Surprise's, Farewell's and Wedding's!

It seems everyone wanted a piece of event magic this weekend! We've been far and wide between Guernsey and the Lake District providing entertainment and theming.  The weekend kicked off on Thursday, with a conference set and evening awards ceremony.  We dressed tables and chairs and lit up the walls, whilst the DJ threw down the tunes so the guests could dance the night away (although at one point they did all get rather distracted by a rumour Peter Andre was in the building! - He was!)

On Friday we sent out some of our Pirate props and were soon on our way over to Guernsey for a private 40th Birthday Party.  A surprise event for the birthday girl went down a storm and we always love a trip to the Channel Islands! Another team went up to the Lake District to install some generic room dressing. A small marquee over looking Derwent Water was a beautiful setting for a relaxed wedding.

A Las Vegas charity night went down well at Ponds Forge in Sheffield.  Themed room dressing and four casino tables run by our fantastic croupiers helped to raise lots of money for the clients chosen charity.  A great night and a great success!  This weekend also saw the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Our lovely clients for this event were throwing a 'Farewell Party' before emigrating oversees.  Our Ship's Wheel prop, Carpet Entrance and Lighting really gave the VIP feel as if aboard the Titanic. 

So we have indeed been busy bees; here, there and everywhere! Lots of happy clients and lots of happy staff! We'd best head off to unpack all those vans and prepare for the next run of fabulous events that are in store!

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What is this....winter?!!!

I'm guessing most of the UK was lead under false pretences last week with all the beautiful weather. We dug out our sunny's, shorts and sandals and got a little carried away thinking summer was well and truly on its way! So when I pulled back my curtains this morning and saw nothing but white...like a blanket spread over my garden, needless to say I was a little disappointed! My sunglasses have gone back in the drawer, substituted by wellies and thick jumpers and the heating is firmly on.

Last week we were talking about Caribbean Beach Parties and Summer BBQ’s which I’m hoping continued chatter of this, will lift spirits and get creative juices flowing in the minds of event organisers and all those planning a special party. We are talking to many clients at the moment about upcoming summer balls and events, many of which are tempted by our Alice in Wonderland theme; our weird and wonderful props lend themselves nicely to a garden party! Another popular choice for the summer is not to have a particular theme, but to go all out and entertain the crowd with a festival type feel. Fire Performers, Stilt Walkers, Bucking Bronco’s and Giant Games. A nicely lit marquee for dancing later on in the evening works wonders!

Whilst we're talking about Winter and Summer, we may as well touch on Spring and Autumn and all the lovely things that are on trend and up and coming. This month sees the 100th anniversary of the epic sail and sinking of the Titanic, we have the Queen's Jubilee and the Olympic Games. Not forgetting, 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the 007 films and of course, in October the release of the new film - uber exciting! All very British, and an ideal excuse to throw a party!! So, let’s all think hot thoughts and maybe, just maybe the snow will go away and we can have ourselves some summer BBQ's!

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Hot Weather and Hot Ideas!

As the warm weather seems to be sticking around, I thought I would bring you all a little insight as to what we have been doing over the last few events and bring you some news on our hottest Spring/Summer Trends.

This weekend has seen us bring the 1920's into the 21st century for a spectacular dinner dance in Sheffield.  Our traditional Street Lamps were the focus of attention as the guests strolled up the Black and Gold Carpet Entrance and we put in some beautiful linen and mood lighting to really finish off the main room.  The 1920's is an increasingly popular theme in the events industry; the glamour of the era hand in hand with prohibition.  

A Monte Carlo themed event was the brief for Sunday nights' event, for a major electronic company, also in Sheffield; Games and VIP glamour were what we provided!  A whole host of Casino Tables entertained the 120 guests for the early part of the evening before they all hit the town ready to party the night away.  Our Giant Scalextric Track and F1 Simulator Pods also went down a storm!

As the hot weather has returned (and is hopefully here to stay!) what better event to plan than a Summer BBQ, with a Caribbean twist?!  El Benny's Beach Hut is the perfect prop for this theme, quirky, original and completely Caribbean! Giant Lobster Pots, Rowing Boats, Palm Trees, Sea Shells and Salsa Bands are all part and parcel of this theme! Why not throw a party 'just because' and invite our Hula Girls to entertain your crowd! Get into the spirit of Summer, get those Rum Cocktails flowing and make Summer 2012 one never to forget!

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A weekend of two halfs!

You can't get much further apart than the madness of Alice in Wonderland and the days of 1920's Prohibition.  Well this weekend, these were the two themes out in force. 
Roaring 1920's seems to be the theme of choice this month and every student ball and corporate events team under the sun is looking to deck out their venues Prohibition style.  We have some great props for this theme, our Art Deco Backdrop and Entrance, many lengths of Star Cloth, great Mood Lighting and Gorgeous Linen and Centrepieces are all part and parcel. 
Down in Basingstoke we injected a hint of 1920's, allowing for more budget to be spent on the entertainment side of things.  We took some Whiskey Barrels (and my gosh, they don't half stink out our warehouse - and the van!) Crates, Lamposts and some gentle lighting.
A fantastic Alice in Wonderland ball took place in Manchester too....this theme is one of our absolute favourites - it's weird, it's wacky and above all it's fun!  We provided some Mood and Stage Lighting, Casino Tables and liaised with our fantastic performers.  They brought along The White Rabbit, The Mad Hatter and Alice herself, along with a Queen of Hearts Contorsionist.   The night went with with a bang and the venue looked amazing!

