you ever wanted to master the art of Belly Dancing, then why not hire a Belly Dancer to teach you.  You will have great fun, and if your tummy is not your most favourite part of your body – well rest assured a rounded belly is considered sexy in some parts of the world!!

If you wanted some themed dance acts for your special event, then why not look on our gallery of special dance acts that will enlighten your guests and create that nostalgia needed for your themed evening.

They will be dressed in the most appropriate costumes and do all the dance moves from that era it will be truly like stepping back in time and feeling the past again.

It could be that you wanted to create a theme from another country and again we will have something for you.  We have Themed dance acts that are able to create anything that you had in mind.

5 Simple Games for Christmas

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Christmas parties are a great way to introduce new friends to old, eat some great food, and celebrate the holiday season! Make sure your guests don’t forget your party with these fun and festive games!

The Santa Hat Game:

The best part of this game is that it has no formal start time – it can start as your guests progressively arrive at the party!

Stop by your local Pound shop, and pick up some Santa hats/reindeer antlers from the Christmas aisle.

As your guests arrive, ask them to put on a hat but only take it off when they see you take yours off. Let your guests chat and get comfortable, and remove your hat when you think no one is looking. You’ll quickly see who has been paying attention, and who has been drinking too much of the Christmas punch.

The last person to remove their hat is the loser! They get to initiate the next round of the game.

The Human Christmas Tree Game;

This game is a great team-builder, or an excellent way for guests to release their competitive energy! In preparation, set up a table with a variety of craft supplies: glue, paper, scissors, foil, and other seasonal decorations.

Once the party has got going, split your guests into an appropriate number of teams (4-5 people per team). One member of each team must volunteer to be the Christmas Tree.

Set a timer for 15 minutes, and have your guests decorate their ‘human trees’! The best tree will, of course, be decided by the party host!

Oven Glove Unwrap;

This is a great group game, especially if you have a more than a few gifts that need unwrapping!

You’ll need some well-wrapped gifts, a Santa hat, a pair of oven gloves (the fluffier the better), and one dice (two if there are more than 8 people).

Place the well-wrapped present in the centre of the room, and have your guests gather in a large circle around it.

The first contestant rolls the dice. If anything but a six is rolled the dice should quickly be passed to the left. Once a player rolls a six, they need to put on the hat and gloves and start opening the present, one layer at a time! The next player to roll a six should take the ‘un-wrapper’s place.

Whoever unwraps the last piece of paper off the present, gets to keep it!

The Balancing Ornament Game:

Alright, we admit – the name needs some work. The game, however, is going to be a sure-fire hit with the young and old at your Christmas Party!

You’ll need a paper towel/wrapping-paper tube, a ruler (or any stick for that matter), and a bunch of ornaments with hooks.

Once your guests are paired up, they’ll each have one minute to balance as many ornaments as possible on either side of the ruler without it falling of the paper towel tube. The winning pair is decided by the most ornaments that are balanced!

Marshmallow Relay Toss;

Every good party involves throwing food, right? Perhaps not, but here’s a great game that will allow your guests to do just that.

You’re going to need 2 Christmas wreathes, and 2 bags of marshmallows.

Have your guests split into 2 groups and form 2 lines. Lean the wreathes on chairs positioned 10-15 feet from the front of the lines. Starting from the front of the line, players need to throw marshmallows until they score through the centre of the wreath! Once they have scored, they can step out of the line. The first line to complete the challenge wins! 

Tip: You may want to delegate an official ‘marshmallow retriever’ for each team.

Entertainment that will wow your guests

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Events are meant to be fun but also inspiring. Seeing the same sort of act at each function can perhaps make things a bit samey, so here are a few imaginative entertainment ideas that your guests may not be expecting.

Cirque du Cabaret

A unique act they are proud to be a source of unique kinetic cabaret sights, sounds and delights Cirque du Cabaret incorporate vintage circus themes to create visually arresting stage shows unlike anything you may have seen before. It is an imaginative act that has to be seen to be believed.

Cirque du Cabaret performed at the Canterbury Festival in 2014!

Living Statues

The ultimate in terms of a fun, imaginative, wandering act that will have even your most sullen of guest smiling, living statues are exactly what the name suggests. The living statues could be shaped as almost anything but imagine the surprise when what appears to be human-shaped hedges are in fact hedge-shaped humans.

A wonderfully creative act with detailed costumes, the strolling performers are sure to be a talking point for any evening.

