Imagine having the opportunity to stroll through the gardens of Buckingham Palace, speak to a member of the Royal Family, enjoy a fabulously presented afternoon tea served on real china and being guided to the front gates of the Palace with you on the inside looking out at the usual tourists for a change. At the end of the day the National Anthem is played as the Royal Family leave, creating a fitting end to the day and wonderful memories of a unique experience.
The
Royal Garden Party is an event held at least three times each summer in London and one of our lecturers,
Sonia Abrams was lucky enough to be invited to attend recently, much to the envy of everyone else on the team. Naturally she was there with her Event Management hat on and was keeping a keen eye on how smoothly the event ran and of course she told us all about it as soon as she was back in the office.
Challenges for this event
Two things really struck Sonia about the event and demonstrated a fantastic level of attention to detail, a true hallmark of event planning excellence.
Firstly, the event catered for 8,000 people and yet it never felt crowded and there were no queues or delays in serving the afternoon tea. At a Royal Garden Party around 27,000 cups of tea, 20,000 sandwiches and 20,000 slices of cake are consumed. Sonia reported the set-up had been planned with the optimum crowd flow and numbers of serving tables to ensure guests weren’t queuing more than a few people deep for tea and scones. These details really make a difference to how guests behave and experience an event.
Secondly, the event allows invitees to walk through the grounds of
Buckingham Palace, including a tour of part of the palace and to interact with members of the Royal Family all with a minimum of visible security and security measures. As Sonia explained, she had the opportunity to talk to the Duke of Gloucester about education policy and was aware of the Queen, Prince Charles and Camilla taking different paths through the grounds to give an opportunity to meet with invitees to the event. What a memorable way to spend an afternoon, quite literally in the company of the Royal Family!
Experience is key
The experience of the guests at any event is paramount and, as we teach all our students, you need to decide what atmosphere you want your guests to experience and then plan logistics and the flow of activities to create the best possible environment for it. One of the key distinctive features of these garden parties is that they are among the most relaxed and informal of Royal events
This is an element that poor planning could easily get wrong. A huge number of guests are invited from all walks of life to an event with a grand sense of ceremony and it is critical to make sure all guests feel at ease and welcome. Sonia found that everything was beautifully arranged, right down to the use of china plates and tea cups to create a sense of elegance. Amazingly, the whole experience was very free and relaxed with none of the stuffiness you might expect, yet with all the elegance you’d hope for.
Think you could successfully manage an event that balances the sense of occasion that guests find exciting about a Royal engagement at Buckingham Palace with an enjoyable and relaxed garden party?
If you want to create experiences people will talk about for years to come contact Karin on
[email protected] or call 0207 183 5129 or visit
our course information pages to talk about how our training courses can get you on the right path.
