Ideas

Top 5 tips for booking a band - Booking a band for any event can be tricky. What type of music, what size of band, what price should I pay? These are the most common questions a person asks themselves when they have been given the task of booking a band. Yes these are important questions but there are a few small things to look out for when booking a band.

Team Building Entertainment Ideas - Putting together a corporate team building day can be a real challenge. You have to get everyone in the office together, and plan an outing that not only keeps everyone happy, but makes them motivated and inspired to return to work.

There are a few easy ways to create a successful team building event: make sure you hold it on a normal work day so people aren’t losing out on their free time, and make sure it’s an event everyone’s capable of attending. Employees come in all ages and abilities, so don’t organise a paintballing day if you know half your colleagues aren’t going to be capable of making it through the whole day.

Everyone who works with you is different, so try not to go too aggressive or too laid back. This probably seems like a lot more stress than it’s worth – but don’t worry, there’s light at the end of the teambuilding tunnel.

Organising a UK or Ireland Wedding from abroad - If you’re currently trying to organise a wedding in Ireland from abroad, chances are you’ve spent at least one evening cocooned on the sofa, surrounded by pages of notes, scrolling desperately through page after page of wedding venues, wedding bands, wedding DJS, and, during your darkest hours, tips on eloping.

Wedding organisation can be one of the most overwhelming tasks facing any prospective bride and groom – once the engagement celebrations have ended, the champagne bottles have run dry, and holding out your left hand so people can gasp has lost its novelty, the realisation that now you actually have to plan a wedding can hit you like a tonne of bricks. If you’re one of the thousands of Irish couples who have moved abroad and want to get married back in Ireland, double that figure.

Everyone seems to be getting married in exotic destinations these days – but what if your exotic destination choice is the town where you were born? Emigration rates have skyrocketed in recent years, and with that has come an increase in the number of couples who face the daunting task of planning and executing an entire wedding in Ireland from places as far away as Australia, Canada, or even the UAE.

If the thought of all this extra stress is leaving you swamped, worry not! Help has arrived in the form of our handy tip list for any couple trying to organise a wedding in Ireland from overseas.

How to Plan your Wedding Ceremony Music - Your Wedding is one the most important days in your life. The Wedding Ceremony is the most important and special part of your Wedding and will be remembered all your life, especially if you are having a videographer as your ceremony will be watched every year by you and your partner "till death do you part"! This blog will help you understand how music is a huge part of your ceremony and give you ideas on what Wedding ceremony musicians to choose.

The most important rule for choosing the right ceremony music is that it reflects your interests, emotions and the feelings as a couple. You have to make sure that your music style and volume is in keeping with the intimacy of your ceremony. For example the entrance of the bride music shouldn’t be too loud or too fast, as you have to walk down the aisle slowly and this would be kinda awkward if you are coming down to Manic 2000!

Store Promotion Ideas - If you’re trying to promote your brand, store, or product, creating a memorable marketing experience should be your first port of call. Experiential marketing, or “messaging you can touch” creates a tangible way for customers or clients to interact with your product or brand, pulling them in and creating a business-consumer relationship that will improve both your brand recognition and sales.

Many businesses now enjoy and thrive off store promotion. Whether its opening the store for the first time or your first year anniversary store promotions can attract new customers and keep existing customers. It can also help increase sales which is probably the most positive factor of all businesses. Store promotion entertainment can help with every of these aspects... if done properly.

Innovative, experiential marketing strategies are being employed by almost every business, big and small, as it ensures their branding spreads through social media, word of mouth, and even the free press if you’re really impressive – as many as 88% of customers will purchase a product after a positive experiential marketing encounter. There’s no doubt that the best way to promote your brand is to create a memorable in-store promotion, and that’s where we come in.

Office party ideas - It’s important to let your staff members know that all the hard work they put into the company is valued – and what better way to do that than to hold a staff party? Staff parties are the perfect way for employees to relieve the stress of the daily grind and come together to celebrate anything from closing a big deal to a fellow employee’s birthday.

