This season’s wedding colour themes

With the 2013 wedding season well and truly upon us we thought we’d share some of this year’s colour themes in case you’re looking for some inspiration. Certainly after the dreary winter and spring we've had it seems that vibrant colours are the order of the day.

When it comes to wedding décor and floral arrangements, we've seen lime green and hot Caribbean tones (vibrant purple, turquoise and orange) all making an appearance. 

Of course there’s still a strong interest in the traditional and very, elegant white.

Also, more and more brides are opting to use seasonal flowers and foliage at their wedding to get more from their décor budget.  As the yellows and blues of spring come to an end, we’re looking forward to the hotter colour pallette of the summer – reds, oranges and purples.

Rethinking the non-alcoholic drinks options at weddings and parties

We've noticed that more and more people are scaling back on their alcohol consumption, even at

celebrations and parties.  The success of the anti-drink:drive campaign, health concerns around alcohol and a general public mood towards moderation means that the non-alcoholic drinks option at weddings and parties is rising in demand. 

Historically this has formed rather a dull alternative with orange juice and sparkling water the stalwart offering.  But this need not be the case.  Exciting non-alcoholic drinks from cocktails to unusual fruit cordials have blossomed in recent years.  

We've been concocting and serving our client’s guests with mouth-watering fruity cocktails,  freshly pressed apple juice and mint punch with crushed ice, a variety of elderflower based pressés and impressive fruit juice fountains.

So if you want your celebration to be a bit different and want to rethink the non-alcoholic drinks option, do get in touch for some exciting alternatives.

Weather-proof outside party & launch event ideas for the May bank holidays

With the May bank holidays around the corner there’s still time to plan a party that embraces the start of the summer.  Of course for many of us used to the varying British climate, that means accounting for all weathers. 

Fortunately you can still keep warm and dry whilst creating a great outdoor celebration.  So don’t be put off.  Harness your inner desire to get your celebration or event out of the house (and most of us desperately want that after this year’s long winter!!) and consider more luxurious marquees, poled tents, tepees and yurts for your celebration.   

All can include carpets, open fires & traditional heating , sumptuous seating to enable you to enjoy the outdoors in true comfort.  Clear PVC marquee models can let you visibly enjoy the beauty of your surroundings from within the tent and the latest designs place comfort and luxury high on the agenda. 

Give Gilly a call on 01483 243503 if you’d like to learn more about our field event and party expertise and recommendations to celebrate the bank holiday in style.

Wedding invites – how to make them more of an experience

We’re often asked by brides and grooms how to approach the whole wedding invitation process. Typically invites are sent out 3 months before the wedding but it’s now common practice to send out well in advance of that a ‘save the date’ message to those friends and family you definitely want to be part of the celebration.  This avoids holiday and other diary clashes that will prevent them from attending.

Make it the starting point of your celebration
With the date secure in people’s diaries you can then spend more time getting the right look, feel and content to your invitation.  In fact the invitation can be an exciting start to the whole celebratory experience.  You can use it to set the tone for the event and, if you’re following a particular theme, let the invite offer up a sneak preview. We’ve seen some couples really consider the whole process of their guests receiving the invitation … from the choice of envelope, the feel of the invite itself as well as the look, choice of words and style of writing etc.

Make it unique to you
Depending on your budget and style preferences you might want to call on the help of a professional designer, calligrapher or printer. Handcrafted and highly individual invitations are also proving popular at the moment.  We’ve seen some impressive invite creations using a whole range of unusual paper stocks and materials.  So don’t feel you have to go with a highly traditional invitiation style.

Useful things to include
It’s sensible to include with the invitation a sheet with details of nearest hotels and B&Bs if you have guests coming from far afield and also to give some guidance as to your wedding list/gift preferences as most guests will want to ask you.  Even if you don’t want gifts, or are asking for charitable donations to a particular cause,  it’s worth including this guidance to avoid having to deal with mulitiple enquries… or unwanted gifts.  And do give a final RSVP date so you are clear of guest numbers at least 2 weeks before the wedding date and don’t have to chase up replies.

One final tip, don’t give too much away in the invitation and always give something back to surprise and delight your guests on the day.

