There are literally hundreds of people doing these on the Wirral now, how do you know you are going to get a decent firm?
Let’s face it, anyone can set up a candy cart or chair cover hire business as there is no special training needed, no special tools and apart from buying the cart itself and of course the sweet treats that go on it, there isn’t a lot to do.
Choosing the right party planner for your event is hugely important
Also, a lot of these events firms are what the Americans would call ‘mom and pop’, which means that they are usually fairly small operations run as a side business. Rarely do they have a landline telephone number, as most of them just use a mobile, which doesn’t really fill you (the person planning the party) with a lot of confidence that you are dealing with a professional firm.
Not all small firms are unprofessional and indeed, there are some excellent, small, mobile disco, candy cart and photobooth businesses out there…Finding them is the hard bit and making sure you don’t choose a poor wedding planner can also lead to problems!
Choosing the right company is vital. However, there are a number of factors to consider before you book anyone for your wedding, party or other event. They are: (all info courtesy of Wedding Chair Covers)
Reliability
You want to make absolutely sure that if you book a candy cart service from someone advertising on the internet, that they turn up…Not just on time but actually turn up at all! We have heard some real horror stories and one in particular from a young lady who was arranging her own wedding in Wirral and wanted it (like all brides do) to be perfect.
She booked the sweet cart almost 7 months before her wedding to ensure it was in the diary and guaranteed. However, she got suspicious when she realised that she hadn’t even had one follow up email or phone call to say that, “yes, everything is fine and we will be there”.
As you can imagine, alarm bells started to ring. 4 weeks before her wedding (held at the fabulous Hulme Hall in Port Sunlight, Wirral) the firm eventually got in touch with her. They put her mind at rest and said not to worry, they would be there and that their lack of contact was standard but that is how they have always done it..
Well…I’m sure you could write the rest of this. The firm didn’t turn up and after paying £325 for a candy cart that she didn’t get, it really (in her words) took the shine off what should have been the wedding of her dreams. She still enjoyed the day but this tiny thing served to take the gloss off slightly.
To put it into perspective, whilst the candy cart didn’t turn up, all of the other wedding services did:
Mobile disco and DJ
Wedding photographer
Bespoke Chair Cover Hire
Photobooth
Wedding video
Even the bouncy castle turned up and that was the one she thought may not!
When you are planning a wedding or party, organisation is key (which she did and excelled in) but the main component of hosting a great event is reliability. If a service, performer or other key part of your day’s events doesn’t turn up, it could be disastrous, so don’t leave it to chance by booking an amateur firm.
Quality
The quality of the product you are paying for is something that many people overlook. Quite often they will book a party service on the basis that it is the cheapest and whilst that may seem like a prudent thing to do, it could cost you in the long run.
As another example, when a lady booked a vintage candy cart for her daughters christening, she had no idea the state it would turn up in.
The photos she was shown before she booked, bore no relation to the actual cart that was set up on the day of the event. This one had paint peeling off, its edges and table top were scraped and scuffed and the beautiful turned legs that she saw in the pictures were nothing but a distant memory as this one had square legs.
Vintage Candy Cart for a Holy Communion
To cap it all, instead of the beautiful swags and bows in the ‘colours of her choice’, there were none. Not only was this upsetting but for just £30 more, she could have had a beautiful vintage sweet cart from any number of suppliers, one of whom was supplying luxury Lycra chair covers for hire in Wirral. Whilst the cost is an important factor, it should not affect your judgement and ultimately, your decision about which company to go with, as the example above demonstrates.
Customer Service
A much maligned word, customer service is often overlooked as being an important factor when choosing a service and planning your event, be it a wedding, birthday party or even a corporate event. Good customer service is about keeping the customer informed every step of the way, ironing out any issues as they arise and most of all, good communication so that the customer knows exactly who to contact and how to contact at all times.
A good firm will publish their telephone numbers, both mobile AND landline, so that there is no possibility of the customer not being able to get in touch.
They will also make one of their staff available on the day of your event, even if we are talking about an evening wedding reception of 6 hour christening on a Sunday. That way, if a problem does come up, a member of staff will be able to deal with it promptly, thereby alleviating you of the stress and worry so you can concentrate on your party.
It goes without saying that you should be on Facebook, Twitter and even Google+ because from a customer perspective, making contact with the company who they have just booked their candy cart from is absolutely vital. Another thing we recommend is to not deal with any company if they do not provide you with an out of hours contact name and number. As most events are in the evening, it is important that you are able to call someone if there is a problem, be it 7pm or 10pm and any good events company would provide that service.
In summary
Make sure the company you deal with has a good reputation, charges a competitive price (not always the cheapest), has a good quality product, is honest and most of all, is reliable. Finally, if it is a candy cart or sweet cart you are booking, make sure they will allow you to decide on your choice of sweets because after all, you are paying for it!
Big Fat Party Events 