Business Profile - Make Events | Great British Life

Make Events is an Events Design and Planning Company based in Cheadle, Cheshire.

Great British Life: Make Events Make Events (Image: Archant)

Make Events design every event from scratch for each client based on the fact each client is unique with a different set of objectives.

They organise Corporate Events to include awards dinners, gala dinners, team building strategy away days, charity events, VIP events, Christmas and Summer Parties. They design and plan private parties to include milestone birthdays, anniversaries, christenings, Bar/Bat mitzvahs, summer parties. They also offer a full wedding planning and design service. They also offer stand aloine services such as lighting,, production, décor, flowers, entertainment, furniture and bar hire.

Make Events recently designed and produced a golden wedding anniversary celebration for Manchester-based businessman Fred Done, owner of Betfred, and his wife Mo at Manchester’s Hilton Hotel.

After organising Fred’s 70th birthday party, Make Events was asked again to help plan the family’s celebration. Holly created the concept of “Through the Decades” as the focus for an evening full of surprises.

With this event, the planning started over 12 months before in May 2013 with the event taking place in June 2014. Everything during the planning was kept top secret.

Planning started with the event and room design

Great British Life: Make Events Make Events (Image: Archant)

Tables – the stunning chairs were sourced from London with fabric sourced to make table cloths. The flowers were designed with florist David Wayman with a bespoke selection of glassware, design of menus and table stationary.

Room décor – The Hilton hotel’s Deansgate Suite was draped with over 865 metres of white and gold silk fabric.

Entertainment – was the focus of the event, thrilling guests throughout the evening from start to finish. Make Events was tasked with sourcing and designing jaw-dropping entertainment.

Guests were greeted by golden stilt walkers and an acoustic band with gold winged cupid living statues, leading them into the venue. Once seated, the lights dropped.

On two large wall mounted screens a huge gold carriage clock appeared and re-wound to take the audience back to when Fred and Mo first met in the 1950’s.

Six 1950’s style dancers burst into the room and danced with ‘Fred and Mo’. Acts reflecting the 1960’s through to the 1990’s took to the stage, including a freestanding aerial act and breakdancing roller skaters. The Noughties featured reality TV theme tunes and Britain’s Got Talent star, Billy George, performed his Cyr wheel act. A performance from Ola and James Jordan from TV’s Strictly Come Dancing with an audience Q&A session was a highlight. The evening came to an end with a 50-minute show from an A-List celebrity. We worked with his team for 12 months to ensure a concert standard performance.

Production - planning of 3 stages including a circular central stage, lighting and sound design.

Digital - a video produced and designed to the dancers’ music, including footage, photos and headlines from the last 50 years –projected on screens throughout the entertainment.

Holly said “We wanted to evoke memories for everyone in the room with this spectacular programme of entertainment. We almost wanted there to be too much going on so they might even miss something.”

A guest said; “The whole way the event was staged made you realise what Fred and Mo have seen together, it was phenomenal.”

Pull Out Facts

• 4 articulated lorries with equipment and rigging

• 44 Crew involved in prep, rigging, operational, derigging

• 8 Technicians

• 3 Cameramen

• 1 Generator engineer

• 28 Performers (inc dancers, stilt walkers, 13 piece band, aerial artists)

• 1400Sq ft of stage - 2 side stages + central stage

• 58 Speakers

• Over 165 lighting fixtures

• 40 Channels of radio frequency