Neon Paradise

The JG team headed to the iconic House of Blues on June 4th to create a neon wonderland for a Los Angeles concert event featuring the band, Fun. The event hosted nearly 1,000 registrants that had come to enjoy the concert.

The guests were greeted by a food truck that served chicken, beef, and chickpea sliders.  As guests entered through a neon ribbon entryway, they were greeted by DJ Jesse Molloy, which really set the tone for the event.

Also outside, guests were able to pose for a photo-op at the photostation that was adorned with Rockstar props, which included boas, sunglasses, an assortment of hats, and funky costumes.

Once inside, guests were wowed by the decor, which included a life-sized and interactive Lite-Brite wall, where many guests wrote out different phrases and designs before posing and posting their pictures on Instagram and Twitter to be viewed on a live-feed screen on the stage.

Glow orbs hung from the ceiling branded with the sponsors' logos, an interactive walkway accented with a black-lit VIP floor, and various neon accents were placed around the venue. These neon accents included LED glow items, fiber-optic table decor, and hanging neon ribbons. On the VIP floor, VIP guests had the opportunity to sit at large booths or spend time in a custom built private neon VIP lounge, dressed with an assortment of bright colors from floor to ceiling.

General Admission guests were able to enjoy pink popcorn served through a "GET POPPED" gilded gold frame.  All guests had the opportunity to obtain free T-shirts with their choice of a "Los Angles" logo design on the front.  On the VIP floor, silk screen printers were on-site to create the VIP T-shirts.  

The night concluded with an hour-long performance by the band, Fun., who rocked out on stage and left the crowd cheering for an encore.

The event was truly a neon paradise. We loved working to create an exciting atmosphere for their guests to enjoy. It was fresh, hip, and full of life at every turn. We hope that everyone had lots of Fun! Get it?

LOCATION DON'TS!

You many be a little scared by the title of today's post but don't be. Your event is all about location. It is very serious. They can make or break your party. Follow these few tips and you will love how your party turns out.

Stay away from staircases at all cost. Spiral ones, especially. There is always the vision of girls in 4 inch stilettos that pops into people's brains when they see a staircase. The outcome could be chaotic and a disaster. Staircases, also, make it difficult for the wait staff to move around and serve the guests.

Stay away from locations that have low ceilings. A party should be like a freedom-filled vacation. People can forget about anything and everything and let loose, not hit there heads and remind them that their not on vacation.

Make sure you can get air in to the room. Tight spaces decrease the oxygen flow in the room and people will become too crowded and unhappy.

Always have a back-up bathroom in case a main bathroom fails on you. Females will be very unhappy if they have to wait. They will lose time at the party and ultimately not have a good time.

To finish off. Go with your gut and pick the location that is going to work best for you. Think about the big picture because most of the time your guests won't recognize those tiny details you hate. The room will be filled with music, dancing, food and a good time. Remember these three final details about your location. It should be workable, budget-friendly, and should make you feel excited and proud of your party!

Weekend Getaway

Don’t let another summer go by stuck indoors. Like most people, you’ve probably saved all of your work vacation days for these hot summer months. Why not take a few days to have an extended weekend getaway with some friends? Whether it’s for a birthday or just a free weekend, any occasion is a great reason to pack the car and hit the road. There’s a whole world out there to see!

 

Nobody wants their birthdays to last only one day, so turn it into a weekend road trip with some friends. Maybe you won’t be traveling across the country like you did in college, but don’t limit yourself to one area. Rent an Airstream or Winnebago and map out a more realistic course. If you’re in New York, maybe travel over to Vermont, or head from Los Angeles to Vegas if you’re a west-coaster. And make sure to bring an updated GPS for any wrong turns you might make.

Once you’ve decided on your start and end location, you can go more into detail depending on the time frame you have. For longer trips, you can research things to do in big cities along the way. Maybe there’s an awesome museum, great nightlife, or a fun concert that falls on a day during your trip. Check out MetroMix for some great event ideas in those areas.

Stop on the side of the road and take some pictures for every state line that you cross. You can later turn these into cute scrapbook memories to give as party favors to your pals that came along.

