Monday, 19 December 2011

Merry Christmas & Thank you.


Our last blog of the year... 

Wishing You A Very Merry Christmas


2011 - In summary

This time last year we were just getting ready for 2011 with a relaunch of our brand and services.  We had completed a busy year with Weddings and Vintage Events and were about to undertake the growth of our posh parties service.  
Since then...WOW! What fun we have had over 2011 with some lovely client events which we are proud to have created.  
We have upsized our catering contracts and are now offer catering beyond 500 seated with both TGBEco parties and weddings and Vintage Days.  
We moved out of The Medicine Garden in Cobham and into our new work places and hot spots London - Oxshott - Farnham - Guildford – Godalming. 
Our key areas of London and the South East; we opened up in Barnard Castle, Co Durham through our Vintage Days catering service.  All in all, a busy year!
We hope that with your continued support through 2012, and with all that we have to look forward to; we will be busier than ever before.  
There’s a lot of celebrating to be done in and around the South East in 2012...
  • Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 
  • TGBEco Celebrating the Olympics summer event
  • 2012 – GAMES
Rebrand 2011 took place in February when we relaunched our online presence with a new look. We took the ‘Company’ out of The Great Big Event and softened up with the Co!  We hope you like?


Some of our loveliness







TGBEco would not be successful without our teams of professional freelance contracted teams;
Without all their hard work, enthusiasm, and continuous innovative ideas around food, parties, styling and planning, TGBEco parties and TGBEco weddings would not be able to present such great parties or weddings.  
Thank you to our team of cooks and chefs headed up by our very own founder Gilly Botte;
Jackie, Ellie & Ali
David G
Kevin K
Alexander
And of course, we shall not forget our amazing front of house and service teams!!! Thank you to them for all their team work and expert management and co-ordination on the event.

Beverley, Caroline, Ads...to name our core team players! Thank you again.
Thanks to the in-house marketing, event planning, finance and project management teams too!  
Romilly, Amanda & Laura




Merry Christmas & Best Wishes 
for a prosperous 2012
With best wishes to you all and Thank You!
Gilly Botte – Founder and M.D. Terry Willat – General Manager







Tuesday, 13 December 2011

Festive Activities


Here at the Great Big Event Co. our Christmas tree is up, 200+ mince pies were cooked last week and the Michael Buble Christmas album had to be purchased, so that means Christmas has officially started! So we thought we would give you abit of a round up of some of the Christmas activities around us that you may enjoy...

Christmas Market at Southbank/ London Eye.

Last weekend we had the pleasure of visiting the Southbank in London. Just a five minute walk from Waterloo station, London is transformed into a beautiful Christmas Market. 60+ wooden chalets line the banks of the Thames selling some beautiful craft items, gifts and novelty items. After a couple of mulled wines we purchased some gorgeous ear muffs for two little girls and fake snow (don't ask!).

In addition to the Christmas market, nestled behind the Festival Hall is the The Real Food Market...Mmm. Luckily we had already eaten but we did treat ourselves to some wonderful tasting New York Cheesecake.

With the christmas lights, traditional carousel with the backdrop of the Thames and the London Eye it really was a lovely way to spend a few hours and get into Christmas Spirit.

Southbank Christmas market is now now until 24th December (11am to 8pm weekdays and 10am to 10pm at the weekends) and is free to enter.


Other Christmas that maybe closer to you are:

Kingston - Traditional German Market - until 27th December. Open every day 10am - 8pm.

Winchester - Cathedral Christmas Market & Ice-rink. Open until 21st December; 10am to 6pm.

Manchester - Christmas Market, one of the biggest in the UK. Open to 21st December

Chester - Victorian Market. Open until 31st December.

Winter Wonderland - Hyde Park

We are not sure if we are glutens for punishment but we are planning a pre Christmas trip to Winter Wonderland in London's Hyde Park. It will be packed and the rides are on the pricey side, but last year we loved it. With loads for both kids and adults to watch, ponder and consume it is a real Christmas treat for everyone. For more information we advise you check out their website www.hydeparkwinterwonderland.com and if you wish to see any of the shows booking is essential.

Panto - oh no it isn't...oh yes it is!

