In mid-April 2019 Virtual Clarity approached Oliver Myles Events to help design and organise their annual summer party at the end of May 2019.
The brief
Find an outdoor location in London which could hold around 50 people, within which we could create a fun, relaxed afternoon summer event to be enjoyed by members of staff as well as their partners and children. A primary need was for the venue to be easy to get to for those attending, with fantastic food a must along with a robust wet weather option.
With time in short supply and date options reducing by the day due to existing senior leadership commitments and the availability of London venues at this prime time, Oliver Myles Events set to work immediately. Surpassing expectations, and with multiple venues having been researched, checked, rejected or held, within 4 working days we presented the client with three fully designed, costed and detailed “ready to go” options, all of which met the brief, providing three different styles of event from a tropical beach bar (complete with real sand), to an island on the Thames with boat racing possibilities to a hidden, secret courtyard garden with games, cocktail making and magic within one of London’s most historic buildings
The event
The event took place on 30th May 2019 at Stationers’ Hall, a stunning venue with the most idyllic, spacious courtyard garden near St Paul’s Cathedral which was extremely easy to get to for staff based at Virtual Clarity’s London office in Farringdon. Within days of the event 
invitation being sent out to Virtual Clarity staff, the acceptances poured in, with numbers increasing to 75, a testament to the appeal of the event on offer as well as its suitability for staff members’ families.
With the flowering garden at Stationers’ Hall a perfect backdrop for the event, we used our expertise in creating just the right atmosphere by peppering the event with a variety of elements which would offer both an instant relaxed vibe for early arrivals and entertainment throughout the afternoon – providing an alternative to the afternoon’s primarily social focus and keeping the children happy so that parents could relax and make the most of the socialising time.
Maximising a desire to introduce a West Indian theme, our wonderful Steel Band, led by the legend Tony Charles, set the scene brilliantly and brought the Caribbean to St Paul’s for the day. We worked closely with the chefs at Stationers’ Hall to create a menu specifically for the client which included delicious options, from flame grilled patties, roast sweet potatoes, Bajan fried snapper, milk buns, fried plantains and coconut and papaya chicken.
Our event managers were on hand throughout the day to ensure the children felt a huge part of the event, had a great time and made friends instantly. This was very much aided the giant garden games we had planned, from jenga, buzz-wire, connect four, hoop-the-loop, balloon squad and the high striker. Running a simple ongoing competition at each of the games was a huge success, building great excitement and maintaining high levels of interest in each of the six activities for over 5 hours. Not just the domain of the children at the event, Virtual 
Clarity staff also enjoyed the games, be it offering coaching tips to those aiming to ring the High-Striker bell to attempting (without much luck) to beat the children’s tallest Jenga tower!
Arrival rum punches supplemented the drinks package that was available for guests throughout afternoon, and speciality cocktails designed to match both the theme and company colours (mixed and thrown in front of guests by our amazing bartenders) added to the feeling that this event sat firmly within Virtual Clarity’s organisational vision to be different, quirky and memorable.
Providing an extra “wow” element to what was already an afternoon full of laughter, great food, wonderful music and entertainment for everyone was one of Oliver Myles Events’ most popular and extremely talented magician. Captivating guests with tricks such as revealing a previously signed twenty pound note from the most unsuspected of places, this aspect (unknown and deliberately not advertised to staff) was the surprise hit of the afternoon with even the most jaded and cynical filled with wonder and awe.
The event took just weeks to organise, and every detail was thought-through and carefully considered to make sure the client and all those attending had a wonderful, fun-filled, high quality experience.
Our client at Virtual Clarity, Riann Cameron, Global Events Manger, had this to say about the event, the feedback she has received since, and her experience of working with the Oliver Myles event team: “Within a very short time period Fran and Melanie were able to bring my vision to fruition. We were able to bring the Caribbean to London and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the event. It was our biggest UK summer party thus far and I cannot wait to work with Fran and Melanie again”
Like the sound of this kind of event? Get in touch with Oliver Myles Events to see the magic we can bring to your events. Please telephone: 01442 768 110 or email: hello@olivermyles.co.uk
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