Archive for the ‘Our Favourite Suppliers’ Category

Getting to know: Rainbow Cakes

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

I thought it would be nice to feature a few events suppliers that we’ve met along the way. For me, whether I am choosing a bank or choosing where to buy a new dress, what really sells things to me is ‘people power’. If a business is run by nice people, I am sold! Working in the events industry is such a social business, and we are lucky enough to be constantly working with some of the biggest and best events suppliers in the industry. So… I thought we could introduce you to a few great people that we’ve met who are fab at what they do and share our ethos when it comes to their service!

Today I want to feature Marie Travell from Rainbow Cakes.

 

 

 

 

So, Marie…Give us a basic description of what you do…

I make cakes for pretty much any occasion you can think of – from decorated cakes for weddings and christenings, to birthday cakes for adults or children. I can even make undecorated cakes for meetings, to sell in shops and cafes, infact, anywhere you’d eat a cake, I can provide the cake for the job!!

 

What made you go into the cake making business?

I LOVE cake, which is always a good place to start :) Also when my eldest daughter was coming up for her 1st birthday, I couldn’t find a cake that was ‘just right’ and tasted nice (I never really liked the mass produced shop bought ones), so decided to give it a go and make it myself! That first cake was far from perfect, but tasted yummy and from then on I’ve always made birthday cakes for my husband and kids and Christmas cakes for family. It wasn’t until I offered to make a cake for a raffle prize, and peoples reaction to it that things really started to take off. For the six months following that raffle cake I slowly had orders for more cakes from friends and family, and realised that this was something I could actually turn into a business……and the rest is history!!!!!

 

Whats your favourite celebration cake you’ve done so far? 

Eeeek that’s a tough one – I love them all as I put so much time and love into each one (as corny as it sounds!!) I do think the Las Vegas wedding cake is my favourite so far – it’s a small cake, but I just love the caracature figures of the bride and groom, who are also good friends of mine.

How long does it take, on average, to prepare one of your wedding masterpieces?

A very basic cake can take 20 hours where a cake with several tiers and lots of sugar flowers can take 70 hours or even more. The Vegas cake for example, while it was only one tier, and didn’t look complicated, took a long time to get the models just right and to make sure all the handpainted pieces were right. Also, that’s just pure man hours – models and sugar flowers etc all need time to dry, so need to be started sometimes weeks in advance!

Do you allow your clients to make suggestions as to what they want, or do they choose from a selection?

Most people who come to me have at least a rough idea what they would like. I’ve only ever had someone tell me a colour scheme and flavour for a cake and nothing else once. It can be tricky if someone has a definate idea what they would like, and it just woulddn’t work in cake/sugar, but that happens so rarely, and I’ll give anything a try! If you watch ‘Ace of Cakes’ on tv then you’ll know that with enough determination, anything is possible!

Whats the craziest suggestion you’ve ever had? :)

I haven’t had crazy suggestions really – the crazy bit usually comes from me trying to go the ‘extra mile’ to make someones cake amazing. I can remember when I dreamt up the idea for the Vegas cake with the models in an awkward pose (for sugar models) I explained the idea to a lady who’s been making cakes and teaching sugarcraft for years, and she looked concerned, then quickly smiled and said ‘good luck!!’

Any predictions for the biggest wedding cake styles of 2012?

More traditional style wedding cakes but with a modern twist are still really popular – all starting from the Royal Wedding last year, and I think with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations this year, that will continue. Also gorgeous rich reds and purples look like they’re going to be really popular – especially bold statement sugar flowers on a crisp white cake.

Whats the best part of your job?

I work with cakes everyday – what is there not to love?!?! My husband would say the best part of my job for him is when I’m concocting new recipes as he gets to try them all out! I love every bit of my job, but even though it sounds cliche, I do love unveiling the cake and seeing people’s faces – it makes it all worthwhile!

 

You can check out Marie’s website for more information – www.rainbowcakes.biz

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Reccomended Venue – The Captains Club in Dorset

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Funkadelics had the pleasure of performing at The Captains Club Hotel, in Christchurch, Dorset, last week, and I just wanted to say ‘WOW’, what a venue!

The hotel is absolutely stunning – set right at the waters edge, and the design of the building just blows you away…it certainly is a beautiful place for a special event. The thing that really makes it for me though, is that the staff and management were all SO lovely – and I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, its all about the people! I just think it makes such a difference when people are friendly and accomodating. For us as a band, of course it means we are much more comfortable, which I think naturally leads to a better performance – but also more importantly, if a venue is friendly to us (who is, essentially, their staff for the evening!), I think that reflects really well on just how fantastic they will be for you and your guests.