Get your Boo's and Hisses ready as Panto season is here. We are a late converts to Panto, visiting our first just 3 years ago but kids in tow we are big fans! This year we are torn between Reading Hexagon showing Aladdin with Justin from Cbeebies (parents among you will understand the appeal), Guildford our local Panto performing Jack and the Beanstalk if Santa is kind maybe we will get to both!

If you are looking for a pantomime near to you, take a look at www.bigpantoguide.co.uk they seem to have every pantomime listed.

Whatever you get up to this Christmas we hope you have a fantastic time and we wish you a very Happy New Year.

All the best from,

Gilly, Romilly and The Great Big Event team.

www.thegreatbigevent.com



Monday, 28 November 2011

Vintage Days


We now have one of the largest collection of Vintage crockery, glassware, tableware and vintage props in the country. With 1,000+ place settings available we can cater for intimate gathering to the largest of functions, wedding and events.




Our range includes cups & saucers, plates, cake stands, sugar bowls and everything else to make your table a vintage treat. On top of all this we have the most fabulous (if we may so ourselves) selection of vintage props from bunting to bird cages to compliment our crockery & glassware. 

Special Offer now available for all couples holding a Vintage themed wedding or event in 2012 is available until 31st December






Book between 70 or more for tea to include:
Tea cup and saucer, side plate, individual cake plate per person.
2 teapots, 1 milk jug, 1 sugar bowl, 1 x 3 tier cake stand per table of ten.
***  ONLY £3.75 per person  ***

Includes - Delivery (region – South East) 
Includes – Delivery within A1 – DL12 (region - North East)



For a quote or more information then please do contact Gilly or Romilly.




T: +44 (0)845 4588914

Monday, 7 November 2011

Once upon a sunny day...


Yes we did get really lucky with the weather for our modern vintage wedding  photo shoot, but we did have to a last minute change of location so we could accommodate the planned shoot running order.  This presented us with some fun but nevertheless the outcome was that our setting suited the creative styling and we introduced ‘Polly’ our vintage French Palomatic moped (often used as a prop) as a creative spin on modern vintage...the theme of our shoot.


Our photographer – David, decided that we should layer the gazebo with our shabby chic bunting, and as we started to do so, we added more and more to the setting including...hanging tea pots, hats, mirrors, bunting and bird cages!  And yes...the gazebo is still standing. 


Make up on the bride and hair by the amazing Gemma Sutton www.gemmasutton.com and our beautiful model for the day, Emily Wyatt, looking like a bride straight from the 1940s! just showed us, the planning team, what is possible from a creative styling point of view.



Everyone involved in the shoot had a really good day. We caught up with the photographer David Wickham a few days later and this is what he had to say: 

'This photo shoot was so much fun! We all got to mess around with Gilly at Vintage Days wonderful collection of vintage items whilst creating our vision of a bridal wonderland. So there was bunting galore, pretty tea sets and floating cake stands on ribbon. Gemma Sutton created a beautiful vintage look for Emily, the model, which she topped off with pieces from her stunning new jewellery range.' 

If we had a gramophone playing Vera Lynn ... anyone would easily have been transported back to that wonderful era of classic style...1940s

If you like the idea of a Modern Vintage Wedding – then you should contact Gilly on 0845 4599814 to discuss this further.

Our packages of modern vintage weddings include:

·         Wedding menus, WI teas, traditional afternoon tea on authentic vintage service ware - www.vintagedays.co.uk 
·         Wedding photography – www.davidwickhamphotography.com
·         Bridal hair and makeup – www.gemmasutton.com
·         Bespoke wedding dress jewellery www.vintagedays.co.uk  
·         Vintage dress and styling www.vintagedays.co.uk
·         Personalised invitations, order of service, menus, table plans www.thegreatbigevent.com
·         Jazz and Swing band – www.thegreatbigevent.com

‘til we meet again..”Chucks away ginger!”  I feel a slice of victoria sponge and homemade lemonade on its way...


