Punk Theme 21st
Birthday Party
The Brief
To create a punk theme 21st birthday party for the daughter of a family based in London and the Cotswolds. 120 guests to be entertained in a transformed Cotswold barn. Make the best use of the space and ensure it is significantly different to the party for her older sister’s 21st birthday which we organised for them 3 years earlier.
The Solution
This was a wonderful theme to work with in a super blank canvas of a venue in the heart of the Cotswolds.
We started communicating with the birthday girl using Pinterest whilst she was studying abroad to ensure we were hitting the right note in terms of look and feel. We also wanted to ensure the event felt totally different to the previous party the family had held in the venue.
- A drinks reception was held outside the barn, with marquee cover; Marquee was dressed with Punk-tartan overlays hung ceiling to floor gathered with studded straps, with uplighters, good heating and atmospheric fire bowls outside.
- A stylised transformation of the barn was provided for dinner mixing dining and bar areas with punk props and furniture, and draping and lighting overhead. A projector showed a selection of iconic punk images on the wall at the dancefloor end of the barn which was also used for speeches. Heating was provided to the barn by a specialist event heating company and a bespoke temporary solution to keep the wind and rain out of the venue.
- Caterer Angela Dolleymore and her team from Absolutely Delicious delivered a themed meal including canapes served in polystyrene heads to create a punk Mohican; easy bowl food for the main course and a DIY ice-cream bar for a pudding to enable more mingling. The birthday cake was modelled on Damian Hirst’s diamond-encrusted skull.
- A UV graffiti room provided for fun and interactivity during the evening.
- Magician Katherine Mills wowed the guests with her mind games and trickery.
- Dancing after dinner in the barn. Projection and professional sound and light were arranged with an AV tech to assist the DJ who was a friend of the client.
- The aftermath – sleeping on camping mats in a heated marquee in the nearby field which doubled as parking. Breakfast the next morning…
- A full clear-up including sweep of the car parking field and reset of the venue which was handed back to the owner in ship-shape form.