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The Sound & Light Hire Company Supplying Sound, Lighting & Stage for Birthday Party in Surrey

The Sound & Light Hire Company Logo

The Sound & Light Hire Company Logo

Things have been so busy here and the Sound & Light Hire Company that we haven’t had time to tell you about a celebration we supplied equipment and event services to back in March. We were tasked to provide the sound, lighting, and stage for a joint 30th and 60th birthday celebration of a mother and daughter.

So without further ado, let’s tell you all about it!

Surrey Event Company Designs and Delivers Ultimate Birthday Party 

As mentioned above, we were contacted by a private client concerning a joint birthday celebration at Surrey venue whereby we are the preferred supplier for all manner of event production services, namely sound, lighting, and stage hire. After being passed on their details by the venue, we immediately got in touch with the individual client to set up an initial chat and a site visit.

We arrived on-site and got to work straight away on securing the exclusive use of one of the “wings” of this prestigious venue, which our generous venue partner kindly offered without any quibbles. By doing so, we gained the freedom of the entire space so that we could work on setting up (and disassembling) equipment unencumbered by the presence of other guests. In case you were wondering what we mean, the venue in question offers hotel accommodation as part of their multifaceted operations.

The premise for this birthday celebration was simple but elegant. Much like the singer Sam Sparro, this party was going to be dominated by a “Black and Gold” theme. One we’d worked out the finer details of the brief with the client, it was time to go away on work on creating a completely bespoke proposal for the client.

Our in-house design team got to work straight away and provided the client with a 3D render of the venue to visualise how our technical equipment and design choices would look when in place. She was thrilled with what she saw and gave us the go-ahead to get to work organising the logistical and technical aspects of pulling it off.

Surrey Stage Hire For Joint Birthday Party

Once the morning of the party rolled around, it was time for the hard work to start! We started by setting up the drapes which were to be hung up around the perimeter of the grand hall. We used lightweight black and gold clothes, unsurprisingly, to match the theme given to us by the client. We then completed the overall look of the venue by placing LED-lit furniture, such as cubes and poseur tables strategically across the grand dining hall, ready to be turned on and set to gold colour once the guests began to arrive.

While the brief included all aspects of event production, our primary emphasis was on the sound, lighting, and indeed the stage elements of this party. Our primary focus after making those nice preparatory touches to the venue was to get to work constructing the stage.

In terms of the stage we provided, the client opted for our suggestion of a 6m x 4m stage hire package, which had been tweaked to include 1m legs to elevate the booked live band well above the ground. Our bandstand-style stage comes complete with handrails, steps, and the legs mentioned above. Our stage crew had certainly eaten their Weetabix on this particular morning as they managed to erect the stage in under an hour, even though there were added customisations required to accommodate the additional height of the stage.

Once the stage was nearing completion, the focus then turned to erecting the truss structures upon which the lighting fixtures would be rigged.

Event Company in Surrey Provides Lighting Hire for Birthday Party 

As touched on, the next stage was setting up all of the lighting equipment for the evening’s entertainment. Once we have erected a stage-based truss, we started adding the lights. What we supplied was an iteration of our live band lighting hire package, with a few extras. We started with eight Showtec M800 Tour PAR cans to wash the stage in a range of colours, but then we also added a couple of moving head fixtures, and Equinox Revolution disco lights, a couple of lasers, and a smoke machine to help bring the best out of the lighting equipment.

As mentioned, the live band were going to be followed by a DJ, so we needed to have lighting equipment capable of showing off both set of entertainers. There are nuanced differences between the two, with DJs having a strong preference for lasers over more traditional stage lighting options. Since we had all angles covered, there were certainly no complaints from either entertainment act!

Dotted around the rest of the venue, we supplied wireless LED uplighters to set the mood and ambience for the evening. In case you hadn’t already guessed, the colour for these uplighters was a suave shade of gold, very much in keeping with the theme! We ran these from the outdoor entrance of the wing of the venue sectioned off for us, right through the foyer, and into the grand hall where the main festivities were taking place.

Finally, we set up a variety of pin spots around the room to beam sharp beams of gold light against the back drapes and black table dressings.

While the lighting technicians were busy setting up all of these fixtures, our sound engineers were working just as hard setting up all of the sound requirements for the live band and DJ.

Sound & Light Hire Company Provide Sound Equipment Hire for Surrey Party

While the stage and lights were crucial, there wouldn’t have been much of an event without us providing top-of-the-range sound equipment for hire. Concerning the sound requirements, they actually started outside of the main hall.