Hosting a staff party can be a little bit more difficult than putting together something for friends and family, however. Not everyone is going to have a close relationship within the workplace, and you need to make sure your event retains at least an air of professionalism: everyone needs to be able to make it into work the next day, as well as look each other in the eye.

Restaurant Entertainment ideas can be a necessity when either opening a restaurant, having a themed night in a restaurant or to just attract new customers to your restaurant. So choosing the perfect entertainment is vital.

Restaurant Entertainment can be quite tricky as it has to create the right ambience. If you want a band or musician, be aware that the music can’t be too loud or your customers will not be able to speak amongst each other, and well that would be awkward. Also make sure your entertainment fits into your venue you don’t want to hire a big 6 piece live jazz band, to only squeeze them into a corner so ask the and how much space they need and work it into your restaurant layout.

If you want dancers outside the restaurant building as your entertainment firstly make sure you are allowed. There are some rules and regulations surrounding having dancers on a street, especially if you have hired fire dancers. So always just double check what you are and aren’t allowed. Better being safe than sorry.

How to entertain Children at your Wedding - Your wedding day is fast approaching, you have everything organised and you are fully confident that you and your partner and all your guests will be happy and smiling throughout your joyous day. But have you thought about your little guests, sometimes weddings can be quite boring for the children, well until the music turns on and they all turn into mini Elvis Presleys. Underneath are a few tips on how to keep your little guests entertained.

Tip 1 - Your little guests will get bored sitting at a table full of grown ups having conversations. So make them feel as important and set up their own kids table. Have the table covered in crayons, drawing books, arts and crafts (nothing too messy). This will keep them amused for hours on end, and will give their parents a nice break as well.

Tip 2 - This is a great way to give the kids something to do. A simple game of I Spy with a disposable camera. They could work in teams or on their own and be kept amused for hours. Also just think of the very funny and amusing photos which they will capture.
A wedding day through the eyes of a child, now that is priceless !

Tip 3 - Hire a Children's entertainer - Add a touch of humour to your wedding day by entertaining your guests with a clown or magician. They could include the children in loads of games and keep them fascinated as they pull rabbits out of hats and make monkeys out of balloons. You will all be laughing at at your very own comedy show.

Tip 4 - Bring childhood games into an extra large version. Giant games are really popular at the minute. Yes, most people use them outdoors but there is no reason why you can’t have them indoors either. Giant Jenga, giant Connect 4 and Giant Snakes & Ladders are just a few giant games which you could have !

Tip 5 - Make your wedding day really stand out with a Mini Crazy Golf Course. The young guests will be entertained for hours on end and the adults can also get involved and have a mini golf tournament. You never know, you could have the next golf pro in your midst !

Tip 6 - A new trend which is occurring more and more on the wedding scene is the release of an object or an animal. Doves, fire lanterns and messages in a bottle are the most common. How about a large balloon release. Give each of your guests a balloon which they can write a message on. It could be a message to the newly married couple, or a personal message. Once everyone has done this let all your young guests collect the balloons and release them into the sky. It is truly a beautiful sight !

Final Tip - Overall, just enjoy your day. Take every moment in, laugh when you need to laugh, cry when you need to cry and love always. This is you and your partners day, it will be perfect and everybody else will see that !
I hope these tips on how to entertain your younger guests at your wedding has helped with your planning and good luck with the rest of your journey.

BBQ Party Entertainment Ideas - The sun is shining; the radio is turned up to full volume and the smell of BBQ’s start to fill the summer air.
 
The BBQ Party season has started. 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 BBQ Party Ideas in the form of entertainment and games throughout the day and evening.
 
Underneath are a few simple ideas to make your BBQ party the highlight of the summer.

BBQ Party Entertainment

BBQ Party Music 

BBQ Party Ideas - Extra Tips

•  Send invites 2 weeks before the BBQ party
•  Make a note of any special dietary requirements
•  Ensure you have all necessary equipment (plates, cups, cutlery, BBQ !!)
•  Purchase the food the day before the BBQ party and prep as much as you can.
•  Overall, have fun, smile and enjoy your party!

