The Most Wonderful Time of Year!

I am still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that it is December.  As mentioned in an earlier post I LOVE Christmas so I welcome it, but it just happened so fast!  Right now I am busy preparing for the holidays, and our annual Christmas party.  After planning other people's special events throughout the year, I always have a lot of fun planning one of our own for our friends and family.  In light of up my upcoming event, I wanted to share a few Christmas party tips.

When planning for a Holiday Party, I always start with decor.  It's important to enhance your current space with festive items.  Before you buy a bunch of decorations, take some time in your space to brainstorm.  What color schemes are already in place?  What holiday colors would work best?  What colors would not work at all?  In the interest of planning within a budget, I always make a decor wish list before I commit to anything.  Once I make the wish list, I sit on it for a little while, which helps you prioritize.  I love crafting, so sometimes the items on my wish list involve some type of creation and/or assembly.  Waiting to purchase helps me realize what I have the time and energy for, and what is most important.  One decor item I made last year literally took me weeks.  But it was something that I really wanted, and had been wanting to do for a very long time.  So it was worth it!  Not everything is.  When choosing your decor items, incorporate them into the setup of your space, utilize things you already have.  This will not only help on cost, but will make setting up much easier.

When you have a Holiday Party, remember that  you are not the only one that wants to have friends and family over for fun.  It's important to plan ahead so that you can invite everyone in time.  It's competitive out there!  My rule of thumb for parties is to send your invitations one month out, but during the holidays, it doesn't hurt to get them out a little earlier.  I figure once Halloween has come and gone, it's practically Christmas already, so get those invites in the mail!  When choosing your date, I recommend you don't get too close to the actual holiday.  If you do, you may run into problems with guests that are traveling, or have other commitments.  If you put the effort into planning for a party, you want to have guests there!  Some of my favorite places for invitations are Tiny Prints, 123 Print, and Vista Print.

An important part of any party is food and beverage.  Just like you are enhancing your space with decor, you want to plan for appropriate food and beverage.  If you choose to have your party during a meal time, people will expect to eat there.  If you want to save on food costs, choose a time that avoids a meal time, such as mid-afternoon.  It's easy to get carried away with having tons of different food options.  Consider having a handful of items, but plenty of each.  This can help on cost, and it will definitely help out with your preparation.  Here is a great resource from Martha Stewart, it has party themes with coordinating menus.  Some of her menu items are quite labor-intensive, so if that's not your style, just use her ideas as inspiration for your own creations.  I am frequently asked how to figure out how much alcohol you need to have for a party.  A rule of thumb is three drinks per person, but that doesn't always apply.  I found a little tool called a Drink Calculator from Evite a while back, and it has come in handy more than once.  Check it out!

You may want to have games or activities at your party.  Consider your space when planning games.  Avoid activities that require everyone to be in one room if your space doesn't have the room to do so.  Here is a good resource for game ideas.

I hope these few tips are helpful to you in planning your holiday party!  And remember, if planning isn't your thing, give Charlotte Event Style a call!

~Alisa
info@charlotteeventstyle.com
704.960.2262

Vendor Spotlight: One Stop Live!

Charlotte is such a great place isn't it? Maybe as a native I am a little biased, but I often find my self being thankful to live and work here. We have just about everything you want and need within reach: fantastic shopping; amazing restaurants; more concert venues than I can count; and lots of unique places like the Whitewater Center, Lowe's Motor Speedway (everyone should experience this at least once), Carowinds, and Great Wolf Lodge. A little fun fact for you: Charlotte has more churches than any city in the whole country, over 500!  I most recently discovered a hidden jewel while my husband and I were babysitting our nephews and niece. Plaza Fiesta, ever heard of it? It is right next to Carowinds in an unsuspecting building. It's website boasts that it is the largest indoor playground in the southeast! Who knew? Here is picture I took while we were there, but it doesn't even do it justice. It's much bigger than the picture portrays. The kids had a blast!  I must also mention, being the foodie that I am, that they have the most amazing Mexican food there as well. Very authentic, like nowhere else in the area that I've been.   If you have kids, you should not miss this place! And if you don't have kids, you should go just for the food.

But I digress....Charlotte is a great place to live, and a perfect place to host an event!  Today I want to tell you about One Stop Live!, a local company that provides bands, DJ, various musicians, & staging, lighting and sound.  This is not your typical DJ company, they really have a great thing going.  I have had the pleasure of working with Scooter Abrams, the owner of One Stop Live! on many occasions and he is just awesome!  While working with Scooter for the first time, I learned that he is also a Charlotte native, and that we both went to the same high school (a few years apart).  I knew that Scooter would best be able to tell me about his company, so here is what he had to say:

"One Stop Live was founded on the need for a full service, customer oriented entertainment provider for the Carolinas, that wasn't your cookie cutter "booking agency".  After having worked for another agency for over 5 years, Scooter Abrams, saw a way to do business better and to focus more on the "turn key" aspects missing from most entertainment companies today.  Not only to provide you value in the entertainment you choose, but being able to provide you everything else you may need to put on your event like staging, sound, lighting, etc....  His assumptions were right, because 8 years later One Stop Live has become one of the most prominent and well respected entertainment companies in the Carolinas.  

The wedding and private party market has become their #1 client source, with 85% of that coming from referral and word-of-mouth.  Corporate clients are provided everything from national acts to regional talent options, event management, as well as full production to carry out their convention or meeting.  Their hands-on approach and multi-step process to helping engaged couples find the perfect entertainment for both the ceremony and reception is second to none.  They're not just booking the musician, band or DJ you choose and forget about you.  They go the extra mile to personally take you throughout the process of pre-planning the entire event of activities that require the entertainer to know about and so they can not only emcee for the event, but also help manage the event for you from start to finish.  This added touch, has put them on many preferred vendor lists around the Carolinas, as well as well respected wedding planners in the industry.  They were featured in the cover story of Carolina Bride Magazine's April-June issue this year.  Accolades and personal references from the brides themselves posted right on the website, ensure that you are getting the best the industry has to offer when it comes to your entertainment."

I couldn't have said it better myself!  Scooter and his entertainers are professional, dependable and most importantly, they add to your event.  See the picture here of Scooter doing his thing at one of our weddings.  They know how to keep a reception moving, and keep the guests on the dance floor!    So if you are looking for a fantastic entertainer for your next event, reach out to One Stop Live! and see what they have to offer.  704.533.1829 or bookings@onestoplive.com

info@charlotteeventstyle.com

704.960.2262