From Royalty to Rockstars, Liz Taylor has seen and done it all! 

The founder and MD of corporate event planners the Taylor Lynn Corporation is a human dynamo, whose never short of creative ideas.  Liz took time out of her busy events schedule to share her top tips on planning the perfect Christmas Party at a networking lunch at Sheffield’s stunning Whirlowbrook Hall. A packed room of guests including meetingsclub had the opportunity to hear advice and anecdotes from this award-winning event organiser. Here’s what Liz had to say: 

You can’t take the Christmas out of Christmas 

Everyone has a different perception of Christmas and there is no right or wrong way. What is essential is that you take a drop of eggnog, a bunch of mistletoe, raise the curtain and kiss goodbye to the old, as you celebrate bringing in the new.  In any event, expectations are high – especially in my world, where the client has turned to a professional to create the theatre.  

Festive Trends 

I’ve been planning and producing corporate and private events for over 30 years.  The 5am starts and the 2am finishes.  The constant challenge to reinvent, reinterpret and re-energise an event.  The bigger the challenge, the greater the sense of achievement.  I am passionate about what I do and want to share a little of the theatre, drama, passion and backbone with my tips for planning the perfect Christmas party. 

I often get asked early in the year what the coming trends are for this much anticipated time. This year I am in the middle of designing and delivering a Christmas dinner for 80 guests in a marquee immersed in chocolate brown velvet, pull out crackers with menu details and guests names at each place setting printed in a lush copper plate.  A deconstructed Christmas tree decorated with bronze and copper foliage and baubles – all built on a square truss overhead, so it becomes the roof of the dining space. A gospel choir during reception entertaining with Christmas favourites and a band from Paris to rock the room. So, I’ve taken some traditional and mixed it with a variety of colours and textures to give it that touch of TLC.  

Christmas inevitably attracts trends.  We have provided the décor for private clients where they have spent circa £50k on dressing door frames, trees, banisters. These had to reflect the traditional New York and American movie vision of Christmas that we soak up in those old films.  

Then there is the contemporary – where you select ice baubles and use them as name places, throw faux skins over the back of chairs. Then put the light-up reindeer in the front garden. Twee?  Maybe. But providing it’s tucked behind a tree, it’s fun.  

Be bold with colours and dare to be different. Teal, deep reds, copper, gold, orange shades – the rich hues that can be found in winter flowers and foliage. In this vain, I’ve just bought 24 copper water glasses which are amazing for £1 each. They will sit at my table on Christmas Day amongst the wood, the bark and tiny tea lights; offering a rustic feel. My Christmas this year is natural bark – baccara roses and candles.  

But what of corporate Christmas? For me, there are three vital ingredients that contribute to the wow factor and are the basis for a successful event – exclusive imagination, individuality and that moment least expected. Let me explain…… 

Exclusive imagination 

Its allowing someone to think out of the box and take a concept and create magic. Here’s an example. A 21st birthday – the girl who still had the magic of youth and wanted Narnia. And Narnia she got. 

Set designers descended and built a magnificent wardrobe door. Creatively lit this was the focus as guests drove into the car park. Our Narnia queen guided them in through a wardrobe of mink coats that touched the sides into a walkway of characters on stilts and a pathway of leaves. As they walked along the path, they turned a corner with two huskies on a sleigh guiding them into Narnia. Continuing their journey through the snow – with snowflakes falling from the ceiling, they eventually arrived in Narnia. Perspex tables with magnificent white birch trees growing out of them and a multitude of candles against crystal glassware and opaque crockery. A combination of Narnia and a white Christmas. Anticipation, exclamation and exclusive imagination in abundance.  

Exclusive imagination – of ideas, concepts, entertainment and venues.  Infusing your Christmas event with some exclusive touches can make all the difference. Take this venue, here at Whirlowbrook Hall, as an example. Exclusive hire means you can party until the early hours without worrying about the DJ upsetting anyone next door.  Hire the space and you are lord and lady of the manor. Dress the space to your own taste and you’re assured of the staff’s full attention – no sharing them with other companies. 

When it comes to entertainment – invest in the best.  I only work with exclusive entertainers – phenomenal ensemble bands and the best DJs from the continent.  Companies will often ask me to just book their Christmas party entertainment because they know that we don’t offer average.  My belief is that this is an area where a little more should be invested.  

Individuality  

Individual interpretation. You can’t take Christmas out of Christmas, but you can interpret it in a unique style.  Take every element of the party and re-imagine it.  Food is a great example.  We fuse food and theatre to great effect.  The rise in informal catering has allowed us to be imaginative.  Sushi bars. Gourmet pizza. And a traditional fish and chip van as guests depart.  Food stations merging into theatrical props. For a more formal meal – take the traditional Christmas turkey and transform it into individual pies served with miniature jugs of gravy on the side. Sticky toffee pudding served in shot glasses. And Christmas pudding – serve as a martini. Yes, it is a cocktail! 

My most inspiring moments are on the treadmill every morning. With my eclectic mix on full blast music takes me into a most creative corner where I find the impossible. For a Wizard of Oz inspired party, we offered a 10-foot witch greeting guests – and I mean greeting them. A custom-built animated statue guided them into a wicked inspired set and then at the appropriate time, the entire wall dropped and there was the yellow brick road. The detail in the room and on the tables was insane, with Perspex tables resting on large ruby red shoes.  The entertainment... Diana Ross and a serious DJ!  Now that’s wow. 

The moment least expected… 

…is the greatest wow factor of any event. When a wall drops on a drum roll, pyrotechnics burst into the room to announce employee of the year or when a ceiling opens, and hundreds of hidden petals cascade down when they say “I do”.   

Take a festive party for a financial services client.  Guests were ferried in private cars to a farmer’s field in Surrey – a surprise in itself for the well-dressed guests. Walking on a purpose-built footpath carved through wintry woodland and then a stunning marquee nestled in the landscape and sprinkled with winter magic.  Oversized frosted trees. A spectacular lighting production bathing the rustic wooden bar and tables in light.  This surprise venue was created out of a challenge.  We’d scoured the county for the right venue – no luck.  When I hit a brick wall, I started digging.  “If we don’t have a venue, we’ll build one.”  We hired a farmer’s field and erected a fabulous marquee, cut back the woodland to create an entrance walkway and placed hundreds of candles along the way.  Voila – a wow moment for festive party goers that they will remember for ever. 

And let’s not forget one of the most surprising moments at any Christmas party.  When the Duke of Cambridge bounded onto a stage to sing Livin’ on a Prayer with Jon Bon Jovi and Taylor Swift.  A charity event that I was involved with on just two weeks’ notice.  Dr Zhivago inspired. Kensington Palace the venue. The guest list a Who’s Who. The photos of the Prince and the Rock Stars went global. 

All well and good you might say – these sound like unlimited budgets. My mantra is that it’s never how much you spend, but how you spend it.  If you have £500 to throw into a reception – don’t invest it in an inexperienced and underrated musical act. Invest it in a ten-foot vase filled with an abundance of flower heads that takes the breath away. Or a bar full of festive inspired cocktails served in a milk bottle that oozes dry ice and sustainable branded straws! Paper of course!   

I have said this before, but it’s truer now than ever.  After 30 years I get up every morning, decide what diet I am on that day, and then embrace the madness.  I love it.  I am lucky enough to have worked in my dream job.  My team inspire me.  My events challenge me still.  

To find out more about Taylor Lynn Corporation please click here   

To find out more about Whirlowbrook Hall please click here