We were given the most AMAZING dressing room – a 3 bedroom apartment, which was just stunning!

Everyone certainly seemed to have a fantastic time at the party! There was a full dancefloor all night and a room full of smiling faces :)

The hotel has various events throughout the year, and I’d definitely reccomend popping along to one if you’re based in the Dorset area. We spoke to a few people on the night who said they had got married there, or will be in the future, and I must say the photos on the website look absolutely beautiful for weddings! So definitely one to check out ;)

Here’s a lil pic of us too, taken by our soundman!

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A beautiful venue to reccomend to you.. Lords Cricket Ground!

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Our 21st Century Riot boys did a fantastic gig at the weekend for a beautiful wedding for Neil & Kelli at Lords Cricket Ground, and I just wanted to reccomend it to you all as a brilliant idea for a venue…

Not only was Lords a truly innovative (and beautiful) venue to get married in, but the staff were so friendly, accomodating and lovely to our Riot boys… they gave them a seating box, overlooking the cricket ground, (The Mike Procter Box, for all you hardcore cricket fans) as a dressing room, and practically forced food and drink down them all night. It sounds silly, but when we work at venues where the staff are as lovely to us as they are to their guests, it makes such a difference to the overall vibe and dynamic of the event. You wouldn’t believe how many times we’ve found it a little awkard dealing with certain venues/event planners/caterers, when there’s really no need to be difficult and really we should be working together. We always try to make a super duper effort to get on with everyone at your event, whether it be your guests or your photographer. It just makes the atmopshere of the whole event lighter, and full of fun, and means you and your guests will have an even more fantastic evening!

So, definitely check out Lords Cricket Ground if you’re interested in a ‘different’ idea for a venue!

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Big thanks…

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

I just want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who came along last night to our showcase night at the Langham hotel… it was lovely to see you all, and what a lovely atmosphere!

Not only did we have plenty of new clients come to see us, but some old ones too – it was lovely to see some friendly faces there.

We’ll be popping up photos and videos soon, but I just wanted to say some big thank yous….

First Up… Our Musicians!

I find myself being constantly in awe of the musicians I work with…not only are they hugely talented, but they are just so lovely! I think working with lovely people is so important, and I hope it shows when you see us all performing that we all get on brilliantly too… its fantastic to be able to work with such good friends.

Our fantastic office team!

Hopefully you all got a chance to speak to the lovely Helen, who was at the back of the room throughout the evening, and Rachael was being ‘musicians liason’ for the evening and making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time. I have to say, I am SOOO glad they were both there to help with these things…its what made the event run as smoothly as it did, and its great to have such a fantastic team to work with.

Our Sound Crew

We’ve been working alongside our sound team for a year now, and they’re just fantastic. There is nobody I would trust more to deal with our sound…and again, not only are they super duper amazing at what they do, but  fantastic people too. They worked super hard last night – engineering all those different acts is pretty hardcore stuff, and it went fantastically smoothly.

The Langham Hotel

Wow – what a venue! I love, love, love working at this hotel. The Grand Ballroom is just beautiful – so elegent and classic, and the rest of the hotel is just done to perfection…to the point where every room has something interesting design-wise that catches your eye. Its obvious that they’ve paid a lot of attention to detail with the design & presentation of the hotel, and I think that attitude is reflected wonderfully in their general ethics. Everything we’ve ever dealt with the Langham on has been handled with absolute precision and perfectionism – and when you’re having an important event, thats exactly what you want from all your suppliers. Thanks to Nicole, Aran and the rest of the team for all your input!

Concept Events

I think its really important to find a team of suppliers that can work well together when you’re organising an event, and thats exactly what we’ve found with Haydn and his team. They are just such fantastic people (again, its all about the people for me, its just so important) and they put huge amounts of effort into everything that they do. I’ll never forget the first time I saw a room that these guys had worked their magic on – it literally took my breath away! Their attention to detail is stunning, and their enthusiasm is a real breath of fresh air! Last night, Concept provided the staging, backdrop, dancefloor, lighting, and production booth… I think its safe to say they did a pretty fantastic job! Thanks Guys!

Markson Pianos

This company provided the gorgeous baby grande piano (that was played so beautifully by our pianist, Francis Goodhand), and have been absolutely fantastic to deal with. With it being the busiest time of year, we didn’t leave a lot of time to organise this showcase, and they were absolutely brilliant at sorting us out with the piano at very short notice. I’d really reccomend them to anyone! They will deliver the piano for you, and tune it aswell, which is just a fantastic service and perfect for any event.