Decor, wherever we go!

Recently one of TGBEco team visited Lille for a short break and some creative stimulation, hoping to find a bit of France not too far away where bread, patisserie and vino flowed and some chill down time after a busy summer season..

 

 

As we wondered the streets of Lille on one of the sunniest days for a while, we noticed that even though the buildings were architecturally stunning they were often complemented by some very simple but effective styling. It seems that everyone has a little bit of creative in them.  And why not!? 

 

Inherent in almost every event we produce is the creative element.  We have worked with some of Europe's best stylists and some of GB's own creative food artists, so we know a little about what works and what is possible.  Often it's simply the furniture positioned to the side, with some backlighting effects up the walls and 'voila!' there you have it.  Nothing is possible without a good supplier to hand however.  Our rule of thumb is - if the supplier 'gets' what you are asking for over the phone then you just know they have the creative wherewithall to make it possible!  Failing all else, go back to basics like we found in Lille, paper lanterns - simple yet effective!

 

Last year Great Hire  supplied a lot of top quality furnishings for all types of events.  We recommend them if you can't find a better local supplier to match your needs!

 

 

 Enjoy - Gilly, Romilly, Sindy and Team GBEC

 

Sunny Summer Events from Surrey

So it’s time to get the kids back to school, put your beachwear away, grab yourself some time to ‘chillax’ as we like to say…

We have had such a lovely couple of months since our move to our new office & kitchen base  this summer…we thought we would share some of the delights of party & wedding season 2012…

 

Before the summer began…we had our internal FIELD EVENTS TRAINING course building week… * see bottom of this blog

Then into July - The Great Big Event Co – ‘Godalming Bake-off’ Vintage Tea Room

 August – a wonderful 40^th Wedding Anniversary … quite unlike any other we have had the privilege to run

                  

 

 1st September – A really country wedding & a truly romantic 25^th Wedding Anniversary

 

TGBEco In house Field Event Service Training programmes are in development. In 2013 these shall be available as one day and 3 day courses equipping everyday service teams with the basics for temporary or more permanent assignments.

This course is being designed to create a service culture and basic training for field events The Great Big Event Co style.

Covering

·         culture & service

·         table settings

·         etiquette

·         guest approach

·         special moments

·         field event banqueting

·         FOH management training

·         marquee & facilities - for Field Events

·         wine service

·         bar setup

·         table laying

·         function operations

 

Look out as this training programme will be launched in March 2013

 

Enjoy!

Gilly, Romilly, Sindy and the team

 

Our new office for TGBEco / Vintage DaysRegistered Office:
C/o Regus at 3000 Cathedral HillGuildford

Surrey GU2 7YB

Telephone: 01483 243503

 

Our Surrey base and where you can find us
for a coffee anytime you like…
HHF, 1st Floor, Highfield Lane,
Thursley, Surrey GU8 6QJTel: 01252 70246

 

w: www.thegreatbigevent.com

e: info@thegreatbigevent.com

 

Vintage still en vogue

Despite the weather still not showing reliable signs of summer, the wedding season is in full swing. We are noticing the vintage and nostalgia trends are still a big influence is our brides planning.


Our range of Vintage Days crockery range can make all the difference to your wedding theming giving guests something to talk about, here's what one of our recent brides told us:


"We just wanted to let you know how pleased we were with the vintage crockery etc yesterday. It looked fabulous and as gorgeous as we had hoped!


The baroque glasses went down a storm and many people asked about where they could buy the iron tables and chairs. Thank you for all the hard work that went into the arrangements, we could not have been happier."

We have one of the largest collection of Vintage crockery for hire with over 1000+ place settings and we have experience of catering for all size functions. 


But it not all about the crockery and glassware our team has years of experience in planning, theming and styling weddings and of course producing amazing food for parties and weddings. So if you are planning a wedding or function and just need abit of extra help then please do give us a call.


And let's just hope the sun starts to shine on some of those up coming nuptials.

Best wishes,

Gilly, Romilly, Sindy and the team

w: www.thegreatbigevent.com

e: info@thegreatbigevent.com