Tropicalia

Tropicalia is a multi-award winning London based dance group. This high-impact dance show which can feature anywhere from 2 to 20 dancers.

These Brazilian and Latin dancers, singers, musicians and performers are all available to entertain you and your guests. They are all choreographed superbly and whatever the weather you can bring a bit a sunshine to any event.

D.J or V. J’s

VJ’s interact with DJ’S which brings together sound, lighting and video controls into a single user interface.

With 40 carefully selected snippets of sounds, players select and mix bass, drums, melodies and vocals by moving an object across a surface to create one of 10,000 possible playable combinations.

A must for any club or new bar on a weekly or promotion.

The Cheek of it

This international Burlesque star certainly has a lot of cheek!! She can mix and mingle with your guests or model your product. Lady cheek is very versatile and of course very unique.

This vivacious lady has wowed audiences with her captivating storytelling and silver screen elegance with a little comedy thrown in.

If you also wanted to learn the art of Burlesque, Lady Cheek has trained over 700 ladies each year the art of being fabulous.

A perfect talking point for your event – you won’t find better.

Make your boss happy!!

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Here at Red Masque we think we have some of the best acts for your party which will capture your imagination. So, what are the best of the best for corporate entertainment for your next corporate event? 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, we are sure you will find your perfect act on our website.

Circus act 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.

It may be 52 years since Sean Connery first appeared as Ian Fleming’s ultimate spy, but the fascination with all things 007 is as strong as ever. Now Daniel Craig is the new Bond the Bond stories lines are stronger than ever. People like to immerse themselves in a world where tech is top, and glamour is king.

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.

Add in some more celebrity lookalikes and a John Cleese lookalike the ‘new’ Q, who sets your guests site-specific missions to test their skills.

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.

Throw and Black and Orange Halloween party

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Looking for a festive and fun kids Halloween party theme this year? Throw a black and orange themed party, complete with pumpkins, spiders and witches – oh my! Here are few tips on how to get started:

Invitations: Send perfectly themed Halloween invitations that feature the black and orange colour scheme and will appeal to kids. Don’t forget to remind your guests to wear their costumes! Free online invitations are the easiest, fastest way to invite guests to your party.

Treats: Serve up some delicious black and orange snacks and desserts that kids will love! Make pumpkin shaped Rice Krispies treats with orange frosting, Oreo cookie spiders using thin pretzel sticks for legs, or dark chocolate-dipped apple slices.

Drinks: No Halloween party theme entertainment is complete without a signature punch! This black-coloured punch goes well with the overall black and orange party theme, and can be served over dry ice for an extra spooky effect. Try this quick recipe to impress all your witches and goblins!           

Witch’s Brew Punch

• 1 can grape soda
• 1 can frozen orange juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 litre of ginger ale
• 2 pints of cold water

Mix all ingredients together, and serve over ice in a large punch bowl.

Games: Incorporate black and orange themed games into your Halloween party! Play Pumpkin Ring Toss, Pin the Spider on the Web, or have a Monster Mash costume parade around your neighbourhood or garden!

Decorations: Use creative Halloween decorations that complement your colour theme. Pumpkins are a natural choice to incorporate orange into your party, and they provide both decoration and an activity. Encourage guests to decorate them with markers, paint, glitter glue, and more. No carving needed! You could also draw spooky faces on orange and black balloons with black and white paint markers! Place them around your party space at various heights for an easy way to decorate.  If your party is in the evening, hang orange glow sticks from the trees for a creative backdrop to all the fun!

This classic Halloween theme allows for a lot of creativity as your plan your child’s next Halloween party.  Use these spirited ideas to help bring your party theme to life, and enjoy the haunts and thrills with your little ones this Halloween season!

Party games for little ghosts

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Incorporate a few fun Halloween games for kids into your monster bash. Having games at your Halloween party will keep the children entertained and having fun. When deciding what games to play pick ones that are age appropriate, easy to play, and accommodate all of the children at the party.  

You also want to make sure that the games are Halloween themed by including things like witches, ghosts, and pumpkins into the directions or rules. Here are a few easy Halloween games for kids between the ages of 4-10 to consider for your party planning: 

Pumpkin BINGO: This is a great Halloween party entertainment for kids because it is easy to play and fun. Make your bingo game spooktacular by using pumpkin tokens instead of bingo chips and ghost shaped bingo cards. Have a prize bag full of Halloween sweets and toys ready for the winners to make a selection.

Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin: Pin the nose on the pumpkin is an easy Halloween game for toddlers to play. To setup the game start by making an adorable pumpkin banner with black and orange felt. Have the kids “pin” the nose on the pumpkin after a few blindfolded spins. The closest to the actual nose wins!

Pumpkin Toss: To setup the game, start by carving a large pumpkin with openings for the eyes and mouth or group together lots of pumpkins. To play, have the children throw beanbags shaped like ghosts into the holes to score points. Have each hole be worth a different number of points. The child with the most points after three rounds wins a prize.

The Bone Collector: This game is a great way to get the children up on their feet because it is a Halloween themed treasure hunt. To set up the game, buy a big bag of skeleton bones. Next, hide all of the bones around a designated area for the children to find. For the really little ones, create a diagram of a skeleton so they know how many parts to look for.

Monster Musical Chairs: Musical chairs is an easy Halloween game for kids because all you need is chairs and some fun Halloween music. Have a playlist ready with Halloween songs and let everyone dance around the chairs. When the music stops everyone has to sit down as fast as they can. The child that doesn’t get a chair is eliminated. Each round another chair is taken away until only one child is left sitting.

Adult fun at Halloween

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Incorporate fun adult Halloween party games into your monster event this year. Halloween party entertainment for adults can be competitive, scary, or even silly as long as they are Halloween inspired. Adult party games are also a great way to entertain your guests and make your party more memorable.

Here are some easy adult Halloween party game ideas to play at your spooky soiree:

Mummy Wrap: Teams pair up and each get a roll of toilet paper. Then one person spins around the other turning them into a mummy. The person becoming the mummy generally also tries to spin to help the team finish first, which is the goal. With all that spinning and drinking, it’s bound to be entertaining for those watching and playing! 

Shot in the Dark: This is a great scary Halloween party entertainment for adults. Play a scary movie in the background or in a separate room. Set up some movie rules, like whenever someone gets shot, everyone does a shot. Or whenever a character screams, everyone drinks. Or whenever they say a certain word, everyone cheers. You get the point. You can get really creative, however it’s generally a good idea to watch the chosen movie ahead of time to get an idea of how many times you’re going to have people do each thing.

Monster Mash Dance Contest: Get everyone up and dancing with this Halloween party game. Have a monster mash dance contest and award the best dancer a prize. All you need is a Halloween themed playlist and two dance judges. Have several dance off rounds and eliminate a few people each time until one winner is left. Make a fake plaque that reads: “monster mash—best dancer award.” Everyone will want to keep dancing way after a winner is declared.

Who am I? This is a Halloween twist on a classic name game. Write down characters from famous scary movies on notecards. Tape one note card on each person’s back as they arrive.  The objective of the game to have everyone ask questions and talk to each other them if they are that character to give them hints. Once everyone guesses his or her “identity” the game is over.

When you plan the games and activities for your party, it’s always important to consider your audience. Most adult Halloween parties involve a lot of mixing and mingling so try to mix in a couple of your favourite game ideas to keep things interesting!

Haunted House

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Transforming your home to a haunted house can be a great way to stand out in the neighbourhood. Red Masque entertainment directory has many entertainers that will enhance any Haunted House experience. Whether you want to stand out in the neighbourhood or attract more customers to your haunted house, Red Masque can help! Here are few great ideas for enhancing your haunted house that we advertise:

Smoke machines – From low lying smoke that gives that graveyard look to haze that allows beams of lights to be seen easily, smoke is an essential item for your haunted house.

Walkabout artist – why not hire your very own ghost that can mingle with your guests or to welcome your guests in. Imagine the scene, they look so amazing that guests are wondering if these authentic ghosts are really real??? They won’t say a word; they will just glide around your venue looking extremely spooky!

Strobe Lighting – These are a very effective way to scare your patrons in dark environments that haunted houses are known for and when utilized with ambient sound FX you can create a great “stormy night” effect. 

Black Lights – Utilizing these lights add a great glow to decor and surroundings. They can also be utilized to highlight specially designed makeup and face paint that can be applied to decor and the zombies roaming around the house.

Why not look on our directory today to find the best Halloween artists out there. Hire a smoke machine, strobe lights, sound and lights for a night or a month.  All of the party entertainment you see is ready to be hired ready to spook your guests all Halloween season long.

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!