Gilly Botte


The Great Big Event Co.
w: www.thegreatbigevent.com
e: info@thegreatbigevent.com
t: +44 (0)845 459 9812/4



Friday, 4 November 2011

Bonfire Treats: Cookies and cream fudge brownies

This weekend brings Bonfire night and whether you are off to a display or having a party at home this month's foodie treat courtesy of our wonderful Chef David Gillot is Cookies and Cream Fudge Brownies, sounds perfect for a treat for all the family. 

Here's David's chocolate brownie recipe just ready for the weekend....

 





Ingredients
Preparation method
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 20cm/8in square baking tin with butter, then line with baking paper with the paper overlapping the sides a little.
  2. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat. When the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the grated (or chopped) chocolate. Leave to stand for a few minutes, or until the chocolate melts, and then stir together. Alternatively, you can put the chocolate and butter in a bowl and melt in the microwave in 25-second blasts, stirring well each time.
  3. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl until the eggs begin to get light and fluffy. Add the sugar in two additions, whisking between each. Pour it around the side of the egg mix so as not to knock out the air that has been whisked in. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes stiffer. Once the egg mixture is ready, pour the chocolate into it - again around the sides so as not to knock the air out.
  4. Add the flour, cocoa powder, salt and a third of the biscuits and stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Scatter the remaining biscuits over the top, pressing them in slightly. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 25–30 minutes. The middle should be very so slightly gooey. Leave the brownies to cool in the tin - the top will sink and crack a little.
  5. Pull the brownies out using the overlapping paper and cut into squares. Dust with icing sugar
  6. ENJOY!
Have fun this weekend,

Gilly and team


The Great Big Event Co.
w: www.thegreatbigevent.com
e: info@thegreatbigevent.com
t: +44 (0)845 459 9812/4


Monday, 31 October 2011

Trick and Treats!


This weekend brought our long planned, amazing halloween party at the clients house in Brook for 130 people.  As the guests arrived for the evening they came down the drive and were met by Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and our amazing fire jugglers who remained in character for the whole event.   The marquee was set up on the lawn next to the pool and their gorgeous wooden pergola was encorperated in to the marquee and formed the backdrop to the black and white dancefloor.  There were fake flambe lights (made of silk and orange lights) at the back and the front pillars had twinlking fairy lights wrapped round them and were lit with orange, red and white LEDs.  

I welcomed our headline, star act, Dynamo the magician (as seen on TV!) made him a good old Yorkshire cup of tea and walked him up to the marquee so he could start his wandering entertainment, close up magic and more.  As I handed him over to the guests and walked away to put his tea down she felt two short sharp taps on my right shoulder and turned round to see who it was to discover no one there…spooky!  

Sam, Mark and Tony our creative set design team built the most amazing scare maze and the first year students from the Guildford School of Acting (GSA) were put to good use whilst recreated a scene from a fun mad house.  GSA also performed a Halloween Medley show in the marquee which was arranged, produced, choreographed and directed by the faculty from GSA -  Phyllida Crowley-Smith, Rachael Kerridge, Stuart Winter, Niall Bailey

Much hauntingly, good fun was had by all... Happy Halloween.

Gilly and the team


The Great Big Event Co.
e: info@thegreatbigevent.com
t: +44 (0)845 459 9812/4

Tuesday, 11 October 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Win the chance to come talk all things weddings with our experts!


Are you getting married in the next 12 months and live or work in around Godalming/Guildford? 

If the answer is YES then we are giving two lucky brides the chance to talk exclusively to our top wedding team; Gilly from the The Great Big Event Co., David from David Wickham Photography and hair and make up artist Gemma Sutton

We are really excited to be working with David & Gemma on Tuesday 18th October on a modern vintage styled photo shoot in Godalming. We would like to invite two brides (or couples) to come watch the photo shoot and then sit down with all three of our wedding specialist for lots of free advice and tips for your big day. 

To enter just leave a comment below or click here to email us your name, date and location of wedding (if decided) and we will pick two lucky winners out on Friday 14th October and contact you with further details. 


You will need to be available 11.30am - 2.30pm on 18th October and be able to met us in Godalming, Surrey - Good Luck!


We are thrilled to be working with David & Gemma next week on the modern vintage wedding shoot. Godalming will be a beautiful backdrop and we can't wait to see the results. We caught up with David over the weekend and here's what he had to say...


