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Events Planning &Management. Simplified.
eventjuice is an event blog which intends to help people through the various challenges involved in planning and managing all types of events. It is informed by the people I meet within the industry and the events I attend and read about every day.
Total Wipeout
I’ve noticed that some Googlers have ended up on my site having searched for information on ‘Total Wipeout Events’, looking for details about the course, or something similar in the UK.
So I’ve looked into this and hope this post answers those questions:
“Where is the Total Wipeout course and can I have a go?”
The programme is filmed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, click the link to see a bird’s eye view of the course - it’s much bigger than I expected!: The Total Wipeout Set in Buenos Aires, Argentina
At the moment the Total Wipeout course is just a television set and not open to the public or for private events.
Whilst the programme is popular, they are going to carry on making it (Total Wipeout is made for, and shown in, loads of countries) and due to the show’s success it looks like it’s going to be a while before the site is transformed into a water park, IF that ever happens.
“Is there a Total Wipeout Course in the UK?”
No, however this is something I’ve discussed with several different event companies and activity suppliers, but so far no one has come up with a solution.
Everyone seems to be put off by the size of the project. The combination that there would be such a high risk of accidents on the event because the course would have to be extreme, the difficulty of creating a mobile event that looks authentic, and the massive investment in kit needed for the course - it’s not surprising no one has done it yet.
But the majority of people that end up on my site looking for ‘Total Wipeout events’ must be enquiring with event companies about the idea. They appear to be organising events for large groups, such as stag dos, birthday parties and corporate team building events - and if they keep asking, I predict that someone will try and develop something soon.
As soon as I hear about something I’ll post the details - or if anyone does please email me: [email protected]
But for now, a similar event that I can suggest is ‘It’s A Knockout’ (also inspired and based on television show). Like Total Wipeout it’s extremely physical, fun and participants usually get soaked. ‘It’s A Knockout’ is offered by loads of event companies, most able to provide a mobile option which can be transported and set up in suitable venues, all over the UK.
However if you really want to ‘have a go’ at getting across those big red balls or take a sucker punch there is a multi player game on the Wii - which obviously doesn’t come close to the real thing but is good fun for small groups.
A couple of fun Total Wipeout clips:
Using Time Wisely
I know that it’s a little early to be planning New Year’s Eve, but I saw this on another blog (Group Think Event Blog) and really liked it.
Like New Year’s Eve, if time plays a crucial role in the evening, why not make time a focal point of the event and incorporate it into the theme like they have done at Apartment Therapy.
I love it when people come up with something really creative, especially when it is this simple - what a great idea!
A technical event requ…[Apologies, this post is OUT OF ORDER]
This weekend, I went to a music exhibition with some friends, which was all about the history of popular music in Britain. Like a lot of people, I love this sort of thing, so when it comes to an afternoon all about music - I’m an easy one to please.
However, most of the activities, at the exhibition, were interactive elements relying completely on specially made hi-tech equipment and gadgets. I must admit the sections that did work were really cool, but quite a few things such as one of the key attractions and finale were OUT OF ORDER.
I completely understand that things break down and you cannot have two of everything. But when I asked the staff about it, they said they were aware of the problem and it’s going to take AROUND 40 minutes for a technical team to get there and then they will PROBABLY take ABOUT half an hour to fix. We waited about an hour and nothing had changed or happened - so we left.
This is really frustrating for visitors and stuff like this happens all the time - so if you are organising an event that requires any technical equipment, know how to use the equipment and solve minor problems and if you have a lot of technical equipment make sure you have an expert onsite - in case things go wrong.
If you have any key sections of the event not working, warn people before they buy a ticket and go into the event because those are the parts of the experience people tend to remember, especially if they are the sections they’ve read about and have been looking forward too.
It’s alright though, after complaining they gave us tickets to come again - so fingers crossed, after doing the whole journey again, it’s the other half that breaks down, if any.
Being the Best Man - Advice, Duties and Responsibilities
I’m not going to lie, being the best man is a tough job!
You’re the groom’s right-hand-man and will be expected to step up and take on duties and responsibilities that will put extra pressure on you, before and on the wedding day. But it is such a wonderful job and really rewarding, especially when you’ve finished your speech and see the newly married couple looking so happy and enjoying their day (all their hard work paying off).
I’m not a best man expert, I only know this stuff, because this weekend, I completed my duties as best man and have just included some ‘best man’ tips that I learnt along the way, which will give you, the reader, an understanding of what is expected of you and hopefully make you a better best man:
To be [Best Man], or not to be?
