Can you believe that it is already September and I bet you haven’t even started thinking about your end of the year or Holiday party… Now is the time to get the plans in gear and figure out what you are doing, who is invited and of course who is gonna keep that party going all night long, hmh?
One trend that is starting to really take over is not waiting until December to have your Holiday party, but instead having it right before Thanksgiving or right after when people still have time on their calenders to fit it in to their busy schedules. I have a friend in Virginia that has her party every year the weekend before or of Halloween. The invitation is a medley of the three upcoming major holidays and the attire is cosutmes related to the Holidays. Oh there have been some great costumes and everyone enjoys themselves so much with all of the great traditional holiday food and the DJ helps to keep the party jumping with a great mix of dancing and fun for the whole family. My friend loves having this annual party (10 years) and says that it helps to get it done and over with so that she has the rest of the “Season” to attend all the other great parties and spend time with her family. She starts planning it in August when everyone else is thinking about the last vacation of the summer and that is when she says that she gets the better prices for things such as linen rentals, catering and yes even the DJ. With having her party in October it isn’t already into the busy time for most of these much needed companies and they give her a little discount for booking so far in advance. This year her party is going to include backyard movies all night long with a Fright-night theme and inside they are setting up the Game room with an Entertainment System to keep the kids happy.
Even if getting ahead of the rest of the pack isn’t something that you think that you could pull off, you could start thinking about your Holiday party and go ahead and start getting things together. Go ahead and give us a call so that we can get you on the calender, and then you have gotten one thing checked off that crazy list you got going on. What, you say you are not having a party this year, well what about work? Was that last office party so ho-hum that you and your date snuck out early. Don’t let that happen this year, give our name and info to the person that is planning the office chin-dig and we will be sure to make it a party to remember.
Posted in: JAMM Events, Planning a Corporate Event, Planning a Private Party.
Tagged: Backyard Movies · Christmas · Corporate Holiday Party · Entertianment System · Holiday Party · Holiday Themed party · Holloween · Party · Thanksgiving
So I was talking to a few people I know in the industry and I asked them to tell me the Top 5 things people should consider when hiring for an event. The first person to give me an answer was Andy, the Main Designer for Kathy G’s floral & event design company KG Designs.
Here are Andy’s Top Five things to consider when planning your event:
1. HIRE A PROFESSIONAL!!!
2. Ask to see design credentials.
3. Look at there photos of their work and view their website( it is 2010 and every designer should have a website)
4. Ask for a line item estimate
5.Ask to come to see a party that is being set up they have produced
And again the most important thing to remember when planning an event is to HIRE A PROFESSIONAL.
We are blessed to have so many great companies that we work with locally and are grateful to Andy for giving us this list. If you are looking for an amazing local floral designer and so much more check out www.kathyg.com.
Posted in: Interesting Stuff, Planning a Corporate Event, Planning a Mitz vah, Planning a Private Party, Planning a School Dance, Wedding Information.
Tagged: event planner · floral designer · planning a wedding · professional · website
Have you ever thought of adding a gaming station to your wedding reception? Many Newlyweds find themselves with several friends that have younger children that will be attending their reception. Adding a kid friendly gaming station in an adjacent room can create an escape for the kids as well as a way to control their energy. You can even rotate by showing a movie for a while & then let the kids play a video game. It isn’t a bad idea to have a kids room monitor (babysitter) for the reception as well that will help to keep the kids entertained, help with fun activities, making sure everyone is getting a turn playing games and if there is a problem they can let the parents know. The kids will love it & the parents get to enjoy your reception.
Some Newlyweds are even finding that it is a great way to add some fun and games for the adults too. Who doesn’t love a littl
e rock and rollon a big screen tv? There can be seperate rooms for the adults and kids so that the games can be age appropriate. Having a gaming station is a great way for those who don’t dance, and you might be surprised at who gets up and plays a little ping pong, bowling, or they might even become a rock band hero! One of the most important things is that you have games that are appropriate for the attendees. And don’t forget to have the Newlyweds kick off the gaming with the official first game.
Would you like to play a game?
Posted in: Interesting Stuff, JAMM Events, Planning a Wedding, Wedding Information.