'Over the last few weeks I have been working on a series of romantic, wedding style photoshoots with vintage bridal boutiques and lovely wedding venues around Surrey and the South East, to tie in with the launch of my new vintage style wedding photography website. Modern Vintage Weddings, launching 1st November has been a natural union of my Fine Art collection 'Modern Vintage', which are romantic scenes of London and Paris, and my 'Beloved' portrait service. I have been looking for a while for a great vintage events company and contacted Gilly at The Great Big Event Company with the hope that we could work together on some really special, memorable images, that would really make both our websites stand out and highlight what we both can offer fellow vintage lovers. What we decided upon is a vintage bridal picnic photo shoot. I'm passionate about creating fresh, vintage styled photography that suits those that are looking for something special in their wedding photographs, something classic but with a contemporary feel.'




If you would like any more information on any of the companies involved please take a look at our websites and feel free to give us a call.

www.thegreatbigeventcompany.co.uk - wedding venues, catering, marquees, entertainment, styling and wedding planning services.

www.davidwickhamphotography.com - wedding photography in a modern vintage style.

www.gemmasutton.com - bridal hair & makeup.

www.vintagedays.co.uk - Vintage crockery, glassware and tableware hire.


Friday, 30 September 2011

Ginger Sunday

With all this unexpected good weather befalling us this week our thoughts have turned to how to make the most out of the weekend... so we hit the internet this morning and here's our highlights from around the South East:

LONDON
Did you know it is Ginger Sunday - no, nothing to do with hair colour, but in fact something much cuter. London Zoo are celebrating the arrival of Baby Tango - a rare ginger monkey born in September! They are offering 2 for 1 on all entries on Sunday (2nd October) for more details click here.

GUILDFORD
Closer to our Surrey Head Office there is a exciting new venue for music & comedy called G Live. If you fancy a few laughs then there are still tickets available for Al Murray stand-up show Barrel of Fun Extra or if you prefer the classics the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra are performing on Sunday evening (3rd October) tickets starting from just £19.50 www.glive.co.uk

ASCOT
Horses and beer more your thing? On Saturday 2nd October there is the Autumn meeting at Ascot, featuring the 5th Annual CAMBRA Beer Festival. So as well as the usual excitement of Flat racing there will be an extensive range of regional real ales, cider and perries. In this warm weather, what could be nicer...

BRIGHTON
Well, this could just top the horse racing for us... Frock Me at the Corn Exchange. Brighton's foremost vintage fashion show returns - from designers and students to the glamour glitterati, they all love this fair.


Frock me is the place to find clothes from every era from the 1920's right through to eighties retro glamour. Ooooh, we're not sure we can resist; plus we could go for a wander round the Lanes and the pier after! For more details go to www.visitbrighton.co.uk. We may just see you there.



If you know of another event happening that you think we might like, please let us know.

Enjoy the sunshine,

The Great Big Event Team.
www.thegreatbigevent.com


Wednesday, 21 September 2011

Brighton Rock comes to Goodwood Revival

Last week we were thrilled to be asked to style four beautiful Crown Pavilions for Goodwood's Revival festival. If you haven't come across this company before we highly recommend you look at their website www.crownpavilions.com and watch the video below.


Crown Pavilions & Crown Gardens Project : Ms Gabriella Atkinson from Crown Pavilions Ltd on Vimeo.

Crown specialise in creating beautiful garden rooms and gazebo's, which can be used from anything from a amazing outdoor dining area to outside kitchen.

Our job was to style four of their pavilions which were to be exhibited at the Revival. Armed with ivory drapes, lanterns and a truck load of retro sweets we headed south to Goodwood. Our four very special themes were:

A Place to Wed - This romantic pavilion was wrapped in ivory draping with interwound ivory. The centre table featured a beautiful bouquet from Carl Wilson, 3 tier cake stand laden with delicious cupcakes from Hannah Logan, the brides wedding shoes and a vintage cup and saucer from Vintage Days.

Gentlemen's Club - This outdoor room featured classic Gentlemen club items from Leather bound books, a beautiful silver candelabra on a white linen table cloth with a black fleur de lis on it. Classic and stylish.

