Be ready for the BIG job! 1/3 Organisation

Does the thought of creating and supplying 80 centrepieces instead of 8 for an event fill you with dread or excitement?

I love to create exciting and detailed centrepiece designs, but these are not always practical, especially when you need them in mass! I have had the honour at previous events such as IBAC and the World Balloon Convention to design and create the "Final Night Gala" table centrepieces and have learned a number of very valuable lessons along the way:

• Keep your design simple but stunning.
• Don’t use too many complicated techniques.
• Use elements that can be prepared in advance like air-filled 4” & 9” Microfoil® balloons. 
• Make sure that you can achieve what you set out to do in the given time!

For the past two years I have been commissioned to make 80 table centrepieces for a Christmas event that has very limited setting up time! So of course, these need to be pre-made and easily transportable, or as easy as it can be to transport 80 centrepieces and they must still have the ‘wow’ factor!

So how did my day go?

Thank goodness for preparation and organisation, I think it is very easy to underestimate exactly how long 80 centrepieces will take you to make, do the math and work it out, time each job and ensure that you have allowed enough time to complete all the jobs prior to the day. This of course applies to any big job that you are bidding for; preparation and organisation is the key to success!

The day went extremely well, I actually ended up using a service called "A Man with a Van", this services turned out to be a cheaper option than hiring a van for the day plus the cost of having to find parking in central London. 

My "Man with his Van" turned up on time and loading took less time than expected, which again was a bonus.

I had allowed plenty of time to unload and move everything to the designated 'prep area'. We assembled the designs quickly; I think we had to replace only one of the 5" balloons! 

I think my biggest concern for this day was the logistics of getting all our centrepieces in place and on time. The distance from the prep area to the Ballroom was challenging, with doors and stairs to negotiate, plus 1500 guests leaving from the lunch event that had just taken place, but we did it with plenty of time to spare!

I am decorating the same event again this year and once again the day will have many challenges, but this time we will also have helium filled balloons attached to the centrepieces,  a 50' Arch using the AeroPole System and five Quick-Link Christmas trees too!

Personally I think that it is good to get a little out of our comfort zones from time to time. The more we challenge ourselves to bigger and better things, the more confident we become. And with confidence we grow as a person along with our businesses too!

Coming soon "Be ready for the Big job! 2/3 Price and contract" and "Be ready for the Big job! 3/3 The Design".

Happy Ballooning!

Sue

www.suebowler.com