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The Ultimate Guide To A Best Of British Theme Event

london themed event

The Ultimate Guide To A Best Of British Theme Event

Whether you’re hosting an event for an international audience, looking to celebrate a spectacularly British achievement, or just want to give your guests a day at the seaside – a Best of British theme is a versatile choice.

It gives you the chance to use icons and styles that revel in their British heritage in order to celebrate what’s so fantastic about life in the UK.

You can lead guests through the height of sophistication with a spot of afternoon tea, give them a true fish ‘n’ chips experience, or focus in on specific parts of the UK such as Wales or London for an unforgettable event.

To help you create the perfect Best of British theme event, we’ve created this guide to give you decorating and styling ideas including lighting, centrepieces, and colour options that will create a terrific atmosphere.

Ultimate Guide to a Best of British Theme Event

Getting Started With A British Themed Event

There are a lot of approaches you can take with a Best of British theme and it’s an ideal fit for many types of events.

If you are organising a conference, product launch, seminar, or ceremony where you’re welcoming people to the UK or trying to emphasise a company’s British roots, then you can opt for a general British theme which makes use of Union Jacks, beloved British characters, and icons from the royal family and beyond.

Depending on your location or your business, you can make your theme more specific with icons and decorations from your city, region, or country within the UK.

When it comes to birthdays, anniversaries, end of year parties, and other events where you’re not necessarily trying to celebrate the UK, the theme still works as a fun theme on its own. You can take elements from tea parties, street parties, days at the seaside, and other British traditions such as or Morris dancers or a Cockney knees up to make a nostalgic event which guests will love.

If you’re hosting the event in the UK, then most venues are appropriate for this theme but you might want to look for a venue that really shows off parts of British culture such as football or cricket clubs, boat venues, historical buildings, and museums.

british london event theme

Decorations And Design

Any Best of British theme is going to have the Union Jack featured heavily in its style and with good reason as it’s a robust design. It can be incorporated into chairs, tables, flags, prints, tableware, and more.

Depending on your event you might also consider using Scotland’s Saltire or a thistle, the Welsh dragon or daffodils, the roses of Yorkshire and Lancashire, or other regional flags and symbols.

When it comes to characters and decorations to use, there is a nearly endless supply of possibilities including phone boxes, double-decker buses, tube signs, lampposts, James Bond, royal crowns, teapots, Paddington Bear, Dr Who, lions, football, bowler hats, umbrellas, bulldogs and so on.

Try to limit yourself to a few ideas so that your theme doesn’t feel cluttered and try to use them intelligently, with themed tableware and furniture. For example, you can use traditional pin-stripe seaside chairs or lamp shades with prints of bands and characters.

london underground event props

Centrepieces, Lighting, And Colours

The obvious colour scheme would be red, white, and blue and these colours work together very well for lighting and general decorations. Whether you’re focusing on London, football, the seaside, or just a general British theme, this will serve you well.

However, if you want a more subtle approach, then you might go for an Edwardian-inspired colour scheme that uses pastel greens, blues, and pinks. This works particularly well if you’re hosting an event in a historic venue and you want a refined tea party or street party feel.

A custom centrepiece is a cost-effective way to control the colours at your venue and to help tie your theme together. Using dynamic, remote-controlled lighting you can choose which colours you want to bask your guests in and change it as the night unfolds.

Many of the ideas already mentioned will make awe-inspiring statement centrepieces and at Table Art, we’ve created some fantastic phone box and Big Ben centrepieces which work perfectly. If you want more inspiration for your centrepiece, then look through some of our past creations for inspiration.

british london event styling

Britannia Rules The Waves

A best of British theme is always a good option when you want to bring guests together and create an easily recognisable theme. It pairs up well with many catering, entertainment, and venue options while tying in well with the underlying message of your day.

Try to really capture what it is you think makes the UK so special and use it to make an unforgettable event.

If you want help making sure your British theme event manages to celebrate the UK while remaining sophisticated, then you can get in touch with Table Art for a consultation.

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