Oriental Place - Here we recreated a small taste of the orient with multi-coloured lanterns inside and out, purple silk parasol and finished off with an amazing arrangement of fresh flowers - gorgeous!

Brighton Rock - In the largest of the four pavilions we went with a fantastic upmarket retro seaside theme. If you have a sweet tooth this was the pavilion to visit with a spectacular sweetie bar fully stocked with bon bons, windmill sweets, candy floss and of course Brighton Rock. All the sweets were supplied by the lovely Tracy Scanlan of Mrs Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe in Cranleigh It was a really sweet seaside, pink treat!

We hope the visitors enjoyed looking round these wonderful Pavilions as much as we enjoyed styling them and we hope there was enough bon bon's to go around!

If you have a room, marquee, gazebo our indeed a Crown Pavilion you would like us to style for  an party, wedding or corporate event then please just email us with your requirements and we will come back with our ideas.

Best wishes,

Gilly

w: www.thegreatbigevent.com
e: info@thegreatbigevent.com
t: www.twitter.com/greatbigeventco
f:  www.facebook.com/greatbigeventco





Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Glee Vs Abba - The Party


What a weekend we have just had; after months of planning and listening too maybe just one too many Abba tracks our fabulous Glee Vs Abba party took place and what a party it was!


Gilly headed up our Posh Party team with a beautiful marquee from Caron Marquees. The Marquee was fully blacked out with dark blue carpet and starlight ceiling which set the scene for a exciting night ahead.



The evening brought two shows one from the Conservatoire (Guildford School of Acting) who went all Glee, singing and dancing to all the favourite tracks from the TV show including our favourite 'Don't Stop Believing'   and then brilliant Fabbagirls who treated the guests to hit after hit from the 70's supergroup Abba.



Gorgeous food and drink flowed throughout the evening and at the request of our birthday girl we set-up a delicious 'Ice Cream and Cake Parlour' with personalised cupcakes. The sweet table proved very popular later in the evening!

We would like to give a big thank you to all our staff and suppliers who made the evening very special. The evening was a wonderful, sparkly success and we very much enjoyed it too.



Who won the battle of Glee Vs Abba - we're not quite sure but we think we maybe singing Dancing Queen for some time to come!


Our next blog will be coming soon on our first ever baby shower....

Best wishes from,

The Great Big Event Team

www.thegreatbigevent.com

Big thank you to Greg from Just Imagine Video for taking such wonderful photo's   



Tuesday, 2 August 2011

Wedding Special: Bang The Gavel.

This month we are delighted to feature a guest blog from Vanessa King who is a professional Toastmaster based in Surrey. We hope you enjoy her insight into the role of a toastmaster...

People often ask me what I do as a professional toastmaster. The image is generally someone who shouts, bangs a gavel, and introduces the toasts. Most people are surprised to learn there's anything more to the role than that, but I have made it so much more. I do introduce the toasts and I do speak loudly sometimes, but I never shout and I don't even own a gavel! Every event is a unique experience for the people who've generally put in a huge amount of thought, effort and money into it and it's no less unique for me. I see my job as Toastmaster to make sure the event is every bit as perfect, special and unique as the client imagines it will be.

Anyone involved in significant events knows they start many months before the big day, and the most successful events, from my perspective, always start with my early involvement. The day is unique and my service is tailored specifically to the client. I have a planning meeting with the client where I 'walk through' every aspect of the day as planned thus far.

There isn't much for me to do after that initial meeting, but I keep in regular contact with the client to make sure there's nothing I can do to help in the lead-up to the event, particularly with respect to the speeches. People are often very nervous about giving a speech as it is often the first time they've spoken in public.

The night before the event I make sure my uniform is immaculate and starch my shirt and trousers. I have a number of boxes with all sorts of bits and pieces that might be needed at an event, ranging from scissors, glasses, mints, paracetamol, pins, and hand lotion! I put all of this into the car as you never know what might be needed on the day.

