Chapter 8 Parties, Entertainment, and Special Events 119

Chapter 8 Parties, Entertainment, and Special Events 119

35 Party Planner

36 Children’s Event Organizer

37 Party and Special-Event Rentals

38 Catering

39 Visiting Chef

40 Specialty Cake Baker

44 Holiday Decoration Service

WEDDINGS

At Chosen Events, we are aware that some people prefer a small ceremony, while others choose to hold large religious ceremonies. With years of experience, we have worked with just about every type of wedding you can imagine, which means it does not matter what you are planning we can help you with every aspect.

Wedding planning can present a level of stress and a list of frustrations as little details are planned and the final touches are attended to. There is the bouquet, the dress, choosing the venue, seating, the menu, the suit, the transportation and a great deal of other details which can contribute to postponing the planning of wedding entertainment.  Though you may have planned your wedding, have you considered the entertainment?

Most weddings are split into four sections; the ceremony, drinks reception, wedding breakfast and evening reception. There are different types of entertainment available for each of these sections of the day. 

CEREMONY
The wedding ceremony is very personal, and we are happy to provide you with any type of wedding entertainment that you desire during the ceremony. Most people choose to hire a professional wedding musician to play in the ceremony at certain points or choose something more engaging such as a gospel choir.

DRINKS RECEPTION
It is during the afternoon reception where your guests are arriving or are moving on after the ceremony to a reception area that your wedding entertainment can really come to life. There are some great wedding entertainment options available for this time. Consider professional wedding musicians like a harpist, pianist or a string quartet to fill the waiting area with smooth music. Toastmasters, circus performers, magicians, and caricaturists are also a great option for some light entertainment for your guests at this time.

WEDDING BREAKFAST
Typically, background music is the entertainment of choice for the wedding breakfast. A pianist can be playing light music in the background, or perhaps you might prefer singing waiters! Another option is to have a close up magicians performing around the tables providing wedding entertainment.

The wedding meal is, generally, the first meal that a husband and wife will share together. As you share this experience with your guests, it is important not only to provide them with great food but also with great entertainment. Guests will be carrying on conversations as they enjoy their breakfast, so providing music such as a harpist or a string quartet is a great way to set the tone of the room.

Another option is to have close up magicians, caricaturist, or silhouette cutter performing around the tables providing wedding entertainment.

To add an element of entertainment and to encourage conversation among your guests, consider adding some additional entertainment to the wedding breakfast such as comedy waiters, surprise singing waiters or a comedy lookalike!

EVENING RECEPTION
Of course, the evening reception is often considered the time when the main wedding entertainment starts. This is when the stress of the day is over, and everyone involved can simply relax.

When planning your evening reception it is important to keep your guests in mind. While most of the time a live band or DJ will suffice, at Chosen Events, we have gone the extra mile to find some of the most interesting options. Why not consider a fire performer to enchant your wedding guests or a professional lookalike who can pose for pictures.

For the guests who enjoy milling around off the dance floor, why not consider hiring casino games. This is something very different, and fun. Another much more popular, but equally fun option for guests is a photo booth, which offers both entertainment and a great way to remember the night.

At Chosen Events, we have taken the time to ensure that our service is professional, cost-effective and most importantly comprehensive. We can provide you with a long list of wedding entertainment ideas regardless of your plans. Let our professional team work alongside you to create a wedding to remember.

CHRISTMAS PARTIES & EVENTS

LETS CHOSEN EVENTS MAKE YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY AMAZING!

Doesn’t it seem to come around earlier every year? Book ahead so you don’t miss out on the best entertainers.

Have you been landed with the ‘opportunity’ to organise the company Christmas party? Never fear, Chosen Events is here to help every step of the way as you get the party organised and make it totally memorable.

First of all, ask yourself ‘what is the purpose of this party?’ Christmas parties really should be all about thanking your staff for all their hard work and high performance across the year. If this is so, it is important that the content of the party is geared around your staff and their individual likes and dislikes if you want them to enjoy themselves.

