Gillian’s Top 5 – November

In the past 2 weeks I’ve seen two great entertainment acts, so I thought I’d use this month’s top 5 to tell you about them and a few other that I think are fab acts for all kinds of events!

Callanish

Callanish are one of my favourite event bands. They are a vibrant and energetic group who play a mixture of ceilidh and contemporary music at events in the UK and abroad. Their line up consists of seasoned professionals within the industry and top music colleges/universities. They also run a music academy for new musicians! Their standard is always consistently high and their music is fantastic to listen to and even better to dance to!

Spud the Piper

Spud the piper a.k.a Calum Fraser is one of the most well known pipers in Scotland, especially in the wedding industry. He’s renowned for serenading Madonna with his own version of ‘Like a Virgin’ when she arrived in Scotland for her wedding and has since played for numerous celebrities and at countless high profile events. Spud plays a huge range of musical styles and his talent shines through in every performance.

Big Vern & the Shootahs

This band brought the house down at this summer’s West Coast Harley Davidson 10^th Birthday Party which we organised at The Primary in Glasgow. They are a rockin’ nine piece soul band with a wide repertoire including rock ‘n’ roll with a soul/funk vibe.

The band recently celebrated their 20^th anniversary as a group and are still going strong with a jam-packed diary, including self funded gigs and hogmanay celebrations.

Björn Again

The Björn Again show, which incidentally is neither a tribute act or a band, but a show with a Brand mark (like Mamma Mia), has been successful the world over. Created in Australia in 1988, the show is a phenomenal act that brings Abba songs to life and has been so successful that it has even been endorsed by Agnetha Fältskog!

The show was the main entertainment for the recent Gordon Ramsay Gala Dinner in aid of the Scottish Spina Bifida Association and the dance floor was packed as guests danced the night away to a wonderful performance that included hits like Dancing Queen and Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

SOS Secret Opera Singers

On Monday night we attended the VOWS Awards and the entertainment included the SOS Secret Opera Singers. Three singers masqueraded as guests and staff before launching in to a flamboyant, show-stopping performance!

This is a great way of entertaining your guests throughout dinner and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the fun-filled performance from these International Opera Stars.

Next month I’ll be chatting about something festive…to find out what, make sure you subscribe to receive our blog updates (you”ll find a link at the top right of this page).

G

Styling for a Star

I know a lot of you are interested in the styling for the Gordon Ramsay Gala Dinner, so I’m going to give you the low down of exactly what we used for the design, and at the same time introduce you to some new products that we have to hire!

Table Linen

Tables were covered with rich and vibrant violet faux silk floor length cloths from our collection. The two top tables were much larger than the others (and a different shape) so our manufacturing team made bespoke cloths for these tables to avoid unsightly joins.

Chairs

These aren’t normally worth mentioning, however, when you see these you’ll understand why I have! Clear ghost chairs were used to reflect the contemporary style of the building. When I saw them I was surprised at how much they added the perception of space and lightness to the room. I love chair covers and lavish seat ties, but these were a welcome alternative for this event.

Table centres

These new tables centres were stunning in the room and everyone commented on how fantastic they looked filled with the quirky coloured globes. We used two different shapes to add interest, a giant wine vase and a giant champagne vase. Both were filled with a mixture of zingy green, vibrant purple and snow-white globes. The glass and the curvature of the table centres beautifully reflected the shear glass walls in the Science Centre.

Table centres were completed with cool clear torpedo nitelight holders and balls of lime green chrysanthemum flowers.

Table top

Individual place settings were dressed with a pearl metallic glass charger plate, with the chic white program on top.  Crisp black napkins were positioned at the side of the program, displayed in a smooth purple napkin ring – a new addition to our hire collection! To complement the napkin ring, place cards were placed in new purple and green circular knife holders.

The glassware on the tables really added something a little bit special to the design. Our unusual bubble glasses where joined by a new addition, the purple chalice – a statement piece of  glassware with a vibrant coloured body.

Finishing touches were added with morango stainless steel cutlery, new salt & pepper bowls (image coming soon!) and new high gloss white frames displaying the table numbers.

I’m sure you’ll agree the whole ensemble looked amazing!

Service

With such an amazingly stylish room & the sumptuous food planned for the evening, it would have been a crime not to consider the presentation of dinner! After careful planning with the chef’s of Braehead foods, we chose our distinctive fine bone gold rim china for food presentation, clear glass chargers for dessert and square pewter chargers for bread…perfect!

Dance Floor, Stage & Bar

As the stage was the main focal point for the evening it had to be as stylish and as ‘wow’ as the rest of the room. A black carpet was laid on the floor of the Atrium, a striking contrast to the twinkling white LED dance floor and white stage that lay at the front of the room.

To the left of the stage was a simply gorgeous, new, white grand piano! The stage was completed with a clear perspex lectern from which Gordon and the entertainers would address the guests.