Tagged: children · fun · Gaming · gaming station · kid friendly · reception · Rock · wedding · wedding reception
Many people that are in charge of selecting entertainment for an upcoming company Holiday Party, their Parents Wedding Anniversary or even their own Wedding Reception don’t realize what effect a bad choice can make on the overall outcome of the special event. Think of the last time you went to a party or reception. Do you remember what you ate? Do you remember the cake or dessert? How about the colors or decor? Probably not, but most people can remember if they have a bad memory of the entertainment. They were not entertained & felt bored, then they think it was a bad event. You put all that money into renting a facility, catering, invitations & the time planning but you select the entertainment based on the lowest cost.
A bad band or DJ can make all the other efforts of the location, food and flowers a total waste. An entertainment coordinator can help with so many things; like selecting the proper band or DJ, help with the agenda through out the night, and keep everyone on track. From setting up the wedding party for the entrance, making the formal announcements and relating to your guests; an entertainment coordinator is essential. Many entertainment companies have packages that incorporate the band or DJ with an entertainment coordinator. You can recognize the next time you are attending a wedding reception & the DJ announces the Father & Daughter Dance; Whoops, where is the Father of the Bride? Well the Entertainment Coordinator would be the one making sure that everyone, including dear old dad is present.
When you are planning that next special event don’t forget to get in touch with us here at JAMM Entertainment. We can provide you with a talented and educated Entertainment Coordinator that can be there during the planning and the event to make sure that everything goes smooth and everyone attending has a fabulous time and never forgets your event.
Posted in: Interesting Stuff, JAMM Events, Planning a Corporate Event, Planning a Mitz vah, Planning a Private Party, Planning a School Dance, Planning a Wedding, School Events, Wedding Information.
So since we are on the subject of lighting I thought that we could talk about two more awesome ways to use lighting to make an event memorable.
The first decor trend is up lighting. This effect is something that most of us have seen but didn’t actually noticed what we were seeing. If you look at some houses & commercial buildings, you will see lights that are positioned on the ground & are shining upward against the side of the building. This lighting effect can be used to accent special objects like trees, pillars & walls outside. But bringing this effect inside really creates a great look on walls, posts, corners of the room. Seeing a before & after picture of the same room will really show the transformation from average to incredible. Another attribute to the up lighting effect is that you can add colors. These colors can be used to match the corporate logo, party theme & of course the special colors of the wedding.
Another special decor lighting effect is to position lighting under the tables. The tables used for the catering, wedding cakes, & event the high top tables for guests. 
This effect creates a glow from the linens that are the tables. There are special linens that are made of a stretch material that allow you to create a smooth consistent look all the way around the table. By placing a lighting fixture inside this type of linen, you can really create a spectacular look. Again you can add color gels to the lights to incorporate your preferred color(s) to match the them.
So as you can see dramatic lighting effects can really make a wedding or event something grand and spectacular without a lot of fuss. If you are thinking that this might be something that would be perfect for your next event or wedding, don’t hesitate to give us a call.
Posted in: Interesting Stuff, JAMM Events, Planning a Corporate Event, Planning a Mitz vah, Planning a Private Party, School Events, Wedding Information.
Tagged: event · JAMM · lighting · table lighting · Uplighting · wedding
Have you been to a wedding or watched a wedding show on TV and they have things like the Bride and Groom’s initials on the dance floor or the wedding cake. Theses are called Gobo’s and can be made of the bride & groom’s initials, names or a corporate logo can be created for that business party or event. This gobo allows you to project the image onto a wall, dance floor, ceiling or tent top to really personalized the special occasion. There are several type, sizes & styles of gobos.
The choice depends on how many times it will be used, for how long & if you want a full color image. You can use one or several gobos at a special event. You can use them to brand the corporate event or add value to sponsorships. You can us the same graphic from the invitation & the napkins to create the gobo for the wedding reception.
Special gobo projections of patterns on the ceiling & wall can create a visual effect that will transform any venue. Placing several lighting fixtures around the room and dimming or turning off the overhead lights & adding theses special ambient lighting fixtures can make an enormous difference. And of course these can have the special colors of the theme as well. There are even special themed gobos that can be used to transform the venue into a jungle, 60′s hippie feel, Disco and more, there are hundreds.
Posted in: JAMM Events, Planning a Corporate Event, Planning a Mitz vah, Planning a Private Party.
Tagged: corporate parties · creative lighting · Gobo · wedding
Saturday Lamar found himself in the middle of a beautiful wedding that joined Johnathan and Asta Zane in Holy Matrimony at Gabrella. Traditionally Lithuanian weddings stretch back hundreds of years and have three parts. The first part is when the bride leaves her families home to go to her new husband’s home, second is the ceremony, and third is the couples return to the brides parents home as a guest. Today few Lithuanians follow all of the ancient traditions, however it isn’t uncommon to see several of them still included in 21st century weddings.
