WHO DID THE SIDEMEN 8TH BIRTHDAY PARTY?

Here at?Julia Charles Event Management , we’re pretty used to throwing some epic parties, however, we’re particularly proud of the party we created for the Sidemen.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, The Sidemen are a group of 7 of the top British YouTubers. Boasting a total of 13.5million followers on their joint YouTube channel alone, the group consists of?Olajide “JJ” Olatunji ?(KSI ),?Simon Minter ?(Miniminter ),?Joshua “Josh” Bradley ?(Zerkaa ),?Tobit “Tobi” Brown ?(TBJZL ),?Ethan Payne ?(Behzinga ),?Vikram “Vik” Barn ?(Vikkstar123 ) and?Harry Lewis ?(W2S ).

We were approached by the Sidemen to create, produce and manage an epic luxury party to help celebrate their 8th anniversary and to also help launch their vodka brand?XIX Vodka ?to their nearest and dearest.

THE BRIEF

We were contacted by the Sidemen’s management team to create an epic event. Not only did they want to celebrate their 8th anniversary of being the Sidemen, but to also debut their brand new Vodka brand XIX Vodka to their family and friends.

We had a really tight turnaround of 8 weeks to plan, install and manage an event that would need to impress some of the top YouTubers from around the UK.

It was important to find a space in central London that would be easy for guests to get to. Additionally, the venue space needed to be big enough to accommodate 250 guests, and act as a blank canvas so that we could completely transform it to fit the Sidemen’s brief.

It was also important that the venue space allowed us to create separate sections. This was because part of the brief was that when guests entered the first area they would not realise the scale of the event until the big reveal. Therefore, we needed a greeting area, the main area which would accommodate a stage and large bar, a chill-out zone, a separate ice bar and a food area.

We also needed to accommodate a zone where YouTube could be to promote their Shorts feature. As well as ensuring there was kitchen space available, a cloakroom, toilets and a smoking area. All of which needed to be consistent with the tone of the party.

HOW WE PLANNED THE SIDEMEN PARTY

We worked with the Sidemen management team to decide on what themes would work best for this event, as well as including some cool features that would tie into the Sidemen’s interests.

With lots of themes to choose from we were keen to?pick themes ?that the Sidemen would love. Therefore, we selected a futuristic Tokyo theme for the main event area, a classic black and white theme for the marquee area, a?Winter Wonderland themed ?Ice bar featuring pokemon vodka luges and ice sculptures for the ice bar area and a?Gatsby theme ?for the chillout zone.

We wanted to make this event epic so as part of the brief we designed a lot of custom builds. This included a bespoke stage area and various set builds such as the ice bar and food court area.

Due to the scale of this event, we had lots of departments working on this event. From?draping and lighting? specialists to?set builders ,?decorators ?a whole rigging team and much much more.

The event build took 4 days in total, with lots of teams working on lots of different sections to ensure everything looked just right for when guests arrived.

ENTERTAINMENT AT THE SIDEMEN PARTY

One of the key elements that we needed to consider was the?entertainment ?on the night of the event. It was important that guests felt like there was constantly something new and exciting to watch and interact with. Furthermore, due to a lot of the attendees having high social media presences we created lots of great moments they could enjoy sharing with all of their followers.

The entertainment for the night included:

• Human Tables
• Pickpocket
• Geisha Girls
• Walkabout Bodyart Models
• Rollerskater
• Contact Juggler
• Contortionist
• Diablo Artist
• Acro Pole
• Acro Duo
• LED Hoop Performer
• Aerial Sphere
• Cake Ladies

Additionally, we had multiple DJs. These included DJ Maximum, DJ Nathan Dawe and DJ Justin, who played their sets throughout the night with guest appearances on stage from KSI and P Money.

SIDEMEN XIX VODKA PRODUCT LAUNCH

Although this wasn’t a typical product launch where the product is immediately launched to market and industry figures, this party acted as a soft launch to friends and family.

The Sidemen wanted to have an event where they could debut XIX Vodka to friends and family to showcase what they’d been working on and give their friends and family a first look and taste. Therefore we wanted to ensure that XIX Vodka was a key focal point to the event.

We did this in multiple ways. Firstly, we had a giant bar area in the main section of the party, the backdrop to this bar was a giant low hanging blossom tree with XIX Vodka placed on shelves around the tree. Above the tree, we also created a large XIX Vodka neon sign. Additionally, we worked with the Sidemen to incorporate bespoke cocktails to be served at the main bar area. We showcased each of these on neon display shelves as well as having the cocktails on tap for guests to enjoy.

Furthermore, to showcase XIX Vodka at its very best, we also created a dedicated ice bar area for it at the party. Within the ice bar, we incorporate branded ice sculptures as well as pokemon-themed Vodka luges allowing guests to sample the vodka in its pure form.

Because this would be the world debut of XIX Vodka, we also wanted to create lots of spots around the party where guests could snap the perfect picture to share with their followers. Therefore, we ensured that there were lots of instagramable spots where guests could take their photos.

Various areas around the Sidemen party where guests could take pictures including, Tokyo inspired American dinner booth, hanging floral chair installation and YouTube Shorts area.

ADMIRING THE RESULTS

We loved creating this event for the Sidemen and got some really great client feedback:

“Guys you smashed it. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING and for pulling it all together so brilliantly?????????”?–?Jordan,?Sidemen Management Team

“Just to echo this, guys, you absolutely smashed it. Genuinely incredible evening and expertly arranged and handled. Incredible???????”–?Aaron,?Sidemen Management Team

If you’re looking to host a luxury private party or product launch or require any other event services then?get in touch ?with our team to find out how we can help!