Cover Photo credit: Alisa Roberts Photography
In this blog we explore our top 5 “essentials” we believe every wedding or event professional should include in their tool kit.
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The Top 5 Emergency Kit Essentials
When we started our events company in 1995 it quickly became apparent that we needed a generic kit we could take to events to allow us to “fix” possible issues we encountered!
Over time, this kit expanded. Every time we dressed an event, we would have a “team de-brief” (i.e.: a chat over coffee and cake!). We’d consider what went right or what went wrong and, if they did go wrong, what changes we could make. We wanted to ensure they didn’t happen again, or we had a way of fixing/mitigating the issue if it occurred again.
The essence of our kit was to have an additional layer of tools and “nick-nacks” at our disposal that would be impossible to source on a busy weekend in a remote location at short notice!
Our kits include a multitude of essential items, but here are the top 5 we have at our disposal:
Cable Ties
These are so essential we have a separate kit just containing Cable Ties in a variety of different sizes and colours!
As the name suggest these may be used for tidying cables to prevent them being a hazard. They are also used for a wide variety of temporary installations, where a strong connection is required.
Draping, lighting and foliage installations may all be held in place by utilising cable ties. Plus they are also useful for bundling together long items for ease of transportation. The possibilities really are endless!
Florist Putty
“What is this?” you say…
Florist putty (otherwise known as Oasis fix) is a sticky, plasticine-like putty which is typically used by florists to fix floral arrangements. However, due to it’s stickiness and malleability, it is also a great general temporary fixer of other decorative items.
We use it extensively to keep candles straight in candlesticks and candelabra, as well as fixing pillar candles from moving in lanterns, when they are knocked or redeployed.
A beautifully, upright, straight candle is essential to creating that stunning look and feel when styling a venue.
Door Wedge
Door Wedge sounds strange but once you’ve had to put something down in order to open a door more than once you will understand why!
A door wedge will save you lots of time, effort (and possible expletives!).
Just remember to make sure you are allowed to keep the door open for the period of loading/unloading as there may be a reason why a door is kept closed!
Head Torch
If your emergency kit has room, an LED Head Torch is also very useful, especially if you are working at night.
We often have our hands full and need a working light immediately in front of us, or in order to see when loading/unloading our vans.
Practical, rather than decorative, lighting at venues can sometimes be a bit hit and miss or – in some instances – completely non-existent, so having an independent light source is a life and time saver!
Black Marker Pen
Our thick black Sharpie is so important, Liz keeps one in her handbag as well as in our Emergency kit!
These are used all the time in order to mark-up boxes of items required for an event or to create simple signs (e.g. giving directions/arrows).
Top Tip: They can also be useful as “cover-up sticks” to disguise small blemishes/scratches on dark items.
We really hope you’ve found this blog helpful and we’d love to hear your essential emergency kit recommendations.
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