The large pillar in the centre of the room was the perfect spot for a circular bar to be positioned. The super-modern circluar bar, with LED coloured panels transformed the area into a trendy, cosmopolitan and unique space.

Do you want to use this look for your event?

If you think you’d like to use this contemporary vibrant and stylish design for one of your next events, then please feel free to make an appointment to view the table styling at our Design Studio. Our expert designers can tailor & individualise this look to suit your event & venue. To arrange your personal consultation, call Gill or Sheila now on 0141 445 2288 or drop them a line at info@88eventscompany.com.

Images of the full design below!

What it’s like to manage a Gordon Ramsay event…

It’s hard to believe it’s all over. For the last 2 months, my life seems to have revolved around the Gordon Ramsay Gala Dinner and already it feels weird not working on it!

The Setup

The setup started on Monday 26th and continued through to the afternoon of Thursday 29^th. Within that time I managed over 20 different suppliers who came from all over the UK to contribute to the event, including Girls Aloud’s sound engineer. With so much going on it was essential that we had a comprehensive running order, not just for the night, but for the whole week. Deborah (Head of Fundraising at SSBA) & I put together a mammoth running order of 22 pages! (I’m expecting a call from the Guinness Book of Records any day now).

Last Minute Changes

Setup from Monday to Thursday morning was a breeze, then on Thursday morning we had a call to say that Gordon had reviewed the script for the evening, and in true celebrity style, decided that he wanted to ‘re-order a few things’. At about 1pm I braced myself for a call from Deborah, who confirmed the changes. I had to take a deep breath, count to 10 and then get straight to action!

Things went into over drive to re-do the running order and script for the evening, then all staff involved had to be re-briefed, whilst ensuring that setup was completed in time! It was a pretty stressful afternoon, but when the sponsors began to arrive for their drinks reception, everything was in place and we were ready for them.

Getting the Party Started

Many people think that at this point the organisers can relax and enjoy the evening, however this is when the adrenaline kicks in as you focus to keep control of everything that happens at the event. You need to ensure service is swift, entertainers know when and where they need to be, sound & lighting is in place and cued at the right time, not to mention ensuring that all the guests are happy.

So, whilst the guests where on the 1^st floor enjoying champagne and watching their fresh canapés being cooked, we cued Neilston Pipe Band in place on the escalator and in the Science Street, ready for the Master of Ceremonies and the Pipe Major to announce dinner. At this point the lighting and production were ready to go in the Atrium, where everyone would be dining, beverage service were cued, followed by a ready and waiting team for food service, and the pianist was in position ready for when the pipe band completed their hair-raising finale on the dance floor.

A crucial point of ensuring an event runs perfectly is getting the timing right, so that guests had the adequate amount of time in between courses, without getting bored or at the opposite end of the scale, being rushed. We employed a highly experienced team of professional waiting staff, and management, to ensure that food service was served efficiently.

During food service, of 6 delicious courses, myself & Lisa darted around ensuring that everything was in place for the next stage of entertainment, from Gordon’s welcome speech, to the auction, comedian Kevin Bridges, the chefs of Braehead Foods, Bjorn Again & the DJ at the after show party. Each act required specific lighting, sound & production making it a very technical event to manage.

As always there was some last minute changes on the night, for example, the atmosphere was so fantastic during dessert, that Gordon suggested we start the auction straight away to capture the mood. This of course caused some havoc with our running order, but luckily we had briefed everyone well enough and our communication was so effective, we were able to adjust to the changes without any problems. (Thanks to Camerons for the head mic’s, we’d have been lost without them!)

De-rig

I managed to relax for a quick 5 minutes during the after show party on, then after all the guest had left at 2am, de-rig started. I had all my suppliers on standby, ready to come in at scheduled times for their kit. It’s important to get the timing of this right because if you bring everyone in at once, you can end up with suppliers tripping over each other which doesn’t help anyone achieve a quick and safe de-rig.

It was a tough de-rig for all the staff as they were all pretty tired after a hard day, but the adrenaline from the event carried us all through and I directed them as efficiently as possible to de-rig what we could that night, and the rest happened the following morning, ready for the Science Centre to open at 10am.

It was a fantastic event to manage and I’m thrilled that everything when to plan and the feedback has been phenomenal!

G

The Gordon Ramsay Gala Dinner – A Guest’s Perspective

Part 1

I’d be lying if I said I was 100% relaxed as our taxi pulled up outside the Glasgow Science Centre for the sponsors’ reception. I knew that Gillian was more than capable of managing the event, that wasn’t an issue. However, when you’ve spent time and effort on something there is always a touch of nervousness mixed with the excitement that seeps in!