Don’t just stick everyone in a room with funny hats, a bar and some food, put on some sparkling entertainment. How about some live music from an acoustic band or an 8 piece jazz band? If you prefer something a bit more vintage, you might like to consider a traditional jazz band from the old school. Maybe your team would prefer a disco with a lively DJ who plays music from your team’s favourite era to get everyone up and dancing? Increasingly popular are our unique entertainment events to get everyone participating and having fun. These include our fun casino, caricature artists, a fun photo booth and magicians.

Make it extra fun and people will be talking about your Christmas party well into the planning of the next superb event.

 

CORPORATE EVENTS

Never underestimate the impact (good or bad) that a corporate event can have on your image both inside and outside the company. If the event is badly devised or in some way a failure, this can quickly have a knock-on effect on your company’s fortunes. A well-planned and successful corporate event, on the other hand, will show your employees, customers and even your competitors what you are made of, so it’s well worth bringing in the experts to ensure you have a success on your hands.

One of the keys to a successful corporate event is to get all the guests involved and having a good time from the beginning, right through to the end, and the corporate event entertainment you choose will go a long way towards achieving this. Appropriate, innovative, exciting acts, chosen with care and delivering at their best – this won’t happen by accident, it takes planning.

Chosen Events has years of experience in organising and delivering corporate event entertainment for a huge variety of occasions, and we offer exceptional value for money. We can provide corporate event entertainment for large events such as awards dinners and trade shows, or smaller events such as a corporate box at a sports ground.

Typical corporate events that can benefit from excellent corporate event entertainment include:

Annual Conferences and AGMs
Team Building Days
Product Launches
Employee Reward Events
Client Entertainment
Theme Nights

Chosen Events is happy to organise suitable corporate event entertainment for you, leaving you free to get on with planning the actual event.

PARTIES & SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Chosen Events is the perfect entertainment provider, catering for all your entertainment needs. 

Whatever your tastes, modern or traditional, tranquil or flamboyant, small or large we offer the best advice for any event.

BIRTHDAY PARTY ENTERTAINMENT
For a birthday party, your guests will never forget, we hire out birthday party entertainment suitable for all the birthday girls and boys, whatever their ages or tastes. Do you need a skilful DJ to liven things up? How about a great live band, a magician or some cheeky paparazzi photographers to make everyone feel special? Our amazing choice of entertainers can be mixed and matched to make your party memorable.

ENGAGEMENT PARTY ENTERTAINMENT
An engagement is a joyous occasion, so to get your guests in the mood, we provide entertainment that will really get them going – maybe a disco complete with an expert DJ, a live band or your choice of live music performance professionals; we provide nothing but the best for your special event.

ANNIVERSARY PARTY ENTERTAINMENT
A special anniversary deserves a party to remember, a great occasion for family and friends to celebrate that special date. We have high-class entertainers, specially selected for your party. Whether it’s music from DJs or live bands, singers to serenade you or fun food entertainment to cater for your every need, our aim is always to create a memorable occasion.

HOTEL/RESTAURANT ENTERTAINMENT
We can provide an unforgettable experience for your restaurant or hotel guests with our highly professional and exceptionally talented entertainers. We can bring in live bands, DJs, dancers, singers, tribute acts, all perfect for parties, theme events or special functions for special guests. Our selection of musicians includes skilled easy-listening music and background providers who are there to create the perfect ambience in a bar, restaurant or hotel lobby.

SHOPPING CENTRE ENTERTAINMENT

Using entertainment is a fantastic way to market your shopping centre or retail store to the general public, as it adds an element of vibrancy and excitement, thus hooking your customers to your site. We’ve got headlining bands available for you to choose from, as well as walkabout entertainment and small stage acts. If you have a specific request, then please feel free to contact us and ask, we'll do everything we can to make your vision a reality.

TRADE SHOWS & EXHIBITIONS

You go to a Trade Show or Exhibition to expose your products and services to as wide an audience as possible, to generate sales and to collect data on potential customers. To be successful at a tradeshow, you need to attract the maximum number of people to your stand rather than your competitors’ and keep them there until your brand has worked its’ magic.

One way to pull people in is to put on some high quality and engaging Trade Show Exhibition entertainment. Chosen Events can suggest a wide range of options for the ideal Trade Show and Exhibition entertainment, appropriate to and supporting your brand and marketing messages.