Exhibition Stand Entertainment - Having a stand at a trade show or exhibition is a fantastic way to expose your brand and company to more potential customers in an effective, meaningful way. When you attend an exhibition or trade show, your main goal is obviously to bring more customers to your business and increase brand awareness, and the best way to do that is to employ some sort of entertainment to first draw people in, and then to get them really interested in and excited about what you have to say.

In essence, exhibition and trade show marketing requires compressed, high-impact experiential marketing events, and as such hiring entertainment is a fantastic way for your marketing efforts to stand out from the usual customised pen or bottle opener that will probably end its life on the conference room floor.

Awards Ceremony Entertainment - If you’re organising an awards ceremony, you’ll want it to be a successful and memorable occasion.

There’s more to an awards ceremony than the awards themselves – you’ll need to plan an entire event to make the awards ceremony really worth attending. Awards create a buzz, and are a lovely way to acknowledge the success of individuals or a team within your organisation.

Rewarding those who work hard has been an important part of business and social organisation life since the beginning of time, and with good reason. Recognition motivates people, and makes them feel like their work is valued. It’s also a way to get the entire company or group together to showcase the best they have to offer – and encourage others to become part of that group in the following year.

Christmas Party Entertainment - It’s important to let your staff members know that all the hard work they put into the company is valued – and what better way to do that than to hold a staff party? Staff parties are the perfect way for employees to relieve the stress of the daily grind and come together to celebrate anything from closing a big deal to a fellow employee’s birthday. Hosting a staff party can be a little bit more difficult than putting together something for friends and family, however. Not everyone is going to have a close relationship within the workplace, and you need to make sure your event retains at least an air of professionalism: everyone needs to be able to make it into work the next day, as well as look each other in the eye.

Launch Party Entertainment Ideas - If you’re launching a new product, it makes sense from a marketing standpoint to organise a proper launch party. Successful product launch parties can improve your brand recognition and sales figures exponentially, and ensure your store or product is on the map the minute you break ground.

No doubt you’ve been working on your marketing for months – pouring over industry analysis, market research, blog posts, and samples. When it comes to your actual product launch, you need your event to go off without a hitch. A completely successful product launch is the only launch that’s going to get your business noticed – which can lead to a lot of stress in the planning stages. Rolling launches are the best bet for many new brands and products; however it makes sense to have one big event to mark an official launch date.

Christening Party Ideas - For parents who want to raise their child within the Christian faith, a christening is the first step in a lifelong relationship with the church. Whether it’s for religious or educational reasons, a christening is a celebration both of the child’s entrance into the faith and of two people entering into parenthood. All parents want their child’s christening day to be perfect, and we’re sure you’re no different! Have a look at our brilliant christening party planner to make sure your day runs smoothly from start to finish.

First Communion Party Ideas - A First Holy Communion or a confirmation is a huge event in both the religious and personal life of a young Christian.

These are landmarks in their journey as a believer, and as such many families choose the mark the occasion with a First Communion or Confirmation party attended by family and friends. First Communion and confirmation parties can range from intimate gatherings of the child’s close relatives to a huge community celebration with all the children who received their First Communion or confirmation rites that day.

Fundraising Event Ideas - Putting together a successful charity event takes enthusiasm, dedication, and a lot of planning. For a lot of non-profit organisations, fundraising events provide important resources – but only if they’re successful. No matter what size or type of fundraising event you’re putting together, you’ll have the same objectives: to raise money, and to make people aware of your organisation.
 
The best way to encourage people to dig deep at your fundraising event is to make sure they’re relaxed and having fun – people are much more likely to donate if they feel like they’re getting something in return, so making sure they have a fun night means you’re likely to raise more money for your organisation.

