What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 17th September

Welcome to another week and this week we are all about decor, decorations, themes and props!

Adding sparkle and those little extra touches to events can make all of the difference and whilst we have some experience in this field and offer a range of items through our sister company www.dazzlingtabledisplays.com we would like to showcase a few of the great themes currently on trend, to provide you with some inspiration for your next event, no matter what the occasion!

With Chocolate Week around a month away, the nation’s favourite themed week returns for an eighth consecutive year in October and culminates with the deliciously indulgent consumer show, Chocolate Unwrapped at the LFM, Covent Garden on 13th & 14th October. Chocolate Unwrapped will feature more than 70 exhibitors, including top British chocolatiers and chocolate companies as well as international chocolate makers from around the world. Taste fantastic chocolates, view chocolate sculptures and eat in the chocolate cafe.

So what better theme than Chocolate for your next event? 

You could go all Willy Wonka and have themed invitations, and decorate your room with coloured sweets and as much colour as you can find, from gumballs to giant lollipops.

It's an easy theme to carry through as the props are easy to recreate and inexpensive to hire, and, if you really want to push the boat out, then you could even build your own replica Wonka Boat or Glass Lift! 

So get down to your nearest DIY centre, chop up some ply wood and get your paint brush out. Easy! 

Another advantage of using this theme at present is the current trend for Candy Buffets at events. These colourful displays make great talking points at events and whilst you can hire a company (there are several great ones around) to come and deliver, its just as easy to make your own. Get several glass vases, jars and glasses of varying size and fill them with a range of sweets and chocolates remembering to be colourful and creative!

Now that X Factor and Strictly are back on our screens, you can tell its the countdown to Christmas and whilst we promise not to focus on Christmas for a while (again), the return of terrific tangos, wonderful waltz's and rousing rumbas offers a great excuse to throw on your dancing shoes.

Think Glitter Balls. Everywhere. On the ceiling, on tables and as decor for the event as well as on your invitations. Get your host to be a Brucie or a Tess and make sure you give all of your guests a strictly dress code so that the ambiance of the event remains in tact.

Get lots of silver streamers and door hangings to decorate the room and don't be afraid of glitter, glitter and more glitter. A local children's face painter can probably be persuaded to come along and offer a glitter booth where guests can have their own stars and glitter added to faces, arms, chests you name it! 

Have a silver balloon arch as an entrance or setting for photographs and make sure all of your table numbers look a little like the judges score cards.

Use Silver plates or charges and sprinkle glitter over the tables for extra sparkle.

It doesn't matter if your guests are as bad at the Chicken Dance as they are at the Cha-Cha - a local dance instructor will normally come along cheaply and provide some great entertainment for your guests with a quick lesson.

Or if you are feeling really brave, you can always get some of those great Dance Floor Feet, placed on the floor and let your guests have their own impromptu dance competition!

 With the limited release of the Magical Mystery Tour, the restored and being shown on the big screen for the very first time, including some never before seen footage and interviews, then a Beatles Party is ideal! A strictly limited number of screenings will take place from 18th September in the US, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, Italy, and Mexico.

But if this particular Beatles genre is not for you, then there are a whole host of other options available to celebrate these great British icons.

You could have an Abbey Road invitation for guests and even recreate the famous crossing on the floor to welcome your party to the venue. Take pictures of guests as they enter, four at a time, on the crossing which will make great soveneirs of the evening.

A local photographer on hand to capture guests as they enter and staged shots which you can replay through the night will add to the atmosphere and provide a real air of authenticity to your event. 

You could even take it a step further, if you will pardon the pun, and make the whole event a Black, White and Red theme, with the Beatles images played throughout the night on a screen, in Black & White. Get the guests to dress approrpriately whatever era you decide to dedicate your Beatles theme towards.

 

For table numbers use either  some old records and change the centre labels with the table numbers on, and the name of a Beatles record, or even use Cardboard Guitars to mark each table - cheap and easy to do and highly effective!  

Old records, picked up cheaply at car boots, also make great chargers for guests and again you can personalise them with a suitable record, to match the guests or their tables.

There are loads of different decorating ideas available on a Beatles Theme but if you are looking for a cheap but chic option, then why not cut out large letters to make up the names of key songs from the Beatles catalogue and attach them to fishing wire so they seem to float around the room. Or, you could hang images from the various Album and Singles titles from the ceiling, or attach the to the walls to give a real taste of the band over their long history.

Play the music, hire a tribute band or just indulge in a good old fashioned sing-a-long, as there has never been a better time for a Beatles themed party.

You could also have a bash and play Beatles Bingo, Beatles Word Search or have a Beatles Quiz and of course, you cannot have a Beatles themed party without Strawberry (Fields) Cupcakes....

And the music? Well, that kind of takes care of itself!

So there we go, our top three ideas for parties and events currently on trend!

Of course, if you need some inspiration, then you can always give us a call and we can style your next event.

Have a great week!