For example, space is always limited, so the ideal Trade Show and Exhibition entertainment must pull people to your stand without using up all the available space. Close up Magicians are a good, space-efficient draw, and so are solo musicians or singers who can grab the crowd’s attention and engage the audience, keeping them in situ for long enough to absorb your messages.

A Caricaturist is an innovative and engaging entertainment option – drawing caricatures of your potential customers, on media bearing your brand. This is fun for the sitter, who gets to take away a highly personalised branded memento, and fun for the onlookers who can enjoy the spectacle.

UNIVERSITY & STUDENT EVENTS

University Balls are the events students dream of all year so why not make it a night they'll remember with the right entertainment that will help them to celebrate in style.

Hire a DJ/Disco, Live Band or Paparazzi Photographers to entertain your VIPs. And why not check out our other fun entertainment options to make the big event extra special.

Welcome your students with fun and enthusiasm by inviting them to enjoy some of the most unique and unusual entertainment we offer. 

We provide the very best in student night entertainment from LED Laser Shows to Lookalikes! Hire a fabulous fun Party Band, Tribute Band, interactive entertainment or DJs for Fresher’s week as new students enter what will be some of the best days of their lives and encourage your students to get involved, build friendships and create lasting memories for those amazing Christmas and Summer Balls. Whatever the occasion we’ve got it covered!

Already stressing out months ahead of your child’s birthday? You’re not the only one! All parents seem to be under the impression that time is short. In, fact, it isn’t. The key is in finding the best kids’ birthday event planner. No matter the party theme, venue, and menu, things can be arranged as to fit your schedule. You should enjoy the special day no less than your child. Leave the planning to a professional.

Let your child be little at Chipmunks!

Children event planning at a glance

Children event planning is a breeze to a skilled planner. If you wish to try your hand at doing it yourself, keep in mind that the plan should comprise several smaller tasks as to allow for timely adjustments. Although there are no general rules to the timeline, some activities logically precede others. Here are some first-hand recommendations.

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    Start with determining the number of invitees. Will the parents be included? This question is crucial for budget planning. In case of toddler birthdays, the parents are integral to the guest list. If your child is below 7, the whole class is usually invited. Over that age, the child probably already has a group of selected friends. If old enough, ask the child who they want to invite.
    
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    Once you know the exact number of attendants, it’s time to choose the venue. Would you prefer a kids’ birthday party venue, an indoor playground, or a combination of both? Don’t go with the flow; do what you think is the best.
    

Party venues are convenient for parents who’d rather someone else did the decorations, cleaning, and, in some cases, the menu. Most venues offer both fully-catered and self-catered packages. Chipmunks is one of the best loved birthday party venues of that kind. Menus are customizable per requests, and so are additional features.

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    Think up the party theme . At this point, you should involve your child more. Make sure they have their say; after all, it’s their special day we’re talking about. Party themes can revolve around any motive. Whether it is your child’s favourite book/movie character, a fictional universe, or Formula 1, everything can be arranged as to support the setting.
    

Party venues for children’s birthdays offer a range of themes of their own. They are also open to suggestions and do customized events. Hiring a venue may sometimes prove more affordable in terms on props and partyware, which heavily depend on the theme chosen.

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    Plan the party activities. This step, in particular, causes the headache to most parents. The best approach is to write down the ideas and narrow down the “finalists” later on. Need we reiterate that your child should have a say in this, too? If they love, i.e., dancing, make sure to include a dancing activity (or more than one). Party venues make sure to incorporate a range of children’s best loved activities in their program. For one thing, children’s birthdays are not all about games. There’s general ruckus to count in, as well as more sophisticated activities. For example, storytelling, and DIY activities remain among all-time favourites.Create a playlist. Music is one of the most important mood-setters of every party. In addition, you may also include some dancing activities in the program. More often than not, children love dancing. Even if there are some shy invitees, playing make-believe games will come no less natural for them than for other kids. Thus, if anything unexpected occurs along those lines, you can always suggest they play the invent-the -dance game. Keeping in mind the age of the children, you may add some rules (create three counts of movement, combine them, add one more, repeat the sequence, and so on). Party venues offer birthday packages that include a stereo system and a microphone. Depending on the age of the child, you can also turn their birthday party into a disco experience!
    