As we pulled up, I could see the gobos of the sponsors logos and the Gala Dinner logo, projected onto the wall of the Science Centre. Thank goodness we decided to erect a covered walkway as the lovely Glasgow weather was as expected – damp and dreary. Once you stepped into the candlelit walkway, you immediately forgot about the winter weather and felt the warmth and excitement building up for the night that lay ahead.

The jazzy purple carpet continued from the walkway through the Link Building and down the Street, which was lined with Gala Dinner posters and branding, acting as a guide to the drinks reception. Before heading up the escalator to the children’s party, I was greeted by smart and smiley staff at the cloakroom who kindly took my soaking wet coat from me.

As a sponsor, we were invited to the children’s party where some of the children who attended the centre had an afternoon of fun with Gordon, Tana and their daughter. They were all so cute, dressed up in their party outfits, some of the little girls even had glitter spray in their hair!

As Gordon arrived there was an immediate buzz as the children recognised him and all began to call his name. Gordon and Tana were so natural with the children and we sat with them, playing games and colouring…you could tell the kids were thrilled!

We then went to join the other guests for the champagne reception. From about half way up the escalator you could already smell the delicious canapés that were being cooked at a food station where we could all see, smell and then taste the scrumptious nibbles. I must say I was thoroughly enjoying watching and sampling these with a glass of bubbly before the press photographs took place and dinner was called.

Whilst chatting to Tana Ramsay I heard a booming voice coming from the top of the escalator – it was the Master of Ceremonies inviting VIP’s, the Lord Provost of Glasgow and all guests to follow the Pipe Major to the Atrium where dinner would be served. Then a full pipe and drum band, positioned along the escalator and Street towards the Atrium struck up and accompanied the pipe major’s call for dinner.

As we all filtered down the escalators and along the purple walkway to the atrium there was a tingle of excitement and anticipation as guests realised that the long awaited evening was here! I had obviously seen the room already dressed so I was intrigued to see the reactions of the other guests as they arrived to see the stunning styling.

There was no doubt guests were impressed with the quirky styling in such an unusual space and were pleased that it was intimate, yet not too stuffy. If you’ve ever been in the Science Centre you’ll know what a difficult space the Atrium is for sight lines etc, but with careful planning we knew we’d positioned each table with the optimum view of the stage and plasma. You could see that guests were at first sceptical if they would be able to see, then they immediately relaxed when they knew they could! (Lisa will give you all the details about the styling of the space in her upcoming blog).

We were all seated when the pipe band entered and marched onto the twinkling white dance floor to perform their drum salute finale, encouraged by clapping guests, before marching out again to a massive round of applause.

We settled at our table whilst the MOC welcomed Gordon to the stage where he told us all about his affiliation with the Scottish Spina Bifida Association. Then a short video about the work of the charity was played. I’ve seen variations of the video many times throughout the past number of years and each time I watch it I still get a lump in my throat as I watch these kids, their families and the wonderful work that the Association does for them.

The Association supports children, adults and families with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and related conditions. They have a fantastically equipped family support centre which not only provides a relaxing environment for families to visit, training, recreational and support services, but is it also uniquely equipped with a state of the art Telemedicine suite.

The telemedicine suite enables those with spina bifida and hydrocephalus to receive medical advice via video-conferencing equipment from health professionals based across the UK, therefore minimising travel. The work that the Association does is phenomenal and caring for these families is something that is dear to my heart.

Back to the event… and in a flurry of black & white, the beverage staff got to work serving everyone and before I knew it our table was surrounded by waiters serving the first course of dinner.

Do you want to find out the delicious 6-course meal that was created and prepared by Scotland’s top 3 chefs?

Sign up to receive email updates now as I’ll be revealing this in the next few days!

S

88 Events’ wedding design features on Photographer’s blog

Sara & Rutger live in Amsterdam but decided to get married in Sara’s hometown of Dunoon. We styled their contemporary wedding ceremony and you can see some of the images of this and the rest of the wedding on Craig & Eva Sanders Photography blog.

Here’s a few of our own photos from the team’s trip on the ferry to picturesque Knockdow House in Dunoon.

Gordon’s Gala Dinner is hailed a huge success!

12 months of preparation came together into one extraordinary event last Thursday. The Gordon Ramsay Gala Dinner in aid of the Scottish Spina Bifida Association has been hailed the best one yet and possibly the best event Glasgow has seen!

On Friday morning Deborah, head of fundraising for the SSBA, was inundated with emails and phone calls from thrilled guests, even George Burley, manager of the Scottish football team, has said it is probably the best event he’s ever been too!

The event was a spectacular night, jam packed with top notch food, fun-filled entertainment, cutting edge styling and seamless production. I’m thrilled that we’re finally able to tell you all the details of the Gala Dinner and I’m delighted to announce that the event raised over 90K for the charity.