I worked on a wedding once, where the best man spent most of the day at the bar getting drunk and slating the bride. If you have any baggage with the bride or groom, talk to them about it before accepting the role, and if you can’t sort it out I would suggest not even going to their wedding. Ruining their special day is unforgivable and they’re really not going to thank you for it later!
The couple had spent so much money on a beautiful 5* hotel that was positioned on the beach, which is where the ceremony took place. Through working there I had seen some of the most incredible weddings. However, what was meant to be the best day of their lives finished with the best man shouting his thoughts for everyone to hear, which then erupted into a fight and the police were called. Not the best way to finish a wedding.
Thankfully, I have a great relationship with the bride and groom and so it was a no brainer. If anything, the whole experience had brought our families, friends and us closer together.
Organising the Stag Do
You’ll need to put together the stag do for the groom, his family and friends. Please refer to an earlier post purely based on how to organise a stag do: The Song Sheet to Stag Do Planning
Writing the Best Man Speech
There are so many good websites and books that specialise on helping people write speeches, so I’m not going to try and compete - I would just suggest Googling ‘best man speeches’.
However, one problem that I had, was that I had asked his family and friends for photos from his childhood and was planning to print them off to give out during the speech. But I spent so much time planning and practising the speech, I left it to the last day to print everything off and had software and printing issues. So if you are planning to provide any handouts or a slideshow - the earlier you do this, the better.
Listening to the Groom’s Speech
Let him practise as many times as he wishes until he gets it right and make sure you give him honest feedback or let him know if there is anything he has missed, for example he hasn’t mentioned the bride. If you can, do this a week or so before the wedding so that he has time to learn the new bits, otherwise he’ll be freaking out at the last minute.
The Night Before
It’s your job to entertain the groom the night before and you might want to incorporate his family and any close friends. We just went for some food and drinks with everybody in the local pub - just make sure he doesn’t drink too much!
Watered and Fed
Getting married is a long day and it’s important that the groom drinks plenty of water and eats breakfast in the morning.
Look after the Rings
Looking after the rings up until the ceremony and then handing them out to the bride and groom during the service.
Getting the Groom to the Venue
It was over an hours drive for us to get to the wedding venue and the groom is a bit of a car buff, so hired a sporty Mercedes for the drive. I requested a ‘good luck’ message on radio show we were listening too, which the groom absolutely loved, plus he received calls and messages from guests making their way to the wedding - I then sent a text thanking the show for doing that and they called me up and interviewed the groom live on air. The groom was so over the moon! I must admit, I was a little worried that his first words to the bride was going to be “I was on Radio One” rather than “you look amazing”, but thankfully he didn’t do that.
Just before we got to the wedding venue, we popped to the hotel the bride and groom were staying at and put Champagne, chocolates and fresh roses in the room.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
When we got to the wedding venue, I was told by the organiser that from now on any problems or decisions that need to be made are handed over to the best man and she won’t bother the bride and groom, she’ll be coming straight to me. This sounded worst than it actually was. The day ran smoothly and I only needed to make a couple of decisions, such as moving the band, giving the nod for things like food and when the band should start.
Talk to Everyone
I tried to talk to as many of the guests as possible, which made the next two tasks much easier. Also, find out exactly what is happening on the day and where the toilets are - throughout the day I had hundreds guests ask me those questions.
The Photos
Support the Photographer with rounding up guests for photos - this means the photos get done much quicker, and it is less stressful for the photographer and everyone else - then you won’t have an angry Photographer screaming out peoples names.
Delivering the Speech
The order of the speeches are: the Bride’s Father, the Groom and then the Best Man. Three things that I was told before delivering the speech were: 1) make sure that everyone can hear you, a speech dies if people can’t hear because they then start talking 2) don’t come across as too cocky, otherwise people won’t like you and won’t want to listen 3) react to the audience, timing is everything - pause if they’re laughing, laugh with them!
Optional: Check if Suppliers have Drinks, such as the Band, Photographer and Magician, etc
If all the staff are happy on the day, then it is more likely that guests and most importantly the Bride and Groom are going to have a good day. I think a nice touch is saying thank you to those working on the event - letting them know that they are doing a great job and helping make the day really special.
The Song Sheet to Stag Do Planning
If you’re reading this, then like me, you probably want to organise the best stag do ever for your mate, his friends and family.
Well, the stag weekend I organised has finally happened (literally just!) and at the moment I’m sitting on a train (feeling, unexpectedly, pretty good) slowly making my way back to London.
This is a first time I’ve been anyone’s ‘best man’ and needed to organise a stag do and it was brilliant! As the worried organiser, I’m really pleased with how the whole weekend went, everybody, most importantly the groom really enjoyed it.
