Nicks 30th

Nicks 30th is coming up fast! Venue is booked, dj is booked, cake is ordered and the drink is bought. We decided on a black and blue theme and then after investigating I took it to a new level of starry night, it just made it seem a little bit more exciting!

Budget isn't far off my hotel venue so why nick thought it would be cheaper is beyond me!

'Lilac' Winter Wonderland Themed 30th Party

What a year! My 30th birthday came and went in a flash and it appears all the preparation and planning made for a successful event, although maybe 5 years in the making was a bit over the top but 18 months ago it all seemed like a dream but my 'winter wonderland theme' was perfect and I kept away from the tacky and kept it simple, without going over the top this time being as it was in a hotel but that doesn't mean if it hadn't been in a hall or at home I wouldn't have gone all out crazy, plus money also comes into play. I have some photos to go up but currently my laptop with them all saved on is at the shop (my father in law) as it needs a new hard drive. Not the best news considering I need it. My party was held in the restaurant of the Mercure Bush Hotel in Farnham, Surrey. It was everything I hoped it would be, as from the very beginning I didn't want to worry about tidying up afterwards. I wanted to leave at 12 midnight and not have to worry about rubbish etc and it was perfect. Couldn't fault the staff or the food or anything. My only minor complaint was the fact the bar was miles down the corridor, although the kind waiter was taking drink orders from the table.

I will include a couple of pictures now but the others will have to be posted later.

The lovely cake that you can see above was made by the lovely Alison at As Sweet As. Found her by pure accident when searching for cakes for my son's christening a few years ago and now I am like a regular customer. My husband in fact won't eat any other chocolate cake. I will leave you with that for now and will return hopefully soon with some more pictures including my invitation design and other bits etc.

The planning stage...

Starting to really think about Thomas' 1st birthday! Have thought of a Jungle theme but maybe involving a train as he loves them too, so its going to be a 'JUNGLE EXPRESS' party. Thinking about designing my own invitations and using some of my barely used creativity to create some unique things like a photo wall for Thomas and using Jungle letters to spell out his name.

Anyway over the next few months as I start moving with things I will add images etc and actually keep a blog of all the small details. I'm actually quite excited about planning my 1st proper event as Sparkle Events etc. It feels like quite an achievement even if it is for my son, its all about getting a name for myself in the early days. But I will keep you posted as and when things are booked etc. Which reminds me, about to confirm the bouncy castle.
Until next time...

Launch Event/My 30th Birthday

Hmmm...Had this idea while dozing off to sleep the other night that maybe the best way to launch my company was through a charity event, obviously aimed at many different charities but in a way hoping to make some money for the Strep B charity to help baby's like Thomas and women like myself not have to go through what I did.

I'm not 100% sure about where to begin with charity events, I suppose a venue is the best place and possibly at a discount with publicity involved. Sponsorship is always another angle, from local societies, charities or shops. I'm obviously a bit out of depth at the moment.

* Venues - Fields, hotels, community centres, schools
* Charities - Cancer, schools, brownies etc, tumble tots, local traders

Obviously with this sort of event I would need event staff and the police, fire services and paramedics would need to be involved in case of an emergency. It sounds like a lot of stress but saying that. I could just do your average event in a hall and rather than charge admission, use the time to sell my services and possibly other services involved, i.e. venues, balloon and flower people, cakes etc.

I suppose with the countdown to my 30th birthday only a year and 5 months away, I need to start looking serious at booking a venue before I loose out to some other silly event. I have various ideas.

*Winter wonderland theme
*Photo on entrance - like school prom style

That's what I have so far. I guess its time to start planning! Yipeeeee...They only problem is finding the funds!!!

Venues...that decision

Have my heart set on a hotel to be honest, think we missed out on that for our wedding. Having all our friends and family staying over would have been nice! Obviously living in Bordon means that the hotels are limited and I mean almost non existent. Headley Park hotel is about it and its rough and not where I'd want to take my friends and family for a lush party.

Love the look of the Ramada Jarvis in Farnham as its quite a good location.


Obviously wanting a winter wonderland theme is quite simple and they actually do themed weddings which would make it nice if we could use that as an example. My budget is £2500 but could stretch to £3000 if things went over but thats everything included. I have big plans for my launch/30th birthday. I want to show everyone that I'm serious about event planning as a career and if I can pull it off then I'm half way there. I would like someone to partner with me, maybe I might meet someone at university who would be interested.

Think as far as starting up goes, I need about £5k if not a little more for the basics and obviously doing my own parties for my portfolio will help build my website and images etc. I just need to get friendly with a photography would could take some shots for me. I could try myself with a good camera and a tripod but it probably won't look that professional unless I edit the pictures using a package like photoshop or something. They need to look sharp and professional not like I'd taken them quickly. I suppose that will come...

What type?

Hmmm...I've been doing my research and have come up with a few possibles.

1. I charge a consultancy fee of roughly £30 - £40 an hour
2. I do a standard party i.e all in for £250 etc
3. I charge £ per person etc

It's an odd decision. I'm thinking event planning is more consultancy based and party planning is more a standard party fee. I wonder if you can combine the two in any way? I guess its something I can look into more depth. I like the idea of charging people for my time from the onset. I don't like the idea of working my arse off putting together a proposal for them to go with someone else, that makes my work pointless. But saying that, doing kids parties is better when its per person. Makes it sound more affordable than if you charge a full party for £300.

On another note...been looking into cupcakes!

It's 18 months until the big 30!

It's time to get planning! Need to organise a venue to begin with and then everything else will be sorted later on. I've got this vision of a Winter Wonderland theme (see above image). Hoping to keep it to a budget of £3000 but hoping to come in cheaper! It depends on the venue to be honest. Hotel will be more expensive than your average village hall but it has the added bonus of rooms afterwards and everything would be all in. It would be launch the Sparkle Events and would show everyone that I was serious.

Nick wants a 30th too so we will have to plan something for him which is another party to add to my portfolio plus hopefully a couple of kids parties rolled in. Thomas' 1st birthday will be a jungle themed garden party depending on the weather and Alana's is undecided. I will keep you posted!