It’s magic

I owned a magic trick once. It consisted of a small wooden ball and a slightly larger hollow hemisphere. By holding the two parts between adjacent fingers I was supposed to be able to make one ball disappear – as long as you overlooked the rather obvious difference in size of the two elements.

I adore magic tricks and the magicians I admire most are table magicians, those who are so clever, so confident, they let people stand on every side and as close as possible.

And they’re the very best “extra” you can buy for a wedding reception, party or corporate reception for those who understand their job as well as their craft will ensure that no-one is left alone, waiting for another stranger to introduce themselves. Nor will they force themselves on the event, interrupting the meal or lively conversation.

The best I have ever seen is Mark Southworth. Quiet, unassuming, he works his craft around the room, engaging the singleton and gathering a group which continues to grow after he’s performed his tricks and moved on. Once the first course has been served he’s invisible because unless you’re a child hoping he’ll make a scoop of ice cream into three, no-one wants their meal to be interrupted with a magician, no matter how good he is.

I first saw Mark a few years ago. His tricks then engaged and amazed guests in the lull after the reception breakfast and before the cabaret. More recently I saw him again. His tricks have kept up with the times and now involve cards which morph from the screen of a mobile phone (yours, not his!) into his hand – and still have your signature on the face.

Compared with some of the entertainment you can spend your wedding budget on Mark Southworth is far and away top value. He ain’t cheap, but then in table magicians as in everything else, you get what you pay for – and in Mark Southworth, you get the best.  You can reach Mark at 01257 264011 or 07786387721.

Get me to the church – if you can afford it

It’s reported today that the Church of England is raising its prices for weddings, not by the rate of inflation or the RPI but by 100%. In fairness it is also incorporating some of the extras which, like cheap seats on Ryanair, couples often found themselves paying for on top of the basic price, but it’s still a whacking increase.

It’s hard to understand the logic. At a time when fewer and fewer people are getting married and fewer and fewer of those are getting married in church, raising the price seems a strange path to take.

However, what the Church isn’t saying is that in return for the increased fees couples will pay they will definitely be able to have a photos and a video recorded of their ceremony. It appears that that decision will still remain up to the Vicar or the Parochial Church Council.

Of course everybody knows some horror stories about the ways cameramen behave and we’ve seen some asked to leave the church – and quite rightly – because they’re destroying the dignity and solemnity of the occasion. But those tend to be the cheap hobbyists or amateurs; we’ve yet to see a pro behave in anything but a professional manner.

Every professional cameraman, still or video, expects to keep still and silent during the service, but providing they do, it behooves the Vicar or PCC to recognise that, in return for their quite substantial fee, they should at least make it possible for the pros to work.

After all, every day there are more and more alternative venues licenced for weddings.

I personally find the church an uplifting place for the ceremony – especially if compared to a hotel conference suite which it’s difficult to disguise as anything else – but if the Church of England wants to encourage couples to marry in church someone needs to look at their marketing decisions.

Venue advice

We all know things are difficult economically but that doesn’t seem to me to justify some of the corporate greed that’s cropping up.

One of the nearby quality local hotels, part of a well-known chain has signed up with a company to instal TV screens in its leisure club and this company is selling advertising space on these screens. Note that there is no sound on the screens.

The hotel already has screens in the main hotel area – another supplier and another contract – currently up for re-negotiation I’m told.

It also has a preferred supplier list which includes wedding suppliers.

And twice a year it has a wedding fair organised (for a fee) by a company that also publishes a wedding magazine.

That’s four potential revenue streams, all promoting the single resource behind them all – the hotel. And what is the real value advertisers are getting?

Only two of the six TV screens in the leisure club are a decent size (46″) – the reminder are 26″ and located in the changing rooms – though just what value there is in silent advertising to people getting showered and changed is beyond me.

The hotel declines to hold or distribute the advertising material of any supplier – “too much trouble” – and the only way to get a stand (£250 for 4 hours) at the wedding fair is to take print advertising with the magazine.

Now I’m a committed free market person but all this one-sided promotion stands in contrast to the hotel’s reported desire to attract a “better class of wedding”.

Happily this isn’t a universal situation.

I know of two reputable hotels in our area, one part of a national chain, the other independent, which are taking the economic situation head on – in conjunction with suppliers, not subsidised by them. Rates for supplier participation at their events have been lowered, not raised and suppliers invited on the basis of their reputation and track record with the hotel, not merely their ability to pay.

Good reputations are the toughest things to gain and the easiest to lose. If you’re looking for a venue for a wedding, don’t rely on the name alone when drawing up your list of possibles – visit as many as you can yourself and make up your own mind.