Our friend Michelle De la Motte Rice very sadly lost her young daughter Lola, aged 2 years 8 months, in 2006 to a Brain Tumour. Michelle owns a wonderful business called Gifts for Angels which makes and sells beautiful graveside ornaments & vases in bright funky colours. We collaborated on an idea for a money raising event, a fantastic beautiful ball, we named it The Brighton Charity Ball. We sourced the beautiful Clarence Suite with adjoining Lancaster Suite at the The Brighton Hilton, as our venue, a truly magnificent room with chandeliers hanging from a high arched ceiling, which in a former life was a Catholic Church & then a Casino.
Various companies were approached for sponsorship, the idea being that these funds would pay for everything we needed for the evening, from ticket printing to entertainment, friends & family also provided sponsorship funds.
Profile Model Management of London became our main sponsor (Michelle had been an employee at Profile) and McRoreys Removals of Scotland also made a substantial contribution towards the sponsorship funds.
We sold tickets with a margin made on each ticket, being the difference between the charge made by The Brighton Hilton for the meal and the selling price to guests. FunkyLush Events provided their services free of charge & Michelle did not get paid either. We worked hard at promoting the event and managed to sell a staggering 143 tickets The menu was chosen carefully and we cajoled & hassled people for raffle prizes, and were lucky enough to get some incredible prizes, including a Ski holiday, Fresh water pearls, £200 Marks & Spencer Voucher, an Ice Bar London Voucher and Lily Allen Tickets to name but a few.
Goody bags were sourced for each table, donated by Brighton's Toni & Guy Hairdressers. Various local companies paid into the sponsorship fund to have their flyers in the goody bags which also included items such as Brighton Rock & beautiful candles, high end magazines & other promotional gifts.
FunkyLush Events designed and decorated the room which looked absolutely stunning. We also organised all the place names and table layouts taking care that everyone was sat in a place that would appeal to them.
By the time we had finished The Clarence Suite looked amazing, The DJ had set up & the bands equipment was on the stage, and we hired the lovely ostrich feathers & lit up vases from Dazzling Décor which gave the room a real WOW factor!
The night started with guests being greeted by 2 showgirls, they looked amazing in their feathers.
We had the lovely Michelle Bowdidge from Brain Tumour research at the entrance table with my neice Jema. The photographers Blue Dawg Photography snapped the guests looking splendid in their finery. A welcome drink was served to each guest on arrival.
We mingled in the Lancaster suite, where guests were able to view our fantastic auction table, check the classically designed seating plan and for a small donation, use the photo booth, provided by www.photochambers.co.uk . All the money taken throughout the evening from the photo booth was given to Brain tumour Research.
Guests were seated for 8pm when Michelle De la Motte Rice gave an introduction speech, followed by a speech by Michelle Bowdidge of Brain Tumour Research. Michelle explained where the money raised would be going. Brain tumours are the leading cause of cancer deaths in the young - and yet very much under funded.
A delightful three course meal was served by the Hilton staff, Sussex tartlet for the starter followed by topside of beef for main with mustard mash & leeks, and completed by a delightful dessert Brighton Mess desert, pink cream , meringue & red berries all served with plenty of wine on the table. Coffee & tea finished off the meal.
The Showgirls sold many raffle tickets & we raised an impressive £1985 on the raffle.
Brighton Soul Revue played some funky soul tunes & everyone enjoyed dancing to their live music.
We had an auction table located by the bar with lists of bids, these bids on only 4 lots went crazy and we took a total of £820, and much appreciate the donors of the items which included a preen designer dress.
At 11pm we called the raffle, the donated prizes were all fantastic.
Then we partied with tunes from DJ Marc James until the small hours.
We cannot thank everyone enough with a total just toppled over £6000 all for
Please take time to read information about Brain Tumour Research & the great work they do.
You can also donate via Just Giving
For more information on Event Management please view our website, and if would you like an event like similar to this, perhaps a corporate event, please contact www.vivacious-events.co.uk
For more information on Gifts for Angels please visit www.giftsforangels.co.uk
October 2014 copyright of funkylush events & weddings
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