Stylish Italian LED Illuminated furniture has arrived at Caterhire, Sandyford and we want you to be the first to see what a difference either one or a few pieces can make to your next event.

Have you ever wanted to host the most amazing party or event ever? Have you ever wanted everyone talking about YOUR event ?  Well now you can be the talk of the town if you can get your hands on some of the latest illuminated furniture.

At Caterhire we know just how important impressions are – whether its for a party at home, a launch of a new product … whatever the occasion .

Some of the pieces we have include bars, sofas, pod tables, coffee tables, stools, drink holders, shelving, cubes, benches, to name just a few.  Combine different shapes to create seating areas, walls and bars. 

Illuminated (LED) furniture really can transform the whole look of an event.  Choose different coloured bulbs to light up the pieces from within to create amazing moods both indoors and outdoors.

You can hire this furniture on both short term and long term hires.  Create outstanding effects by mixing and matching illuminated furniture, soft furnishings and other products from our hire range. You can create amazing displays and partitions by using a combination of glowing cubes, bars and snakes. Please click here for our full range http://caterhire.ie/products/catalogue/illuminated_furniture

The type of First Holy Communion celebration you choose, is entirely up to you, your child, and your budget, as with everything in life it is a personal choice, and there is no right or wrong First Holy Communion celebration.

The First Holy Communion reception can be a simple lunch held at a local hotel, restaurant, pub or other venue.

Or, for the person who loves to entertain, a party at home for family and friends is a good option. Remember to cater for both the children and the adults as guests. As family, friends, and classmates of the child will all be invited.

Your budget will determine the numbers invited and whether you host the party at home or take your guests out for a lavish lunch / buffet.

You might decide to cater the party yourself or avail of the use of a local caterer. It can also be very useful to hire in the tableware, glasses and cutlery and save yourself lot of hard work afterwards. Companies such as Caterhire (www.caterhire.ie) can provide everything. You can rent furniture, crockery, cutlery, glassware, linens and much much more for your party at Caterhire. Caterhire also stock children’s furniture. A table hosted by the Guest of Honour for his/her pals is a lot of fun. Take the stress and hassle out of your day and have everything delivered, collected and even washed up for you when the party is over (Caterhire do this for you too).

Adults can always entertain themselves by chatting and catching up with family members, but what about the children? Will you need to hire a bouncy castle, entertainer or even a DJ.

You can never guarantee the weather, so always prepare for rain. If you do not have the room in your house for all you guests hire a marquee or some pop up gazebos.

They say that a picture tells a thousand words, and that is something that can also be said about a well taken photograph. Remember to take lots of photographs of your child’s First Holy Communion, and if you have a camcorder take some video clips. Do check with parish re photographs and video at church.

HAVE A GREAT DAY !  For Details on our special Holy Communion Packages click here:  http://caterhire.ie/occasion/holy_communion_2012

What’s it really going to cost?

You might be asking yourself do I really need to develop a seating plan for my event. Shouldn’t guests choose where they sit themselves? After all we are all adults.

While unassigned seating sounds great in theory and it is certainly one less chore for the organizer. Unfortunately it rarely works out so well in practice.

Some of the reasons why people generally choose to spend that extra time putting together a table plan are set out below:

• There may be an unseemly rush for the ‘good’ seats.
• It will take a lot longer to get guests seated. They may still be milling around while the food is being served.
• Couples can get split up. It is not unknown for guests to end up eating outside the venue because they couldn’t get a seat together at a table.
• Elderly relatives may end up seated where they can’t see or hear anything.
• If people turn up uninvited they may take seats intended for your invited guests.

The larger the event, the bigger the risk you are taking with unassigned seating.

Here are some helpful tips for planning your seating arrangements:

• You might want to put people next to people they know, or you might want to split them up a bit so they meet new people. But try to put each person next to at least one person they already know. People are more likely to get on well if they are similar ages or have similar interests. For example, it might not be a good idea to put your “alternative lifestyle” friend with the piercings and tattoos next to your 80-year-old grandmother. A little common sense goes a long way.
• Generally you should try to put families together and work colleagues together. However if you know people don’t get on, try seating them separately. It is worth breaking with tradition to have a stress free event.
• Avoid mixing age groups too much. Young children should be seated with their parents.
• Try to create balanced tables, with even numbers of males and females. It is traditional to alternate male-female-male-female guests however you can change this to suit your guest list and to add variety to you table plan.
• If it is a group of people that know each other well you could try splitting up married couples for extra variety.
• Resist the temptation to have a ‘leftovers’ table of all the people who didn’t fit on other tables. It is probably better to distribute such guests evenly.

Guests will need to know which table they are seated at so they don’t have to walk around every table to find their place. This is usually achieved by displaying a seating chart prominently at the entrance to the venue. If you are having a drinks reception prior to the main meal it is a good idea to display a copy of the table plan in this area so that your guests can find out where they are sitting at their leisure. This will help to avoid delays at the entrance to your main reception room.

Table number cards are placed on tables to display the number or name of the table. These should be easily visible when you enter the room to avoid confusion for your guests. If you have a large number of tables you might also want to display a floor plan to show where the tables are.