This week we're back in the Wild West!! We're also busy organising our next staff training session which will be held in a weeks' time....do you know anyone looking for some casual work or somebody that needs or wants experience in the events industry?  Put them in touch with us at Steel City Promotions and we will take them under our wing! All CV's should be sent to; hannah@steelcitypromotions.co.uk

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Lifestyle Awards - Liverpool

Roll up, Roll up....the circus is in town!!! (well, on Saturday it was anyway!) The Lifestyle Awards at Liverpool's Crowne Plaza was transformed into a Circus themed event complete with Red and Yellow drapes and performers galore!

Our crazy mirror entrance way made it's first outing for this event and what a great addition to our prop collection it is (our workshop was like a circus itself on Friday with all our visitors checking themselves out in the mirrors!) Painted in striking red's, blue's and yellow's they are the perfect photo opportunity and create an entrance worth talking about! Saturday's event saw Stilt Walkers meeting and greeting the guests on arrival and making sure lots of photos were taken.  Guests included many a celeb, and a few dished the dirt on upcoming storylines in certain soaps ;-).  There were angle grinding acts, clowns, magicians and hostesses coming from all angles and what a fab night it turned out to be!

Our fabulous Red and Yellow Drapes, acted as a stage backdrop and backgound to the awards that took place.  A real feature prop, striking and elegant! These were hand sewn in house and we can't wait to put them out for the next event!

This week we are supplying gorgeous Black Linen, Casino Tables, Backdrop and Spoof Paparazzi for a 1920's themed awards dinner.  Looking forward to that!

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Networking and Recent Events

February is renowned for being a quiet month in the events industry, although lets just say, it hasn't felt quiet!  The events side is less busy, however we are always continuing to update our stock, experiment with new ideas (the workshop is more like a lab than a storeroom!) and meet with new people.  The last few weeks have seen us sponsoring a group of students from Sheffield Hallam University for their networking event at Electric Works in Sheffield.  They organised, planned and produced a unique event combining Networking and Art - NET:ART.  As official sponsors, we provided mood lighting, poseur tables and all sorts of event extras to make it go with a bang!  They were raising money for Barnardos, so it was a huge privilege to be a part of it. The girls did a great job at organising each individual aspect and bringing it all together on the night. 

Quite often, events are over or under thought so the best thing to do is.....keep it simple! Tip of the day for you! If your event doesn't have a particular theme, lighting will transform any venue! We have plenty of generic theming in house, such as Carpet Entrance ways, AV and Lighting equipment and Illuminated Furniture to create a chic and contemporary feel. Linen and Feature Table Centres are also a great way to dress a room, simple but effective!

Of course if you want to go all out on the theming side of things, we're not going to stop you....in fact, this is our favourite part! This years big themes are going to be Wild West, Pirates, Willy Wonka and 007, as it is the 50th anniversary and the new film is being released towards the end of 2012 - i'm sure all the ladies are looking forward to a bit of 007 flashing a bit of flesh! In the meantime we have a great Daniel Craig Silhouette Panel (and also a rather fetching Sean Connery one too) for hire that fits perfectly into any Casino Royale theme.

Tomorrow we are off to the Circus.  We have some Crazy Mirrors and a great Red and Yellow Backdrop designed to resemble a Big Top.  Pictures and stories to follow next week from this event......

Visit our facebook page and browse through our pictures on there.  We have recently updated our website too, so have a look through the recent events page and our brand new News Articles for ideas for your next event. Follow us on twitter too - yes we have all the mod cons here @steelcitypromo

Conference and Hollywood Merge Together

Last year, we provided some evening entertainment and room dressing along the 007 theme for a Yorkshire based recruitment agency.  It was a great night, filled with casino tables, photographers, subtle room dressing and lots of laughter, so when we were approached for their event this year, we were super excited. 

This year they needed an afternoon conference set up for their seminar firstly, and then the idea was to transform the room into a night of Hollywood Glamour whilst they were putting on their gladrags.  Not a problem, we thought - so lets get planning!

The stage set was to be very basic, to contain their company logo, a big screen, a small stage and some cool lighting.  A really simple but effective point of focus for the seminar. 

After the afternoon session, we swiftly turned the room around and created a Hollywood VIP area, that would be fit for any Hollywood celeb!  A red carpet entrance complete with Spoof Paparazzi created the perfect beginning to the evening. Silhouette Panels, Giant Hollywood Letters, our very handsome Award Statues and some clever lighting brought the hotel function room to life. The client decided they definitely wanted to have our fun casino again as it went down so well in the previous year.  We put in four tables, and created a separate casino area away from the DJ and busy Black and White dance floor.  Our super friendly croupiers made sure the night went with a bang!

Since then we have been running a few charity nights with our casino tables, always a great way to make money for your charity and it's fun too!  The next event on the agenda that require a little planning is a Circus Themed event in a couple of weeks.  We're really looking forward to putting in our Crazy Mirror Entrance Way and our Red and Yellow Striped Backdrop. 

Take a look at some of the recent events we have been doing and 'like' us on facebook for up to date pictures and news. We're on twitter too @steelcitypromo - don't be shy now!

http://www.steelcitypromotions.co.uk/

0800 840 2114