Kicking off a corporate festival in a Scottish enchanted forest
Having previously organised a corporate festival for this particular client in 2022, we were delighted to be asked once again to provide our full event management service – this time for a kick-off event.
Our client has offices in Manchester, Reading and Glasgow and whole company events are hosted in these locations on rotation. For this event we were asked to find a venue in Glasgow with capacity for 300 and deliver a memorable and celebratory event that would kick off the year in style.
The Solution
Our search led us to Glasgow’s West End, a really vibrant and happening part of the city, and the most incredible venue. Òran Mór was formerly a parish church and boasts a wealth of architectural features that gives it an instant wow factor – we knew it would be perfect and our client agreed!
With its stone arches, stained glass windows, vaulted ceiling and an amazing celestial ceiling mural (painted by Glasgow artist Alasdair Gray, who is also author of the novel – now Oscar-winning film – Poor Things), Òran Mór’s Auditorium is full of atmosphere and it provided endless inspiration for our design team to get creative. To fully celebrate both the Scottish setting and style of venue, we developed a theme of Celtic enchanted forest.
The space was dressed with trees, foliage, rocks and trails of ivy. Suits of armour, a treasure chest and pillar candles added a gothic feel. Fairy lights added to the magic and an enchanted forest wouldn’t be complete without a massive dragon, which was also a very neat nod to 2024 being the Lunar Year of the Dragon. The theme was carried through to the table centrepieces, candelabras mounted on slices of tree trunk and dressed with moss. And pulling all the elements together was a fantastic lighting scheme that made the most of the space and enhanced the atmospheric feel.
Guests were greeted by a bagpiper at the venue’s main entrance before going inside for a welcome reception. Prosecco, bottled beers and elderflower spritz were served and, as everyone gathered, two roaming tree stilt walkers brought the enchanted theme to life as they interacted with guests. There was a magic mirror photobooth and we also created a foliage arch featuring the company’s brand as a neon sign, which proved very popular as a backdrop for guests taking photographs.
Guests enjoyed a buffet dinner, including satay skewers, Thai fish cakes, mini burgers, Yorkshire pudding, arancini, goats cheese and caramelised onion tart and, naturally, Haggis. The menu was cleverly designed so that all meat-based dishes had a vegetarian/vegan equivalent, meaning plenty of choice for everyone. Mini cheesecakes and mini chocolate brownies followed for dessert.
We had installed a stage for the evening’s entertainment. Once dinner was over, there was a speech to thank everyone for being there. It was then time for live music and a rocking evening. Drums and Roses are a four-piece bagpipe and drum band that performs modern classics – they have to be seen to be believed! Coming off stage to continue their performance amongst the guests added an extra dimension and was received with great enthusiasm.
We had arranged overnight accommodation for everyone, some 140 bedrooms across a number of hotels, which meant guests could enjoy themselves right to the very end. Goodie bags were handed out as guests left, which included mugs that had been personalised with avatars of every single guest, a thoughtful touch and a nice souvenir of the event.
