Tag: event

Vintage China Hire in Dorset

We’re always amazed by the fabulous pictures we get back from people hiring Vintage Dorset china for special occasions – it makes us smile to see our old lovelies being used to such good effect!

Our recent customer testimonials have also been really touching. So, thank you to all of our clients this summer – we’re so pleased you found us and had such wonderful vintage events we could be part of!

>More about our pictures and Vintage Dorset

We share pictures of our china and accessories online so people can see our stock being used in-situ and know what they can expect. Our vintage china pictures are of crockery from our own collection being used at genuine events – we don’t buy pictures from marketing companies or use stock library images – what you see is what we have available to hire.

Dorchester Wedding – 200 guests

East Close Country Hotel – Wedding with 95 guests

Alice’s birthday tea for 6

Choosing an Ethical Event Planner

Vintage Dorset prides itself on being an ethical supplier. We like traditional values, being honest and working hard to give great customer service. We prefer to keep our hires local so we don’t have a big environmental footprint, we minimise waste and always aim to offer excellent quality and value. We don’t charge extra for weddings. in fact, we don’t often go to wedding fayre’s either as they can exclude small companies who offer couples better value for money and more choice than corporate or large firms. However, we do co-ordinate our own vintage events, promote community based vintage activities and work with charities and local venues to showcase our ideas.

If you are considering vintage china hire for a retirement party, anniversary, wedding or birthday or are looking for an event planner to help you with your special occasion here are our top 5 tips for choosing a company you can trust:

• Look for pictures from real events We all love photo-shoots to show off our most prestigious pieces and individual details – but pictures of real events will give you a feel for what real events can turn out like

• Experience and scale? Lots of event companies are small businesses – but that doesn’t mean they should be lacking in experience. Ask how many guests the company’s largest events were recently and if there are pictures? Can you see a portfolio of real events or speak with past clients & read genuine testimonials?

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• Local and linked in? Does the company operate locally? Local companies will know local venues and can help you get the most out of your event and put you in touch with good local suppliers. In emergencies a local company can also help overcome problems. On one occasion when a caterer’s electric water boiler conked out at a wedding, Vintage Dorset delivered our gas urn to the venue within half an hour – only local firms can offer this kind of help

• Meet up and work things out Good businesses will help you work out what you need without taking every opportunity to sell you something. Meeting with your event planner face to face, seeing accessories first hand and talking on the phone are important steps to deciding how your event will work. Most companies won’t charge you for an initial consultation. Full event planning services do have costs – but event planning should save you money and sleepless nights overall

• Who are all these fans? With so much social marketing available online sometimes its easy to think a business must be brilliant because of all of its twitter followers, fans and facebook “likes”. Beware of businesses who “buy” followers to boost their online presence or recruit lots of business followers to make their company seem popular. The best companies use social marketing to post information about what they’re doing, share news of related services and ideas, update you with regular news of events and keep their website up-to-date with a regular blog.

Whoever you choose to help you with your event management, remember its your day and you should enjoy it! Your event planner should be there to make things easier and help you get excellent customer service and value.