Glass of Bubbles?

Oh, the glory! Before anyone gets a chance to thank their ma, there’s a drink-and-clink, hopefully a sweet arrivals wall to show off the good folk’s bit of bling.

A good step-and-repeat wall and some red plush carpet makes sure anyone arriving is a winner, even if they go home empty handed. We can easily setup some nice soft flattering lights and catch our attendees in their finest.

A glass of some bubbles?

Then there’s a reception, hugs, fistbumps or air kisses. Genuinely there’s a great buzz here, friends, rivals, colleagues, mascara and bow-ties. I love this bit. Got to keep nimble and scan the room, see where folks are at within their conversations…

Skip the awkwards, find the ones where a punchline is due to be delivered, look for the squeals of old friends, find the aside glance and feel the anticipation.

Hands down, this is my favorite bit of the game 🙂

First Prize

Details, the place settings, the theme, the decorations, the BRANDS, the SPONSORS. Everything that had a decision made about it, gets photographed. Everything that cost money, gets photographed. All the logos, get photographed.

Knowing the format and working with the presenters is key, but perhaps ye want the winners off-stage and with the branded backdrop? Or we’ll give the presentter the mark on stage for the grip-and-grin moment.

During the evening itself, I’m moving. The stage — winners, presenters, trophies held aloft. The room — the reactions, the table that’s been willing their colleague on all night, the ones who didn’t win and are being very decent about it. The detail — the centrepieces, the branded backdrop, the table settings your events team spent three weeks arguing about. The red carpet, the frocks, the pocket squares, the smiles that are genuine and the ones that are just about holding it together with dignity.

Live Stream of Winners for your Socials

If you need a live gallery — images delivered to a laptop or online in near real-time during the event — that’s straightforward to set up. Useful for social media teams who want to be posting while the night is still happening, or for a big screen in the venue showing the evening as it unfolds. It’s a grand thing to have, and people love seeing themselves up there.

I’ve shot awards nights for corporates, industry bodies, charities, hospitality groups and everything in between. Black tie or business casual, fifty people or five hundred, Ballsbridge or beyond. The shape of the evening varies but the job is the same — make sure the people who organised it have photographs that actually capture what the night felt like, not just what it looked like.

Because a room full of people genuinely delighted for each other, or losing the run of themselves entirely when a name gets called — that’s worth getting right.