Food is a huge part of any wedding but amazingly Lithuanian weddings have some delicious and interesting traditional foods and one of the most interesting traditional foods that is served at a Lithuanian wedding is the cake.
Šakotis is a popular Lithuanian traditional cake, it has been known
in Lithuania since the era of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In Poland it is called sękacz.
Its name means “branched”, and that describes its distinctive shape. It is baked by painting layers of batter onto a rotating spit in a special oven.
It can be decorated with chocolate and flower ornaments, but it is often served plain. Šakotis is one of the most important desserts in Lithuanian celebrations and weddings.
So with that little wedding cake history we here at JAMM wish Johnathan and Asta Zane a long and happy marriage together filled with many riches.
Posted in: JAMM Events, Wedding Information.
Tagged: Gabrella · history · Lithuanian wedding · traditions · wedding cake
Benefits for selecting a entertainment coordinator for your special event.
Many people that are in charge of selecting entertainment for an upcoming company Holiday Party or their Parents Wedding Anniversary or even their own Wedding Reception don’t realize what effect a bad choice can make on the overall outcome of the special event. Think of the last time you went to a party or reception. Do you remember what you ate? Do you remember the cake or dessert? How about the colors or decor? But most people can remember if they have bad memory of the entertainment. If they were not entertained & felt bored, then they think it was bad. You put all that money into renting a facility, catering, invitations & the time planning but you select the entertainment based on the lowest cost. A bad band or DJ can make all the other efforts wasted. An entertainment coordinator not only can help with selecting the proper band or DJ but also help with the agenda through out the night keeping everyone on track. From setting up the wedding party for the entrance, making the formal announcements and relating to your guests, an entertainment coordinator is essential. Many entertainment companies have packages that incorporate the band or DJ with an entertainment coordinator. You can recognize the next time you are attending a wedding reception & the DJ announces the Father & Daughter Dance and there is no Father present. A mishap perhaps but more specifically there is no entertainment coordinator to make the transitions smooth.
Posted in: Interesting Stuff, Planning a Corporate Event, Planning a Mitz vah, Planning a Private Party, Planning a School Dance, Planning a Wedding.
Tagged: Bar Mitzvah · Bat mitzvah · Class Reunions · DJ · entertainment coordinators · JAMM Entertainment
Boy it has been so hot these last few days and can you believe that it has only been summer for two days.
Last week was filled with so many events that we were so happy to be a part of including a freshman orientation at Samford 
(good luck new college students), a Summer Day Camp at Spain Park, a great time at Aldridge Gardens with Girlyman Band, Autumn & Kyle’s wonderful wedding (Congratulations you love birds) that included a high speed getaway on the lake, and the class of 85 from Pinson Valley High had a rockin’ good time at their 25th year class reunion.
Boy that was a crazy week and we LOVE sharing all of those special events with so many wonderful people. We would love to help you make a special event fabulous. Give us a call.
Now this weekend, June 25-26 we are so excited to be at the Centerpoint Fishing Rodeo. Friday after dark we will be doing a Movie under the stars so be sure to bring your blankets and pillows. Then on Saturday from 9am-2pm will be at the Fishing Rodeo where the kids can drop a line in the water and have a chance to catch some fish. There will be activities for the entire family to enjoy including inflatables, music , food, contests and much more. Come by and say hello and let us know that you are there.
Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and become a fan!
Posted in: Interesting Stuff, JAMM Events.
Tagged: Class Reunions · DJ · Fishing Rodeo · Freshman Orientation · JAMM · outdoor Movies after dark · Samford
Have you ever gone to a backyard party that was just the bomb? Tons of fun for the kids & 
adults alike? The kind of backyard party that everyone talks about for years to come? And you wonder how they did that, and really how you can do that too. Why not have a big screen backyard party that all the neighbors will be talking about for years to come. I bring the really big screen and we can set up just about anywhere; next to the house, beside the pool, on the volleyball court or the back field. Everyone can layout their blankets or pool floats and lawn chairs, you can serve popcorn and candy and we can watch movies all night long. After an afternoon of bar-b-queuing and games what better way to end a summer backyard party.
Posted in: Interesting Stuff.
