London Events - Tina Nisson Design

Hiring Canapé trays V buying canapé trays

Posted on October 10, 2018November 23, 2018 by TND

Hiring canape trays

We are seeing a shift from purchasing to hiring canapé trays with our event industry clients. Everyone wants the new latest thing and to stand out & be different so it’s hire all the way now!

Benefits of hiring for the client are

-Exciting & interesting pieces that move with the times.

-No need to find storage space for the stock.

-No need to invest in stock that will go become yesterdays news.

Where it began

I started out designing pieces for sale. However in an ever changing world when everyone is trying to keep up with the times & keep inovating. Clients are no longer investing in these very expensive trays.

And I have had to keep up and adapt to what people want. So much so that I have removed sales from the website altogether, which leaves me time to concentrate my time elsewhere.

Who hires

So along came hiring. Caterers, hotels, restaurants, members clubs & wedding planners are coming to Tina Nisson Design looking for trays, often for large creative events & they charge the hire fees straight onto their client. It’s a winning formula all round. Our part of the bargain – making it as user friendly for clients to have what they need as easily as possible.

I read an article in the ES Magazine and a wise person said ‘The assets people care about have shifted — we’re renting far more and experiences matter more than ownership. It’s the same with the events industry.

See for yourself

Head to the hire page and take a look. at the range. It’s not only acrylic trays now either, with an increasing stock from wedding & event design. There’s lots of unusual items that add something special to events.

Large bottle for hire "Rose Gold storm lantern" Glitter Champagne bottles

If there is something that you would love to hire on a regular basis get in touch & I will consider designing something new for hire.

Event design trends 2018

Posted on January 29, 2018January 31, 2018 by TND

The great thing about event design is being able to keep bang up to date with fashion trends because most of our event furniture is hired in & thanks to some amazing hire companies we can change our style at every whim. Interior design is a bit slower to move on to the next best thing purely because not many of us have the disposable income to throw out last years millennial pink sofa in favour of this years gold velvet 70’s one.

So let’s start from the top. Pantone choose a colour of the year & a few back up colours based on various factors (apparently) and then we have a colour. This year if you haven’t by a slim chance heard, it’s Pantone 18-3838 Ultra Violet. I’m personally pleased it has a small part to do with Prince & as well as it’s mystical & spiritual properties. I’m assuming it also goes hand in hand with a bit of a growing interest in Agate & other crystals. My family are hoping they also chose it because my nan, ‘Violet’ reached the ‘ultra’ ripe old age of 103 in November before she went to sleep forever a couple of week later. All very poignant for us. Yay to the Ultra Violet..

Experiential & immersive events aren’t news but add in augmented reality, artificial intelligence & this mystical Pantone colour of the year to the fantasy mix & we have one hell of a talked about party. You also won’t be able to avoid Iridescent colours either. From cocktail shakers to cutlery for your table. These can nestle in nicely with a soft dreamy tablescape or transform themselves & step up to work with quite a strong colour palette.

One of the colour palettes I’m excited about is camel, rust, tobacco & mustard. Tone on tone colours. Outsized glass pieces in amber hues look ravishing bathed in soft golden event lighting, Think 70’s with a bucket load of glamour.

I don’t think we’ve seen the end of the gorgeous rich peacock blue & teal, again particularly in velvet. These colours look fabulous on events & as always a total winner with gold accents. Check out my A/W 2017 forecast last year for Toast life . the online directory for the events world.

Naturally gold & brass are still the metallics of choice although rose gold & copper are finally bowing out. Still total respect for them though. One thing events can’t be without is dark wood furniture with brass or gold legs. This will add to an overall powerful look, be it a corporate event or an intimate dinner party.

All we need now is to persuade our hire companies to buy these in for us…

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Food station commotion

Posted on September 13, 2014September 25, 2018 by TND

Everyone is all over the food station at the moment. It gives theatre to an event. And thanks to Heston (no surname required ) all guests and clients are looking for theatre with every mouthful and they are quick to move on to the next thing . They are even bored of dry ice God damn it. I do wonder where it will all end up. My husband is a chef -a bloody good one at that- and he’s paring his components right back so maybe we are actually going full circle.

All the intricate flowers placed on the plate with with long tweezers with millimetre precision are being stripped right back. Just look at Vijante my favourite restaurant oh no it closed down. Hmmm . Look at how many new restaurants popped up in the last couple of years up with only one or two things on the menu (even bigger stateside) like Burger & Lobster, Ooze (risotto only) Bubbledogs, Meatballs. etc. Not to mention the upmarket burger explosion. Simple is back ..for a while anyway.

But for us the event caterers we have to give choice – and that we do. Food from every nation. I’ve had to research diets and religions. Like the Jains diet. I’d never heard of it until I started working in event catering. So yes everyone is quite used to Canapes with their champagne now. Or, if the guests are special enough – a sit down dinner. But now it’s the rise of the FOOD STATION & BOWL FOOD event. This is where it would appear I come in. Event managers call me in when their client says “we’d like interaction” “a food station” “mini bowls” so their guests can talk to each other while slurping over a delicious noodle dish from an authentic 8oz chinese pail. Or tempura veg served in cones made from Chinese newspaper that I’ve run to China town to pick up 50 copies of. Don’t get me wrong it’s not a new concept I’ve been designing food stations for 8 years plus but it’s really ramped up in the last year or two!

So my job is a bit more like set design in this respect. You need to create a mini China on a 6 foot trestle table or India, Italy, Mexico or a picnic or seaside scene. I discuss with the Event managers, get the brief work with the Chefs on what food they will be serving and start sourcing and researching. Here’s a few from the last twelve months :

Tiffany theme food station — Tiffany theme breakfast buffet

English summer picnic theme — English summer picnic at The Granary building Central Saint Martins University of Arts

Seaside theme food station — Seaside theme foodstation

Indian theme food station — Indian Theme food station at the Natural History Museum

Italian theme food station — Italian Deli food theme.

Bubble food

Posted on May 21, 2014 by TND

It no secret how much I love working with Bubble food and look here it must be mutual as they included my on their last newsletter on Valentines Day no less.

Thanks Bubble Food.

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Bubble Events are effortlessly cool and as reported in the newsletter – they are not afraid to push the boundaries. It’s so much fun. I read years ago when you have your creative head on never say no to any idea when having a brainstorming session. It stops the flow of ideas dead in it’s tracks and you can’t get started again. And it is so true.

…Now where was I – ;0) oh yes they never say no to any idea. Push it and develop it ….