Well, now it’s over, I want to share the lessons I’ve learnt from this experience to help those who are new to planning events. I’ve called this post ‘the song sheet’, an expression I heard over the weekend and quite liked. These tips are a starting point for organisers to think about, giving you something to work from and make into your own.
1. Who is going?
Before you do anything, find out from the groom who he wants at the stag do. Don’t just ask for names and the amount of guests, get phone numbers and email addresses. Setting up an email group early on might save you time and confusion later on.
2. Who are they?
If you don’t know the guests that well, find out what they’re like from the groom. Try and get as much information as you can, which you can use to find the most suitable options and will help you make decisions.
3. When should we go?
Choose a couple of suitable dates for the stag do with the groom. Send potential dates in an intro email to all guests and ask them to indicate if there are any they can’t make.
Pick the most popular date from the responses - when doing this remember that you can’t always please everybody, but just check with the groom to make sure those he considers essential, can make it. When you have a suitable date, send a ‘we have a date…’ email to everybody (asap) so that they don’t plan something else.
The image is a copy of the intro invite I sent to all the guests. Some colleagues from work put this together for me to send out.
4. Who should organise the stag do?
You need to decide whether you go it alone or ask an agency to organise your event. This is completely up to you and I guess it mainly depends on how long the stag do is for and how well you know the destination you going too (if you already have one).
I decided to get help from a colleague who specialises in organising Stag Dos even though I have access to exactly the same database. I mainly did this for his expertise, such as a good format for the weekend and help selecting the most suitable locations for our group with all the best places and activities each location has to offer. Putting all this together for three different locations is quite a mission and dealing with one person rather than several is much easier. My colleague organises thousands of these events each year, so there is rest-of-mind that the recommendations will be good and things that are easily forgotten, won’t be.
The company I work for is Chillisauce Events, if you would like an agency to help you organise your event.
5. Where are you going?
Selecting a location can be a tough job, the first question to answer is, do you stay in the UK or go overseas? There are so many brilliant locations to go and each place offers something different.
I asked my colleague/event organiser to send me three destinations (in the UK) that he would go to if he was someone’s best man and put together a package for each location. We picked Edinburgh.
6. What are you going to do?
Every location offers something different and what you do while you’re there depends on the places and activities available in that area, or if you have a particular activity that you want to do, you can search for locations that offer that activity. Bear-in-mind that larger size groups get better per person rate, so the more the merrier.
We went to a comedy night and a club on the first evening followed by white water rafting on the second day. That evening we did some whiskey tasting and then went to a selection of bars and clubs.
I picked white water rafting as the main activity for a couple of reasons; Scotland is an awesome place to do it, it’s the type of activity where guests aren’t just hanging around waiting, and it is unusual (no one in our group had done it before).
7. Where are you going to stay?
We hired an apartment which was only a five minute taxi ride from the city centre. This meant that everybody was together for the entire time and we saved money at the beginning of each night, by buying drinks from the local shop to have before we went out, and it was brilliant because we did things like played the wii and poker.
However, apartments aren’t the only answer there are plenty of other options such as city centre hotels and hostels - and it’s your job to work out which is most suitable for your group, consider any extra costs like taxis, but this doesn’t tend to be that much when it is divided by loads of you.
8. Should I consult the groom, or not?
I decided to involve the groom from the beginning, and presented him with different options so he could pick what he wanted us to do. Some people decide to keep everything a surprise - if you do this I would just pick a couple of people in the group to help you make decisions rather than consult everybody, ‘to many chefs’.
9. How much does a stag do cost?
Rather than ask guests how much they can afford I would work find out how much it costs first, and test that with the group - make sure you explain what they’re getting for their money. See what people say, if anyone says it’s out of their price range then look at ways to reduce the costs.
10. What do I do about booking and paying for it?
I would suggest keeping people up-to-date at every stage, and email round with deadlines for deposits and full payments as soon as you get them. You’ll probably need to do some chasing, so don’t leave this until the last moment to do this, any problems let the groom know - he knows them better.
11. What about getting there?
Rather than taking on the responsibility of the travel to the stag do (because costs vary so much) book yours and the stags once enough people have shown enough interest, and just let everyone know who you booked with and how you booked, what time you booked the plane, train or coach and how much it costs. The easiest thing to do is send a link.
12. What does everybody need to take?
Find out exactly what you need for the activities you are doing, such as extra towels, old clothes and trainers, write a list for yourself and then send that list to everybody.
13. Where should we meet?
Decide on a meeting point and time and ensure everyone knows about it. Also, make sure everyone has the address to the accommodation, in case they’re making their own way there.
Good luck!