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    Plan the menu. There are three things to keep in mind here. First, the dishes should be simple. The food children love includes pizza, burgers, cupcakes, finger foods, and fruit. Second, you should decide whether you will opt for fully catered venue hire or self-catering. Third (first case): take a note on how many days in advance the food will keep good (fridge and freezer) or (second case): order the menu well in advance. Make sure to communicate the dietary preferences to the venue chef. Finally, there is the matter of the birthday cake. Eating the birthday cake is the single most important moment of every child’s birthday party. The cake must, therefore, be very special. It should correspond to the theme, be breath-taking and dramatic at the same time, and be served in style. Choosing the venue package with the cake is the best option, as the cake is: a) cheaper and b) corresponds to the theme.
    

Finally, make sure not to overdo it. Don’t order/prepare too much food, as children will only munch on the dishes while really paying attention only to fun activities. Most children’s parties are synonymous with leftovers. Make precise calculations in this regard. At Chipmunks, e.g., you may order additional servings if the need arises.

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  Design invitations. Nowadays, sending email invitations is common, but hand-written ones are no less appreciated (if indeed not more welcome). If you have enough time, design hand-made invitations with your child and send them out the old-fashioned way. DIY invitations should also correspond to the theme. The same goes for thank-you notes.
  

Kids’ birthday event planner: an afterthought

A kids’ birthday event planner is certain to simplify everything. That isn’t to say that you must, or indeed should, leave everything to them. Add your specifics, decorations, custom requests, and watch the magic unfold. Most importantly, add the “enjoy yourself” note to the planning list. It is your child’s special day; you should neither stress out nor interfere too much. Let the things develop on their own and get inspired by the overall merriment.
Let your child be little at Chipmunks!

What is a caterer? It seems pretty simple and straightforward — catering is a culinary chef and their team preparing, cooking, and serving food, right? That’s true, but there is more to it. A whole lot more.

Yes, catering services coordinate the preparation, creation, delivery, and presentation of food for clients. If you’ve ever attended a wedding reception, fundraiser, bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, or bar mitzvah that had delightfully prepared and presented food, chances are that event was catered. Additional responsibilities of your event catering company, often include the rental, set-up, and clean-up of decorations, tables, chairs, music and lighting (we’ll talk more about these non-food related responsibilities down the line).

What is event catering? There are three main types of caterers:

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  Mobile/Delivery Caterers
  
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  Hotel/Restaurant Caterers
  
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  Private Full-Service Caterers
  

Mobile/delivery Catering

This type of event catering often comes in the form of a food truck, food cart, or delivery service. For example, our SIMPLY LUNCH program offers organic made-to-order meals delivered daily to your workplace (or it can be cooked in your workplace kitchen).

This option is often less expensive and less involved. The process, more or less depending on the client’s needs, involves agreeing upon a predetermined menu and arranging delivery of the food. Most often, minimal staff are required, also reducing costs.

Hotel/Restaurant Caterers

The role of this type of catering service is to act as the intermediaries between the kitchen staff and client when planning an in-house event. Their responsibilities include: menu design & preparation, table set-up, banquet arrangement, delivery of decorations, as well as arranging staffing as needed.”

Private Full-Service Catering

All private event catering companies are independently owned and operated businesses. Eco Caters is proud to be a local, family-owned and operated, full-service event catering company. Private caterers are often hired for business and personal anniversaries, birthday parties, wedding receptions, business holiday events, bar/bat mitzvahs, as well as many other events. The type of catering service is often responsible for all aspects of the event planning. This most often includes (but is not limited to): menu design and preparation, cuisine creation and presentation, plate and dinnerware rentals, and arranging appropriate pre-event, event, and clean-up crew staffing.

Schedule a Consultation

As a full-service event catering company, Eco Caters works hard to execute the unique vision for each of our clients’. Collaboratively, we custom design everything from the menus to budgets, decor to the cocktail list, and much more. We aim to satisfy all the senses — sight, sound, touch, taste, smell. Continuity is key to create the perfect ambience.