School Formal Entertainment Ideas - The school formal is the night everyone looks forward to all year, so it’s definitely one you want to make memorable. The entertainment can make or break your formal, so you have to make sure you get it right.

The most important thing about organising a school formal is that it’s a chance for everyone to let loose and have fun after a year of hard work and exams, as well as a way for school leavers’ to say goodbye as they move into the next stage of their lives.

Putting together the perfect entertainment is a great way to make sure your guests celebrate their formal in style.

Mix and Mingle Entertainment Ideas - We all know that a first meeting can be an awkward affair, so putting together entertainment that can get your guests to mix and mingle easily during an event is a top priority for most organisers. You want to put people at ease in their surroundings and create something to talk about – so why not do it with some high quality entertainment?

Creating a buzz at a mix and mingle event is a sure fire way to get people chatting, so strolling acts are often a first port of call for organisers. A magician who specialises in close-up magic is a brilliant option – they can stroll through the crowd performing with willing participants, naturally creating groups that will continue to socialise long after they’ve moved on.

House Party Entertainment Ideas - Everybody loves a good house party, they combine all the fun and games of a great night out with all the relaxation of a few drinks on the sofa after a long day.

Because of the relaxed, sociable atmosphere of a house party, it can be tempting to take the same approach to planning your night. Whilst planning a house party is definitely less stressful than organising an event (there’s no venue to book, for one), you still need to put a bit of work into the planning if you want your night to be really memorable.

Engagement Party Ideas - Getting engaged is without a doubt one of the happiest times of your life. You’ve just taken a big step with someone you love, so it’s natural to want to share your joy with your family and friends and host an engagement party!

We know planning any party can be a stressful experience, but when you’ve got one foot in the blissful clouds of love and the other in the full plate of putting together your wedding, you want planning your engagement party to be as simple as possible. That’s why we’ve put together this engagement party planner, full of practical help you can utilise to make putting together your engagement party a breeze!

60th Birthday party ideas - When it comes to planning a 60th birthday party, it’s usually an occasion that the whole family attends. Everyone wants to come and wish their loved one well, and enjoy some fun and quality time with them on this landmark in the world of birthdays.

Chances are a 60th birthday party is going to have guests of all ages in attendance, so putting together entertainment can seem like a bit of a challenge, but if you’re clever about it, getting everyone in the party spirit isn’t too hard.

50th Birthday Party Ideas - A 50th birthday party differs from those milestone birthdays that come before it in that it’s definitely going to have a sophisticated edge to it – most 50 year olds are past the part of their lives where a DJ and three litres of spirits are what constitutes a great night out.

That doesn’t mean, however, that a 50th birthday party has to be all tea and crumpets and not offending your Great Aunt Jean. You’ll still want to put on something your birthday boy or girl will enjoy, but don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to putting together a 50th birthday party.

Think about what kind of music the birthday girl or guy enjoys – if they’re more into traditional music, hire in some traditional musicians. Chances are they’ll want something a bit more laidback than your traditional party bands or DJs, so consider hiring in a band that has a more country or jazz sound.

40th Birthday Ideas - There’s no doubt about it: turning 40 is a big deal. A 40th birthday is a huge milestone, as well as a celebration of having made it this far – you’re a real adult now, and all the uncertainties of the past 20 years have melted away to leave you confident, comfortable, and happy in life.

But turning 40 doesn’t mean you say goodbye to fun - planning a 40th birthday party is a great way to show your friends and family that you can still throw one hell of a party, no matter what age comes before the word “birthday” on the banners.

If the person turning 40 loves to party or is a big music fan, it makes sense to hire in a live band or DJ. It’s a great way to really get the party going, and chances are a lot of the guests at a 40th birthday party have families and jobs, so they’ll want to cut loose and blow off some steam.

Hiring in a mixologist could be a brilliant choice, too. Have a chat with them beforehand, and get some signature cocktails put together. You could go upmarket and have classy, sophisticated cocktails, or even blast from the past with something garish from the 70s or 80s that you no doubt sipped on your big nights out growing up!