A Closer Look: Bolton Whites Hotel
Another Event that Table Art couldn’t resist sharing. An end of year celebration at the Bolton Whites Hotel featuring our fabulously vibrant Asian Parasol Centrepiece.
An Event Case study
Venue: The Bolton Whites Hotel
Client: Hakim Group
Date: November 2019
The Venue:
The crew always jump at a chance to work at a new venue. An opportunity to explore an events venue and get a true sense of it’s service is something not to be missed. That is why, when the chance to work at the Bolton Whites Hotel came up on the schedule, the crew que to get on the sign up sheet.
The Bolton Whites Hotel is situated in the heart of the North West. Bolton to be precise. Conveniently integrated with the University of Bolton Stadium. Guests are truly never far from the action. Perfect for conferences and events. They offer the prestigious Premier Suit which can host anything from annual dinners to large scale exhibitions. We had the opportunity to work and decorate this Premier Suite.
Aptly named, the Premier Suit is one of the premier event spaces in the north West. A vast capacity offered. One of the largest venues available in the area and is well supported with a professional staff and state of the art technology. To say it’s a blank canvas would be to do the venue an injustice. It certainly has some elegant features and a great bone structure but that’s ideal. You don’t want a venue that is overtly styled- potentially reducing your decorating options. Ripe for our centrepieces, the suite just needed an LED Centrepiece to elevate the proceedings.
The Client:
Having worked with the Hakim Group back in 2018 at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole. Delighted when Mia and her team got back in touch for their 2019 ball. Previously delivering an eighties retro theme that featured our Pixel Tubes and Rubik Cube seating. This year Mia wanted to utilise our same lighting expertise but on a distinctly different aesthetic.
The Hakim Group wanted to bring Bollywood to Bolton. Not too common a theme here, the sales team are always thrilled to tackle the unique briefs set by clients. That is why the Sales team jumped at the chance to produced a colour laden proposal featuring our most exotic designs. We put forward the lazer cut Buddha Lantern and decadent Temple design. Along with our Flower Float and Air centres. We didn’t stop there, first showing all the stocked items – we went onto explore some bespoke options.
Now our MD Gary Martin steps in. He has an unquestionable passion for art and design.Setting to task creating a Bollywood Inspired design that utilized both traditional Indian materials with our state of the art lighting. As you can see from the sketches featured, keen to bring through the Indian Embroidery that is so luscious and instantly recognisable. With a Parasol design and a complimentary Lampshade, we put all the options forward to the Hakim Group to decide.
The Design:
It will be no surprise to read that Mia and her team instantly fell in love with the Asian Umbrella design. With some feedback, Gary and her worked together to marry their ideas to deliver the centerpiece Hakim desired.
The first key change, the stand that the display of the Asian Parasol. Hakim Group wanted to make a more substantial display that had elements of interest from the top to the bottom, every inch covered. Gary thought that by combining the classic fluted vase with the exotic parasol, a winning partnership would be formed. The Lily Vase offers the opportunity for light to travel all the way up to the very height of the centrepiece, while providing an interesting dynamic with illuminated water beads.
We photographed the prototype here in the studio. We got the images straight over to Mia to approve. Once we got the green light, the warehouse began production.
The Warehouse
The Warehouse team are always ready and waiting for bespoke product lines. Working in close proximity to the Design Studio helps, watching prototypes come to life gives them a strong sense of what is to come. That is why the team could be described as well prepared when the Asian Parasol Design landed in their schedule.
Robert Adams is the warehouse lead and his job is to get the wheels in motion, run a production from start to finish. Pushing it through the various stages and making sure a product is delivered in time is what Robert lives for. The Asian Parasol Design is the perfect example of that. First having spoken with logistics, we ordered the parasols from our textile supplier. Then onto the simple creation of the clip that would hold the Parasol in place on the vase. We tasked CNC Machinist Jake Rheams to produce a set of clips in lightning quick time. Finally, it down to the vital element on transport, at this point the warehouse team really come into their own. They utilise every case, making sure there is a framework inside that adeptly secures each element.
The Event
Often when an event has a bespoke design being debuted, we like to send crew that have worked on the production of the centrepiece. That way no one is flummoxed by construction and can crack on with setting centrepieces up as they are well versed in how the product works. It’s for this reason that Jake and Ashley crewed the event, having worked so closely on the project.
The Suite, filled with the chaos of staff busily working on production and set up. This is a common scene for the team when a team arrive. In the world of events, our centrepieces are a quick and easy finishing touch, no long set up times and no stressful last-minute changes. Everything is installed quickly, and colours can be changed at the touch of a button. When a team arrive to a chaotic scene such as this, they find a quiet space in the room and calmly start putting together the centrepieces. Then as the tables get placed, the crew pop each table centre in place, making sure its central and ready to go.
This event had a tight turnaround with a vast amount of production but the team at Bolton Whites Hotel lead this set up like a well-oiled machine. Once we placed our centrepieces, the finishing touches complete- the event began.
The Photography
Satureyes to the rescue! Rick and his team headed North to capture this event for Table Art. A busy month for us, Satureyes had been working on a long line of our events. One of the last of the month and we had tasked him with not only photographing the centres but getting some much-needed footage to boot.
For anyone who has been through our website, its clear that our centrepieces look their best in darker evening light. The illumination of the centrepiece is all the brighter when there is no natural light in a space.
As you have read, we had a tight set up time and the room filled with production working hard. Obviously it’s less than ideal to undertake this kind of work in a darkened room and so room got flooded with light. This came with its own issues in that our photographer couldn’t fully utilize the opportunity and capture the centrepieces at their best. Images here show the Asian Parasol in a bright light. Although it illustrates the vibrancy of the umbrella, it doesn’t accurately depict the light at the base of the centrepiece. As the evening went on, the centrepieces held their own in the evening light. Restricted access for our photographer meant these moments couldn’t be captured.
We hope to get these designs out again in the future so that we can get more fabulous pictures to add to the website.
In Conclusion
Firstly our thanks to the Hakim Group. Although never a surprise when a client returns to make a second booking, it’s something we are always grateful for. As the year goes on, we can only hope that the effects of Covid-19 lessen and the events industry recovers. It is with that hope that we look forward to hearing from the Hakim Group when they come to dress their 2020 event.
In the meantime, we wanted to highlight these events with you. Always an honour to support the efforts of our design studio when they release a new design. The Asian Umbrella is sure to be a hit in the coming years! We also enjoy giving you a behind the scenes look at venues and so I hope this look at the Bolton Whites Hotel fed your curiosity.
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