Eat, drink and be merry
We all know how to organise a party. But what if you want to do something a little different, a little more ambitious than a piss up in your front room? We’ve put together a guide to the best party ideas, from great venues to amazing costumes. And to kick off our special feature, we asked Mark Edmundson to go out and organise the party of a lifetime.
or millennia the more morose among us have been planning for the end of the world. Y2K came and went but with the seas rising and growing global unrest I‘m not taking any
chances — l‘m throwing my lind of
the World Party now. I‘ve decided it‘s time to gather together those long abandoned school pals. ex- girlfriends. close family and friends and party. It‘s just like I999 all over again.
Now. I‘ve always been the party type and I‘m damned if I‘m not going to give them all a night to remember. but where the Dickens do you begin’.’ Time to get on the phone to grab some advice from the professionals.
“Venue. alcohol and entertainment are your three main ingredients.‘ explains Diane Hutchison of Glasgow‘s ()yster Arts. party planners to the hoi polloi and riffraff alike. ‘In all aspects you have to consider what you would like. You do want to impress people. but you want to achieve that through your guests enjoying themselves. We like happy bags and badges. just things that you relate to parties. I‘m a big fan of balloons. l have to say.‘
Okay. so let's say I invite even a choice selection from my social past and present. we‘re still talking
98 THE LIST if) Oct—2 Nov 7000
‘VENUE, ALCOHOL AND ENTERTAINMENT ARE YOUR THREE MAIN INGREDIENTS'
at least |5() people. My flat will hold around ten comfortably. and the garden another four. Time to book myself a venue. lincore handle the hire of many a Scots museum and quote me a mere
£(i()() for an evening at in the Peoples Palace and Winter (iardens on (ilasgow (ireen.
.\'e.\t item on the checklist is a little something to grease the social wheels: the demon drink. For a smaller party I might liaye considered a cocktail waiter from Butlers In The Buff (see panel). but apart from cornering the attention of all my lady friends I wouldn't want him to feel tipstaged by my own Herculean figure. so as were rolling out the
"'3 barrel ’3; live booked the services of se\el';tl bar staff. flair
.‘f cocktail ini\ers
. and a fully stocked bar for seven hours of inchi‘iation care of ('ocktail Stars lsee panel). That‘s another two grand from the kitty. (liven that I‘m going to need
food and dancing to keep eyeryone on an e\en keel.
(‘anapes (‘atering ('oinpany lsee panel) will put on a spread for two thousand pounds and lidinhurgli‘s
THE PRODUCER
Neil Ogilvie is director of Fisher Productions, a lighting production company taking on corporate and private events from film premiers to weddings and birthday parties.
‘Most of the events we get involved Wllll are of a celebratory nature. We can provide technical hardware and back up support. and co—ordinate between caterers. florists. entertainment and client l'(}(]lllf(}l‘l(l‘llif3. ‘When people start organising their own events they quickly realise that there's an awful lot that needs covered off and they have to deal with
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