As highlighted above, there was an entrance foyer where the birthday guests arrived, checked in their coats and accessories, and grabbed a glass of bubbly before making their way into the grand hall. The client requested that we had some form of sound equipment in there along with the uplighters to get guests in the party spirit! “No problem!” we replied.

We set up a couple of EV ZLX 12P active PA speakers that played a phone-based playlist chosen by the event host. The client said the small but very powerful speakers helped to get guests in the foyer in the right mood for the evening and helped to invoke the spirit of the planned festivities. The desired effect was achieved with the help of the golden glow coming from the ensemble uplighter lighting arrangement.

Next, as you might not be surprised to learn, our focus was very much turned to the stage. Again, we had to cater for two distinct types of act, a live band and a DJ, which required a hybrid approach to the sound.

Initially, our attention was paid to the requirements of the live band. We set up a range of state-of-the-art kit, including an arrangement of d&b Audiotechnik Q1 Midtop speakers, Qsub bass speakers, and D12 power amps. This premium sound arrangement ensured that the band had crystal clear vocals and booming, immersive bass for the audience to enjoy.

We also supplied the following supporting sound gear:

  • Speaker stands
  • Mackie Pro FX12 Live Band Mixing Desk
  • Shure SM58 Microphones
  • Shure Drum Kit Mic
  • K&M Microphone Stands
  • Proel D2 DI boxes
  • All the power & signal cables
  • 3.5mm aux cable for laptop/phone playback while the band took a break

Waiting in the wings, we also had our team on standby on the evening itself to reconfigure the existing sound setup to better accommodate the DJ and integrate his personal equipment. Amazingly, he hadn’t yet worked with d&d audiotechnik speakers on any of his gigs. Let’s just say he’s now very much a convert and understands why we place so much faith in this industry-leading brand!

On-Site Event Services Support

The time for the evening’s proceedings came, our on-site team took over to ensure everything ran smoothly on the night. We had one of the team on the lighting desk to choreograph some dazzling lighting displays both for when guests arrived, during the live band performances, and he handled the DJ set too.

On the sound side, we once again had one of our experienced engineers on the mixing desk, overseeing the initial soundcheck, and then subsequently handling all of the mixing during the live band’s performance itself.

Both employees were also on hand to answer any questions, and our sound guy helped fix an issue with speakers the initial foyer reception when they stopped playing. As it turned out, it was nothing to do with the speakers. Rather, someone had pulled the cable loose from the phone that was connected to the speakers, stopping the playback. It was merely a two-second fix, but that’s what our team are there for!

Excellent Feedback for Sound & Lighting Plus Staging Hire in Surrey

While we are a business that operates to make a profit, there’s nothing better than receiving excellent feedback from a client. In this instance, it’s fair to say our client was pretty gushing in her compliments. Given that we received this text on the same night as the party, it’s fair to assume a few wines had been consumed!

Either way, our client sent us a text after arriving back from the party. She said:

“Can you pass on my thanks to everyone at the Sound & Light Hire Company who made this birthday one that I’ll cherish for the rest of my days. From the moment I walked into the venue, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The drapes worked exactly as envisioned. The lighting was just as dramatic as promised, and, well, what can I say about the entertainment show you produced for us? Superb!”

We actually met the client (who was one of those celebrating a birthday) the following morning, as we finished up the deconstruction process. While she won’t mind us saying she was a little worse for wear (we have her permission, promise!), she was no less grateful for the hard work we had put in to make it a success. To be fair, some of us were pretty tired too (it was a late finish), but her praise really put the icing on the cake.

Use the Sound & Light Hire Company to Plan, Design, and Oversee Your Event Production

Here at the Sound & Light Hire Company, we are a Surrey event company that can easily take care of all technical production aspects for your event. Whether it’s a birthday party or a wedding, we can provide the sound, lighting, stage, and all kinds of other event production elements such as furniture and LED video screens.

If you want to enjoy the ease of working with just one Surrey-based company for all of your event production needs, then don’t hesitate to contact us on 0800 8611136. We can walk you through the entire process and offer a range of options suitable for your specific occasion. Crucially, we can also provide the on-site support you may require to ensure everything goes off without a hitch.

Even if you need advice, just give us a call. We’ll here ready and waiting to help your event become a rip-roaring success!