Over the next few days you’ll hear from myself, Gillian and Sheila about our individual Gala Dinner experiences, but to quench your thirst and get you ready to hear all about it, here are a few images from the night…

L

Gordon Ramsay Gala Dinner: The Countdown – 15 days to go!

Last week Gill & I paid a second visit to the Science Centre in a week, this time to measure up for a detailed floor plan and discuss access points.

A detailed floor plan is a crucial part of planning an event, especially if setup is taking place within a tight timescale. You need to make sure you have adequate space for tables & chairs, stages, serving points etc, whilst ensuring that you have sufficient access for your guests so that they will be comfortable throughout the evening.

For the Gala Dinner, we had to take into account the unusual shape of the atrium and the pillars throughout the room so that these didn’t obscure guests view. It is important that all guests have the optimum view of the stage areas!

Key aspects that we measured up for are: 25 round dining tables for dinner, the DJ booth, the sound booth and two stages, not to mention other areas such as the dance floor and bar (Both these areas will be pretty special!)

Then we went on to observe and plan the access points for all suppliers. This will help when Gill & I put together a detailed running order for each of the suppliers to work with. If you’re interested, this running order is currently sitting at 16 pages long!

Next week, we’ll be back to the GSC again on site visits with some of our suppliers and staff who will be working on the night. Then, the initial setup for the event will start on Monday 26^th October…4 days before the event.

I haven’t decided what my next blog entry will be, it may be too early for some reflection on the planning of the event, so perhaps Gillian, who is managing the event on the night, will fill you in on her latest developments…..”Gill!?”

S

88 Events is nominated for a VOWS Award!

We’re all very excited here at 88 Events as last week I received a call from Liz at the VOWS Awards, telling us the great news that we have been nominated for a VOWS Award!

The VOWS Awards recognise companies who provide the Scottish wedding industry with excellence in customer service and is highly regarded by all in the industry, including those planning their wedding.

This is the first year we’ve entered into the awards and we’re thrilled to have been short listed for the prize. The glitzy awards ceremony will take place on the 9^th November…fingers crossed that we win!

L

Gillian’s Top 5 – October

This month I’ve decided to rate my top 5 canapés for your events. Canapés are an ideal snack to serve at any kind of event and can range for simple delicacies to elaborate flavour combinations.

Aside from the obvious importance of delicious food, the key to great canapés lies in the presentation. The caterers we work with are constantly coming up with new ways of serving and presenting canapés to keep guests interested.

My top 5 canapés are:

1. Sweet melon sip with Margarita sorbet

This cheeky canapé of sweet melon sip with a Margarita sorbet, served in a shot glass, is a refreshing touch, idea for spring/summer events.

Shot glass canapes - great for desserts too!

2. Maple fig with prosciutto

A delicate canapé of sweet figs coated in maple syrup, rolled up in prosciutto then coated in a breadcrumb and peanut crust served with a sesame satay sauce.

3. Ice lolly of smokey lapsang souchong tea infused with fresh juices and peel of lemons, oranges and grapefruits

This is a bit of an unusual one, but worth mentioning for that fact I think!

Lapsang souchong is a smoked tea, with the aroma of an oak fire, that originates from the Fujian province of China. It tastes fantastic with citrus fruits and the presentation of this is just delightful!

Ice lolly of smokey lapsang

4. Smoked Highland venison in a savoury pancake

A rich canapé of lightly smoked venison slivers with plum and walnut relish rolled in a savoury pancake… need I say more?

5. Smoked salmon, black pepper, capers and horseradish

A simple collection of flavours presented with style on a chic oriental spoon.

Oriental spoons are ideal for serving all kinds of dishes

What would you like to see in my top 5 next month? Drop me a comment and let me know!

G

88 Events star on Wedding TV

88 Events wedding design features in upcoming Wedding TV show:

Channel: Wedding TV (Sky 266)

When: Tuesday 22^nd September

Time: 8pm

On Tuesday (22^nd September) a brand new program – The Best of British Wedding Venues – starts on Wedding TV. (If you like, you can vote for your favourite now at www.weddingtv.com.)

Presented by Carole Smillie, she will take you on a tour of the best wedding venues in Britain, as voted by Wedding TV viewers.

Carol filmed links for the show at Glasgow’s Pollok House (see our other blog & photo of her & Sheila having a giggle) which 88 Events had styled for the occasion. She also had a chat with Sheila which will be shown on the show that is aired on the 10^th November, so don’t forget to tune in!

If you catch the program look out for a beautiful ceremony room, dressed with Cornish cream vintage damask chair covers & dreamy cream taffeta seat ties, plus a flamboyant wedding breakfast with apple and champagne faux silk linen, oversized floral terrariums and cutting edge tabletop items like hand-painted china plates and swirl crystal glassware.

In fact, here’s a sneak preview of some images from the filming so you know what to look out for!

Let us know what you think about the show and about our wedding design.
L