The onsite survival kit of a Cotswold party planner

So – What’s inside the onsite survival kit for a Cotswold party planner?

No matter how creative, organised and prepared your party planner is for your event, the real skill, even with planning completed down to the most meticulous detail, is in handling the unexpected. So we come armed to every build, live event and dismantling day with a survival kit known affectionately as our “Box of Tricks”. No top hats, wands or rabbits to be found here, these tricks are a bit more wide ranging than your average conjurer’s!

The whole point of hiring your party planner is for us to handle everything on your behalf, making your experience of your event stress and hassle-free. Just as in ordinary life, anything can happen at an event. And events, weddings and parties take place in the most weird and wonderful places, so we have to be prepared!

Oasis Events party planner for the Cotswolds and beyond, Dany Fremantle tells us – what’s in her Box of tricks?

 

What key items do you always take with you to a party planning site visit and why?

A tape measure! Which may seem obvious for working out where structures and larger items such as loos and fridge trailers, skips, fireworks displays etc might fit… but also because the little details matter, down to the scale of a vase for floral arrangements, or a statue for lighting. I also have a laser-measure for measuring spaces indoors, and for pin point accuracy.

I always have lots of paper too… a smart-phone just doesn’t do the job – great for photos and the occasional note, but a pen and paper are crucial; hand written notes allow for drawing and sketching to communicate ideas to our client, and they don’t run out of battery or signal!

What key items do you take to a live event and why?

Amidst the stationery, tape and blue tak you’ll always find we have copious amounts of cable ties and gaffer tape: you can stick, hang and fix most things with these!

Fire-extinguishers, a first-aid kit, and the address of the nearest hospital! If you plan for the worst then when it happens you will be more than ready.

A team of specialists: I’m no technician, but having someone on site with a can-do attitude and technical know-how means we can reliably say “yes” to those last minute client requests.

Snacks and tea for the crew! If everyone on the team is smiling, the event will fly…

You’ve planned lots of parties in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and all over the UK over the years… What has been your strangest site visit location?

We were asked to transform a Monmouthshire sheep barn into a wedding venue. We arrived in mid-winter with snow on the ground and worked to measure and plan with no less than 300 sheep inside the barn with us!

Sheep barn site visit before a venue transformed for a wedding

We worked with the bride and groom to transform it top to bottom, providing everything from loos to carpet, furniture and lighting to create an indoor marquee… quite different from how we saw it on our first visit!

A Sheep Barn transformed for a wedding

Here’s another in more neutral tones, there’s no limit to the design options in venues such as these!

What’s the craziest thing you were prepared for and dealt with at an event?

At a fabulous stately home in the glorious August heat of last summer, with an elegant three course dinner on the brink of being served in the ballroom, it was beyond all imagining that we’d lose power in the main house. Due to a county-wide power cut 10 minutes before service… we did! I had multiple lengths of spare weatherproof electrical cables in my car …. just in case!!… and we used a succession of these to power the kitchen rom the generator we’d organised to power the secret nightclub in the garden, until the power came on 2 hours later.

Why do you love being a party planner?

Fixing problems and making things happen to realise someone’s perfect day, night or weekend brings some adrenaline-fuelled days on site but that is a huge part of what makes a life in party planning exciting!

Photo of Dany by @katemetzner 

Are you looking for party planning complete with survival kit and a wealth of experience in the Cotswolds or beyond? We’d like to hear from you.

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