Now that you know what catering for special events is, you should also know that a good caterer should be able to adapt quickly, since both the client’s needs and event happenings are ever-changing. Throughout every event, your catering team plays a significant role in the seamless execution of the experience since they are also the primary clean-up and tidy crew. A good catering team will pick up all dirty plates, unattended drinks, sweep up broken glass, and even deep clean the venue at the end of the night to help you get your deposit back. This dedication keeps the event safe and looking flawless at all times. If all goes well, you won’t even be aware of all the behind the scenes care a catering team, and their servers, put into your event.

So what does a catering company do behind the scenes? From the initial client-caterer meeting to the big day, catering involves a lot of planning, preparation, teamwork, creativity, and flexibility.

From concept, to the last uneaten bite of salad residing in the dumpster, a catering team works closely with their client to custom craft an appetizer menu, bar menu, sit down dinner menu and possibly dessert, coffee, and late night bites menus as well. This includes discussing staffing, scheduling, presentation, contractual expectations of both the wedding couple and the caterers, and post event clean-up (great right?).

In addition, some event catering companies like Eco Caters, will reach out to their organic, local growers and reserve the seasonal fruits, vegetables, and produce for the upcoming event. What’s in season will often drive the menu options for both the guests and head chef.

An event catering company can also help the client reserve rentals for an event. This includes, but is not limited to: tablecloths, cocktail/gift/cake tables, chairs, dishware, bar glasses, space heaters, and so on.

Once all the the details have been agreed upon, the catering company will draft a contract for review. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and negotiate! No contract? Don’t hire! A good catering company will be transparent with their costs and explain to the clients why they made the decisions they did, for example hiring X number of servers or choosing one wine over another.

Day of event — Before guests arrive, the catering supervisor & team will work hard to set up the tables, chairs, bar(s), and begin preparing food. Once the event is underway, the captain will work with the other vendors to stay synced with the event timeline, clean-up dirty or discarded dishware, clean-up broken glasses, and politely accomodate the needs of all guests.

Following the event — the catering team will most often be the ones in charge of disposing of garbage, organizing rentals for pickup, and leaving the venue in standing order.

Holiday Decorating Services

Hate to decorate your own Christmas tree? Not looking forward to hanging that wreath or garland? Not us, we love it! Holiday decorations will brighten the mood of your office, keep your tenants happy and put a smile on that shopper. Remember, a smiling shopper is a spending shopper! At Foliage Design Systems the Holidays never ends. We spend all year reviewing design trends and gather holiday décor and components from across the globe. Our designs are wildly popular and you can find one of our themes to match perfectly with any existing design. 

We can cater for anything from an 8ft office tree with a few scattered wreaths to enormous entrance lobby's with 25ft trees and matching décor throughout the building. We are also able to decorate the exterior as well from long lengths of garlands to palm lighting.  

The Office

Don’t make the employees decorate. Keep them productive while we transform your space into the holiday spirit.

The Building

So you stored your old holiday decorations in a crowded closet. Do you think your building engineer wants to take them out, fluff them up and hang those wreaths and garlands in the lobby? I have never met one who does but I can always tell when one did. Sound familiar? Our wreaths garlands trees and specialty decorations are built and refurbished in our warehouses well in advance of installation day. Our installers move swiftly, and use only the best and unobtrusive hardware to hang your decorations. Once installed our managers simultaneously visit your decorations a second time to insure visual perfection. And when the Holiday is over, your decorations magically disappear and are professionally repackaged and stored in our dedicated facility.

The Hotel

We use all the mentioned professional techniques with one exception. If your project is a large one, we send an army of elves to get the work done! This means that your Hotel guests are not disturbed. We understand the need for swift accurate and complete work in the Hotel and at Foliage Design Systems we know how many people it takes to get the job done and we never miss a dead line.

We are planning and working on Holiday programs all year long but you need to contact us well in advance of the Holidays as we buy our stock of materials in July/August as it takes many months to prepare the wreaths etc, also our work is very popular and installation time slots are limited.

Here are our interior theme's for Christmas 2017. These are available in Trees, Garlands and wreaths. We can even custom make displays specifically to fit in with your premises. Looking for exterior decorating.... don't worry keep paging down.... yes we do it all..

This is just an example of what we can do for you, we are able to completely customize a design so that your building is totally unique.

We would love to come out, take a look and give you a few ideas of how we can bring the excitement of Christmas to your location this year. Contact us now and lets schedule an appointment.