Make sure you pack some goodies to go also. Food on the road can get a bit pricey, so pack some sandwiches and dress them up with filet mignon, horseradish mustard, and grilled onions. Who says homemade can’t be gourmet? And pack some wine while you’re at it. As long as you’ve reached your destination and nobody is driving you can open a bottle and let loose!

Once you’ve finally reached your destination, make them remember you. Hit the local areas and jump into the culture of wherever you’ve ended up. The time to plan is now! Don’t let another beautiful summer go by stuck in the same spot. Grab some friends, get your keys and hit the road. The JG team is always on the go and definitely use these tips to make sure that even if we're going from coast to coast all summer, we still have a great time.

Stay tuned for our next event rundown, it’s going to be a lot of Fun!

Child's Play

With school ending soon, the kiddies are ready for three months of playtime. Their parties and play dates may not have the same budget as your wedding or charity gala (if it is…please adopt me!), but the goal is the same: make sure everyone has a darn good time.

There are plenty of routes you can go to make sure that you’re keeping your little guys and gals entertained. From games and colors to sound and food, you can do a lot to make sure the party matches your child’s personality.

The Perfect Pillow Party

First things first: Remove everything you can! For security reasons, you don’t want your child and their buddies hurting themselves on any sharp corners while they’re playing games. And on the other hand, you don’t want your new 64-inch plasma TV to be the casualty of a pillow fight. For those bigger items that you can’t get out of the way, use some double-sided Velcro to stick pillows onto the surfaces, or grab a pack of corner cushions and place accordingly.

Send out pillowcases as invitations, using fabric pens or paints from any art supply store. Get some iron-on letters and pre-customize one for each guest! If the kids want to get artsy, buy some extra ones for them to design their own at the party to take home as a keepsake. 

For snacks, if your pride and joy wants to go for the campy feel, get some marshmallows and get messy with Rice Krispie treats. If you want to stick with the cushiony theme, bake a tray of individual angel food or sponge cakes. 

And of course, end the night with a huge pillow fight!

Dynamic Dance Party

The two most important parts of a dance party are lighting and music. Both of which are easy to take care of.

Dim lighting is essential. Bright lights will make the little peeps self-conscious, which is definitely what you want to avoid at a dance party. One thing you can do to enhance the boogie down feel is to replace your white light bulbs with colored ones. Grab some deep red, orange, or pink ones to make the dance floor feel more like a nightclub. You can even add a disco vibe by buying ones that have reflective surfaces in their glass to give a cool reflection onto the walls.

 

As for music, it’s as simple as making a playlist on your iPod. Start it off with some current tunes (a little Justin Bieber is always a hit) and then let the kids add their own throughout the night since…well let’s face it, they probably won’t want to groove out to your Madonna and Chaka Khan choices.

Sweets for the Sweets

Give in to your kid's sweet tooth for one day (and then use it against them all year long when they ask for extra dessert!) Grab your significant other and your older children and set up a candy shop right in your living room or backyard. Each table can have a different treat for the children to enjoy.

At one spot, have a variety of ice creams and toppings. Have Oreo crumbs, sprinkles, caramel, chocolate syrup and your favorite candies out for the kids to choose from. You can even add fruit options, to add a smidge of health into the mix.

Next, set up your very own bakery, complete with cookies, cupcakes, and frosting galore! If you want a hands-on activity, give everyone a plain cupcake and put out bowls of different colored frostings and sprinkles for them to decorate with.

Use construction paper and create a Candyland trail going from spot to spot! Make sure to get lots of different colors. And maybe even play a human version of the game to see who finished the whole course first. Treat them with an extra scoop of ice cream!

You can also have jars of candy set out and have the children guess how many pieces are in it. Whoever is closest gets to keep the whole jar!

Whether it’s a pillow fight, boogie down, or sweet talk, it’s easy to take a few simple concepts and take your kids party to a whole new world.  A visit to the art supply store, a walk down the junk food aisle, and an iTunes playlist can go a long way. And hey, if you want to do this with your own adult friends, go for it! I’m ready for a good pillow fight any day. Bring it on!