Matt Pereira – Our Photographer

We love our Matt! He really does take fantastic photos – I can’t wait to see what he comes back with. Matt’s another one who just care’s so much about attention to the details, and giving his clients exactly what they want. When you think, a photo will last a life time, its worth getting a top-knotch photographer for your big day, and Matt is certainly one talented man. How does he make us look so goodlooking?! ;) Thanks for all your hard work Matt, we can’t wait to see the pics!

Lets Do Media

We use Al & his team for all our videos, and it was great to have them around yesterday! Again, I sound like a broken record, but its all about the people, and these guys are all fantastic to work with. I couldn’t reccomend them highly enough, and I can’t wait to see the video footage! Thanks guys :)

So…what a team, and what a lovely evening!

Hope to see you all again soon!

Sera :)

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Next Public Showcase Announced – Monday 1st August

Tuesday, July 19th, 2011

We are super duper excited to announce that we’ve decided to collaberate with one our favourite London-based hotels, The Langham, who are helping us put on the next MIB Music showcase night on Monday 1st August 2011. This is promising to be a fantastic evening, so please do come along and bring all your friends and family. We want to see past clients, old friends, and of course anyone looking to book a band, all up on that dance-floor!

The venue: The Langham Hotel, 1c Portland Place, Regent Street , London W1B 1JA

This beautiful hotel is providing us with their Grand Ballroom for this event. We’ve performed for various events at the Langham before, and in our opinion the Grand Ballroom is one of the most stunning function rooms we have come across, and the service at the Langham has always been fantastic. The staff are fantastic and have a real enthusiasm for organising events, so we can’t wait to work with them for our special evening!

We’re also teaming up with a fantastic company called Concept Events, who will be providing the staging, dancefloor and lighting for the event. These guys work at the Langham regularly (as well as many other prestigious venues) and are just fantastic. Their attention to detail, and personal approach is what we really like about working with these guys!

The idea is that we can get together with these fantastic companies to show you exactly how a good team of suppliers can work together to create something quite wonderful :)

The bands & The Schedule

7-7.10p.m Buddha Bar Chilled Sax

7.15p.m-7.25p.m Marianne Robinson (Solo Singer)

7.25p.m-7.40p.m MIB 8 piece band

7.45p.m-8p.m Funkadelics

8.05p.m-8.20p.m 21st Century Riot

8.20p.m Interlude

8.40p.m-8.50p.m Buddha Bar Sax – Uptempo Set

8.55p.m-9.10p.m Motown Supreme

9.15p.m-10p.m MIB 12 piece

 Entry is free and we hope to have a great evening partying with you! :)

Please let us know if you’re planning on coming along, so we can have a rough idea of numbers!

Look forward to seeing you there!

Sera

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Last Night Was Fantastic!

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to everyone who came down to our showcase event last night… it was lovely to see some familiar faces, and meet some new ones! We all had a fantastic time. Its actually really lovely to get all our bands together in the same place – obviously it doesn’t really happen too often as we’re usually at all ends of the country doing our thang ;) Tis lovely when we all get together. It makes me realise how lucky I am to work with such an amazingly talented bunch! I personally, was blown away by the talent and quality last night, and was super proud to be working with such fantastic acts.

Everyone had fantastic feedback – Motown Supreme (above) were commended for their authenticity in sound and awesome vocals, Funkadelics were very popular and people seemed to really love the modern tracks they’ve been added to the set lately, Live Loungers set a gorgeous, lush atmosphere for the beginning of the evening, people said 21st Century Riot had great song choices, were super tight and exciting to watch, and of course MIB were fantastic and got the party really swinging at the end of the evening.

You may have noticed we had a film crew there last night, so over the next few weeks we’ll be posting video clips of each of our bands up onto our new youtube channel… MIB-Tube!

I must also say, what a fantastic venue! Revolution, America Square, is one cool venue for events! I’d definitely reccomend it. The staff were super lovely to us, really helpful. The food was lovely and we thought the sound was great for live bands too. So if you’re looking for a venue for a corporate event, charity fundraiser, private party or Wedding, I’d definitely reccomend it!

Anyway, I think its time to go recover now… we’re all exhausted!

Sera :)

P.S Thank you to those of you who’ve sent in lovely comments & feedback this morning – tis lovely to know we’re appreciated ;)

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