Come and get in touch about your next event, we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Contact The Sound & Light Hire Company on the details below:

https://www.truesoundhire.co.uk/

https://www.google.com/maps?cid=177697462353676083

The Sound & Light Hire Company Talks Festival Stage Hire & What Other Event Equipment You Might Need to Hire

The Sound & Light Hire Company Logo

The Sound & Light Hire Company Logo

Despite the cancellations across the board in 2020, the music festival industry is still in a strong position for next year’s summer season. In fact, we are a nation of revellers with over a quarter of all UK adults attending a music festival last year.

As a festival or music event organiser, you should know that the stage is the cornerstone of any successful musical event. It focuses the attention of your attendees, provides an elevated platform for your performers to look out over their adoring fans, and it houses of all the technical production equipment required for artists to sound their best.

Get your festival stage hire wrong though, and both fans and performers will be quick to notice that you’ve missed the mark. So if you’re organising a music festival or event for the spring or summer of 2021, what are the factors that you need to be thinking about now for your event to be a rip-roaring success?

Let’s take a look with a little help from our sister company Outdoor Stages, the arm of our operation dedicated to providing all manner of festival and music event stages.

Determine Your Requirements Based on the Scale of Your Event

It may sound obvious, but you’ve got to start with the scale of your event to make sure you’re choosing the right size of stage to hire. Hire a stage too small, and the performances can look awkward and cramped. By contrast, go way too big, and your attendees will think you have suffered from delusions of grandeur and you’ll likely lose money given the costs involved with hiring a much larger stage.

If this is something you’re initially struggling with, it’s often helpful to determine your needs based on the size of the audience. Generally, the larger your anticipated attendance, the larger your stage hire requirements will be. But this is not always the case. For instance, you may prefer to hire several compact stages to accommodate multiple performances in one central festival site location.

Once again, the larger the number of attendees, the more likely you are to invest in a large stage that provides a central focal point, an unobstructed viewing experience, and that can accommodate the technical event equipment hire required for clear sound and visuals for audience members hundreds of yards away from the stage.

Consider the Needs of Your Performers 

Next, you’ve got to factor in the requirements of the performers. If you’re hosting a classical orchestra, then obviously they are going to require a stage with a larger surface area than a local rock band, for example.

But it goes beyond merely space requirements, think about the technical specifications of your performers. While the acts scheduled to perform earlier in the day may not require much in the way of technical support, headline acts will often demand all kinds of additional technical support such as special effects, lighting shows, and superior sound equipment hire.

That’s without mentioning the offstage and backstage demands of top musical performers. Many will require at least a changing area. Some will specify a specific stage monitor mixing area or a musical instrument changeover zone. You might also need to put on a hospitality area and a side-on viewing platform for esteemed guests. By contrast, if you’ve booked an orchestra or a dance troupe, you’re going to need a sizeable backstage area to accommodate the sheer number of performers and their warm-up routines.

As the event organiser, it’s crucial that you receive each musical act’s rider in advance of booking in your festival stage hire so that you can make the necessary accommodations without any hassle.

Nature of Your Event Will Influence Your Event Equipment Hire Choices

Of course, you’ll also have to consider the nature of your event. For instance, are you running a festival with 12 local bands spread throughout the day? If so, it may be the case that you can have the artists share much of the technical equipment, saving on space and auxiliary event equipment hire requirements.

On the other hand, if you’re planning more of a one-night musical concert with two or three well-known national performers, each may demand their own specific technical setup. That means you’ll have to budget extra space for equipment storage in the wings ready for changeover between performances, even if the acts in question are solo performers.

Next, think about your preferred setup, which was briefly referred to previously. Are you going to out for one large stage for all performances, or are you going to over a couple of smaller breakout stages for solo performers? If so, you may want to spread you hire budget over several stages, rather than investing everything in your allocation on just the one.

Are There Any Venue/Location Restrictions?

One of the biggest mistakes we see from new festival organisers is not considering the limitations or restrictions of the venue. Erecting a stage requires significant engineering and logistical planning.

One of the first considerations you should make before you hire an outdoor stage is the ground. You need to consider the advantages and disadvantages of concrete and grass. If it’s going to be grass, is it even? Very rarely is the location proposed for a stage exactly flat in the case of those erected on lawn areas. But if it’s smooth and even, then it’s usually a suitable location for a stage.

Next, make sure that the area is free of any trees and human-made obstacles which might not necessarily be visible. Think underground pipes or wiring, as well as drainage systems. You can investigate the location of underground obstacles by obtaining ground surveys for your local council.

Lastly, turn your attention to logistics, even in their component parts, outdoor stages are not small. That means you’re going to need space for several HGVs to gain access and unload. Without sufficient access, your stage may never make it to the intended location, so don’t overlook this critical factor!

