Event Awards 2014 - We are finalists!

Meji Media Ltd is a Midlands based growing events company specialising in organising a whole host of events around the UK and internationally; from conferences, incentives and of course shared Christmas parties.

After hard work and determinations, our Christmas Events in Birmingham & Wolverhampton have made it to the final at the National Event Awards for the UK’S Best Christmas Party Package. We are really happy to be categorised with some of the largest companies in the UK and regardless of the final result we want to thank all of our previous attendees for helping us grow, learn and become a company worthy of even the acknowledgement.

Meji Media Ltd has been in the event industry for 8 years, however Moonlight & Mistletoe Parties is a very young and thriving idea of ours, we began the parties 3 years ago and each year it has grown, here is a brief look into our journey.

In 2011 against the backdrop of recession and economic uncertainty particularly in the manufacturing heartlands of the West Midlands, Meji Media launched their very own Moonlight & Mistletoe Christmas party nights. The philosophy was simple – “An entertaining and high quality Christmas party should be accessible for organisations from all sectors and affordable to people from a wide section of the community.”

For too many years, people of the Midlands had suffered from threats of redundancy, wage decreases and working extremely hard for very little reward. We believe Christmas to be the one time of year where organisations should celebrate the efforts of their teams and reward their staff with a great Christmas party. Nonetheless companies were shying away from Christmas parties because of the cost. Very often employees were lucky to get a little more than a few cold turkey sandwiches and fizzy drinks in the office or at the very best a quick lunch at the pub before heading back to work.

We believe that staff rewards aren’t just for high flying blue chip organisations, and whether you work on the factory floor, in s hospital or Director at Head Office, you should have that one night of the year where you can put on your best outfit, feel like a star on the red carpet, enjoy some mouth-watering cuisine and dance the night away to the latest and greatest hits! So in 2011 we launched Moonlight & Mistletoe Christmas Party nights in the great city of Wolverhampton!

How did we make the business model work charging from just £30 per person? The first thing was to find a venue that could host 600+ guests, we applied our initiative by considering a space which was underutilised during the Christmas months and worked on an economies of scale model. The venue would benefit from great publicity and getting something rather than nothing over December, and if we achieved large numbers, we would be able to make a return. We found a venue that ticked all of the boxes - the Diamond Banqueting Suite, a city centre venue that hosted up to 650 guests and had undergone a £2million redevelopment. We were on the edge of something huge, the venue is where we started and gradually, it all came together. Moonlight & Mistletoe became more than an idea.

Affordable doesn’t have to mean cheap or low quality! We wanted to offer a whole host of varied entertainment and this was something that had never been done on this scale in Wolverhampton. We were competing against large hotel chains, the Premier league football club and the famous racecourse. Regardless we set upon putting together our package of

Red Carpet Entrance - Paparazzi photographer - Event compere - Live 5 piece swing, jazz and Latin band - Live party band - Casino Tables - Santa - Santa hostesses Magician - Belly Dancers - Bollywood Dance Group - Oriental Dancers and a DJ and until 1.30am

Not only that, but we were also able to offer a choice of traditional turkey Christmas cuisine or Britain’s favourite… An Indian cuisine. That was something that attracted so many of our customers, people loved the choice, and while the turkey is delicious, most people where having so much turkey that an Indian course had given them salivations.

In the 1st year we decided to test 4 nights with a target of 2000 guests over the 4 nights. We achieved just over 2500, as a result of our extensive marketing campaign, including leafleting, newsletters, an advertising van and building a terrific website, generating traffic to the website through social media and SEO and retarget marketing techniques. (www.christmasofficeparty.co.uk).We created a real buzz throughout the city and best of all gave customers unforgettable magical Christmas party nights that they deserved.

In 2012 we decided to host 7 nights and attracted over 4000 guests to the parties in Wolverhampton. And in 2013 we added another venue to our portfolio in nearby Birmingham. Once again the business model was the same. We found a newly built venue that benefitted from the exposure that hosting Christmas parties would help them to generate. The Regency Banqueting suite, 1 mile from Birmingham city centre with onsite parking and a 4* hotel and room for up to 700 guests was our chosen location.

The evenings began with a taste of Hollywood, as you swept into your selected venue on a red carpet, with a paparazzi photographer ready to take snaps of guests in their finest evening attire. The dazzling red carpet entrance was accompanied by a photo with our Santa Claus hosts.

Santa’s hostesses subsequently lead guests to their seats, so that the magical night could begin. Upon entering the main hall, guests experienced a combination of glamour, sophistication and festive entertainment in the opulent surroundings of a winter wonderland. Star-clothed walls studded with thousands of lights and a beautifully dressed Christmas tree subtly added to the Moonlight & Mistletoe atmosphere and festive joy.

Before moving to their seats, guests were invited to have a drink by the bar and mingle with friends and colleagues. The entertainment was centred on a dramatic circus theme including a fire dance show, combined with daring stilt walking, fire-eating, angle grinding, acrobatics, and aerial displays. Our Christmas party nights are becoming more entertainment packed than ever before, featuring a great games area equipped with casino tables and music from a live Pop and Rock n Roll Band to keep guests toes tapping all night long as well as the 9 foot Globot as seen on Britain’s got talent.

Once the delicious three course meal had been served, consumed and enjoyed, guests were ready to dance the night away to the music played by our and DJ and disco.

Moonlight & Mistletoe is an evening where our guests experience a breath-taking venue, delicious cuisine and where flowing wine goes hand-in-hand with party classics and a night of fun with friends. Entertaining and exquisite - this is the way all Christmas parties should be!

The continued success of our events lead us to hosting 8 nights in Wolverhampton in 2013 and 10 in Birmingham welcoming over 11,000 guests in total. In 2014 we are hosting 10 nights in Wolverhampton and 12 in Birmingham.

We continuously strive to be creative in our formats, and give our clients great entertainment and honour our commitment to good old fashioned value for money. In 2013 our Wolverhampton parties were priced from just £27+VAT and Birmingham from £30+VAT. We don’t believe that there is a better value for money Christmas party that appeals to such a wide audience from a variety of industry sectors in the entire UK!

Last year, the nights were really well received, the price was right, the entertainment was phenomenal and the guest really enjoyed their 3 course meals. Everything fell into place and before we knew it the party nights were over, but we still had so much energy, and so the summer months have been packed with Christmas Party planning, and we cannot wait to show you all we have planned for this year.

Please see our short film and view some photos. And just to reiterate on what I said at the beginning, thank you for your help, we have grew into a company that we are proud of and love sharing our journey with you all. Please remember to share this and like our social media pages if you like our events.