Place cards are placed at each setting to ensure guests sit in the correct seats. Again it is important for these to be clearly displayed so that your guests find their seats quickly and effortlessly.

Seating Plans

A seating plan shows each guest which table they are seated at. The seating plan can either list guests by table or alphabetically by name. Listing by table is more common and shows who else is on the same table. Please see below for an example of a table plan. Whether you choose to use your guest’s first name or opt for the more formal Mr or Mrs is entirely up to you.

Table Plans

A table plan will show your guests the actual layout of your room. This will help them identify where in the room they will be sitting. By displaying this beside your seating plan it will help your guests identify where exactly in the room they will be sitting. This will reduce the time they spend wandering around the room trying to locate their table. Please see below for an example of a table plan. It is important to ensure that your table names on your plan match what will be displayed on the actual tables.

Table number cards

Table number cards are placed on tables to display the table name or number. They should be large enough to read without having to walk right up to the table. Table number cards are usually large tent fold cards, or flat cards in a holder. Make sure they aren’t so tall that they prevent guests seeing each other over the table. If you have decided to name your tables you can theme the table number cards appropriately.

Place cards

Place cards are placed at each place setting to ensure guests sit in the correct seats. They are only required if you have assigned guests to seats (not tables). If you are using tent-fold cards, write the guest’s name on both sides so that other guests on the table can also read it.
Usually place card names will be in the format “John Smith”, but you can use “Mr J. Smith” depending on the level of formality you feel happy with. Using just the first name is obviously not recommended if there is more than one person with the same first name. As an alternative to place cards guest names can also be written on personalised favours or menus.

If you are reading this, Congratulations!

Here at Caterhire we LOVE weddings and enjoy helping our Brides and Grooms in any way we can.   If you are reading this you are obviously looking for some tips and we are happy to share our experience with you.

Our forthcoming Blogs will discuss all steps relating to organising the preparations for your BIG day.  From venue to guest numbers, creative linens, seating plans, photography and much more.

To start off with, we are going to give you some money saving ideas that just might come in handy as you plan your Wedding and all that goes with this massive, exciting, time in your life.  We appreciate what an expensive time this is and how you want the day to be just “perfect”.  Cutting costs does not mean cutting style.

You CAN enjoy planning your wedding, and manage to save money at the same time.  Here are some tips that really are very practical to start you off.

Invitations

Make your own printable invites (diywedding.ie, vistaprint.ie, smilebox.com) – there are loads of websites offering this service.  Even more euro savvy would be to make paperless ones and email them to your guests (all except Great Aunt Mary of course who doesn’t have email !)  .  It can be a lot of fun designing your own invites.  If this is a step too far for you, you could always hand deliver as many as possible.  Depending upon the number of guests – could be a saving up to €500

Church Missals

Making your own Church Missals really is very easy today – if you are not so hot on the laptop yourself, get a tech savvy pal to do it up for you with all your own readings, music choices etc.  Download a template from the net and when you are done get them printed in a print shop – add your own ribbon and a harder cover for a nice touch – Saving approx  €200

Flowers

You could DIY the flowers.  Make sure you rope your pals in who are green fingered or design savvy if you don’t have a clue yourself !  Pop along to the flower market in Smithfield and get a feel for the quality and ranges that are available. We have known some couples who have wedding dates a few months off who went on flower arranging courses !! Rent the vases / flower bowls from Caterhire at a fraction of the price than buying them.  Save approx €500

Make your own cake

A small fortune can be saved here – anything goes today – its not unusual to have a chocolate cake, cupcakes, traditional, biscuit cake …. Or each layer a different cake … We all have a great “cake maker” in the family or within our circle of friends who would be honoured to make your cake as their wedding present to you.  Saving up to €500

Photograper

A professional photographer is such a luxury today and great if you can afford it.  However, with the age of digital cameras, stunning photographs can be taken which are just as good.  Make sure the pictures are taken in high resolution and then they can be enlarged and reprinted after the day to create your wedding album.  Select a few close friends and family to snap throughout the day.  Saving up to €1,000

Haggle with the Venue regarding the Costs

Without a doubt the biggest expense is the venue itself and If you don’t ask you don’t get !  If you don’t expect to get a discount, this will be obvious to the decision maker at the venue so get savvy!  Build up a rapport with the venue – most people are in the wedding industry because they love weddings and they will warm to enthusiastic couples !  Saving up to €1000

Keep the Date Flexible

Think about booking your wedding on a week day instead of a weekend – Save up to €1,500.

Marquee Wedding at Home

If your family have a decent sized back garden a marquee wedding is always very special .  The costs are cut considerably and you can have the bespoke wedding you have always dreamed of.  You can rent almost everything at Caterhire for your wedding -  from the ordinary to the absolute lavish !! Rent the chairs, linens, candelabras, table settings, stylish glassware, crockery, dance floors, bars  and so much more.  You would be supplying your own chosen wine and catering also.  Save approx €5,000

It is important to make sure you have a dance floor that is large enough to accommodate all of your guests. This will ensure that all your budding “John Travolta’s” can easily strut their stuff without any problems. Please see below a rough size guide which we have based upon the number of guests attending.

Launch Dance Floor Size Estimator