Other Considerations for Stage Hire That Are Often Forgotten

Perhaps the most underestimated factors of stage hire by festival organisers are the factors that are outside of their control, namely the weather. We don’t have to tell you that we live in one of the most unpredictable climates on the planet, and it’s par for the course to experience four seasons in one day, even in the middle of summer!

The important takeaway for you as the organiser to realise is that poor weather causes issues with building an outdoor stage. Firstly, it can cause access issues (particularly for grass setups). Secondly, poor weather means slow-going on the building of a stage. That’s why you must budget enough time for the building phase. You don’t want to find yourself on the morning of the event still having little bits and pieces to finish off on stage construction.

Speaking of time, don’t underestimate how long stages take to build regardless of weather conditions. While we can erect our smallest mobile outdoor covered stages in a matter of hours, our large 12m x 9m arc roof stage can take well in excess of a day to build and set up with the necessary technical rigging.

For allocating time allowances for stage set up, we say plan for the worst, hope for the best. That way you’ve got plenty of slack in your schedule should the weather, or any other unforeseen issues, cause any snags.

On a similar note, don’t wait to book in your stage hire once you know what you need. Most stage hire companies need advanced notice to build you into their schedules. While we don’t need as much as half a year, we do ask for at least three months to give us enough time to make the necessary adjustments to our inventory and works schedule. We can work off less in emergencies, but we can’t promise anything.

Stage Hire is Just the Beginning

For the less experienced among you, it’s important to point out the stage hire itself is only just the beginning. The structure is not going to achieve much for you without the help of professional lighting, sound equipment, and all other aspects of event production.

We believe it’s crucial to source these items from the same company that’s building the stage. It’s a better arrangement for several reasons. For a start, it’s fewer contractors to deal with on-site, all of which would turn up with lorries and several staff members. But it also eliminates any confusion between contractors.

By instructing one company to look after the stage, lighting, sound, and event production, every single team member is singing from the same hymn sheet. The stage builders erect the trusses the way the lighting team are used to working with, and the sound production team are using PA speaker systems and mixing desks they know like the back of their hand.

Given that you could have dozens of suppliers to work with on a musical festival, including caterers, performer booking agents, ticketing websites, wristband suppliers, and merchandisers to name but a few, it makes sense to hire just one company to handle all aspects of event production. We can handle all elements including staging, lighting, sound equipment as well as extras such as LED screens and special effects.

Why Choose Outdoor Stages for Your UK Music Festival?

The Outdoor Stages arm of the Sound and Light Hire Company has been providing stage hire and associated event production services festivals right across London, Surrey and Hampshire for over a decade.

We’ve taken a fresh approach to the festival stage hire industry by combining all required aspects of live musical performance and providing them bundled together as part of all in one stage hire packages. We genuinely offer an end-to-end solution for event organisers.

Take our biggest stage hire package as an example. Not only does it include an arc roof stage of 12m x 9m with a maximum roof height of 6.5m and a payload of 3500kg, but it also comes complete with a full-touring-spec sound and lighting system. We’re talking about the best in the sound business with the d&b audiotechnik PA systems used by the likes of Coldplay and Rhianna paired with over 70 lighting fixtures from 17R beams, moving heads washes, pixel battens and stage blinders!

When you also add in our highly-skilled and experienced crews and technicians who love what they do, you’ll receive an all-in-one event production package capable of amazing up to 10,000 music fans! Not bad for one easy-to-understand price, right?

We’re also on hand to help you through every step of the process should you need our consultation. We can assess venues, make recommendations, and provide bespoke quotes that match the specific challenges of either your site or the nature of the event in question.

In short, we are your one-stop shop when it comes to event production for your music festival or event. We have expert technicians, engineers and crew members, we offer top-of-the-range event equipment hire, and our stage hire options can cater for over and above 10,000 attendees giving us one of the largest capacities in the South East.

So if you’re putting together a music festival in the Spring or Summer of 2021, don’t hesitate to get in contact with a member of the Outdoor Stages team to arrange an initial consultation.

Hire an Outdoor LED Screen or Projector & Screen for your Outdoor Cinema

Outdoor Cinema LED Screen Equipment Hire

There’s nothing quite like going to the cinema. Films transport us to another world and provide us all an escape from the mundane goings-on of day-to-day life. But when the warmer months roll around, it almost feels like a crime to shun the beautiful sunny outdoors to watch a film in a dark cavernous auditorium. What’s more, recent events have made sitting in close proximity to others indoors a severe health risk. Read more