I learn a great deal from every event I do. I have learned that a little stress is a good thing, but I shouldn't worry too much because I do have an authoritative yet gentle manner that gets people doing what they need to be doing. I have learned that I am good at making everyone feel looked after and I'm getting better all the time at liaising with everyone to make sure things happen smoothly. The best thing I've learned is that I've finally found my dream job that brings together all the skills I have and the things I love to do.

I'm fortunate to have received lovely testimonials from my clients. I am proud to serve them on such memorable occasions and being a professional Toastmaster is just the most rewarding job in the world for me.

Thanks to Vanessa for this months blog - more information can be found on Vanessa's website www.ladytoastmaster.wordpress.com. Our next feature will be focusing on the rising trend in baby showers. We have our first ever shower booked this Autumn which will be themed using our beautiful vintage crockery and we can't wait. More details later...

Enjoy the sunshine.

Gilly & the team

www.thegreatbigevent.com

Thursday, 30 June 2011

KateFest Start on Friday

Already this year we have had Wills & Kate, Lily & Sam and the next big celeb wedding is taking place this weekend.

Kate Moss is set to marry Jamie Hince on Friday 1st July, in what is rumoured to be a three day festival themed wedding. It is reported that will be up to six themed marquees in the grounds of her Cotswolds home, with entertainment for both the adults and kids tents with dedicated childminders!

But the big question is THE DRESS. Will she go Vintage, Rock 'n' Roll Bride or classic? And who will design arguably one of the world's most famous fashion icons dress? Front runner is still the John Galliano, despite his recent troubles or could it be his boyfriend Alexis Roche or a shock outsider?

Either way, we don't have long to wait as this much anticipated wedding swings into action tomorrow.
We can't wait to see the pictures, as like it or not weddings such as this will influence wedding plans for some time to come...


www.thegreatbigevent.com

Glitz, Glamour & Acrobatics

Our busiest weekend, so far this year, fell just before summer solstice this year with a private party in Surrey themed as ‘Footballers’ Wives’.

The wives concerned were all rather chic and beautiful! With plenty of ammo to go with, our brief was to ‘create an amazing and unfortgetful’ party. Success is always in the eye of the beholder, but we have to say that given the client’s great enthusiasm and ‘joie de vive’ this was always going to be a party filled with fun and playfulness.



Our menu was canapes all night long and cocktails
, created by our wonderful energetic chef, David G. My lasting memory of this will be the two ladies who managed to climb the swing (which we constructed over the client’s pool) and then proceeded to offer an impromptu acrobatic performance for a good 10 minutes... this was one of the many highlights of this special event.

And the final word comes from the client on the following day: "We've been delighting in the universally positive feedback we've received from our guests. 'Best party ever' is a phrase I keep hearing and we really do have you to thank for that."


Our next big party is Glee Meets Abba, can't wait for that one! More party updates to come this summer....


Gilly

www.thegreatbigevent.com

Monday, 27 June 2011

Two become one...

It's a beautiful morning here in our Surrey studio, we've had a lovely weekend and even managed to fit in watching some of the Glastonbury highlights! Anyway, we just wanted to let you know that our increasingly popular blogs are changing. We are in the process of merging of wedding and events blogs to give you one all new & shiny blog.

The reason why we have decided to do this is that there is such a cross over between our wonderful weddings and posh parties that we didn't want you to miss out on any tips, advice or news that could be used whilst planning your wedding or a fabulous party. Such as today's topic...

Sun is shining on our Vintage style

Our vintage service is flourishing for both parties & weddings and with celebrities such as Lily Allen embracing the Vintage theme at her wedding this month we don't see that trend slowing down.

Our range of Vintage 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."

And it's not just weddings, last week we organised an 'Indian Summer ‘Christening’ event. This was a lovely family day for 70 guests in Cobham. Our client wanted to celebrate their daughter’s christening at home amongst travelled family and friends. We provided a lovely canapé finger buffet with vintage crockery and glassware. The garden was setup with parasols, tables and chairs, service points, bunting and multi coloured votives, adding the multi coloured feel to a beautiful garden. All topped off with beautiful handpicked flowers from the meadow!

So if you have a wedding, christening, baby shower, family party coming up and you like the idea of going Vintage then please do give us a call on 0845 4599 814.



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