Champagne, burlesque and a magical forest inside a Gothic church. This can only be Mayfair

Toastmaster Richard Birtchnell at No.1 Mayfair

I was Toastmaster at the 50th birthday party of Amanda Eliasch held at the recently decommissioned St Mark’s Church in North Audley Street, now renamed No.1 Mayfair. It is a rather special party venue, mainly because the 150 year old internal d?cor, stained-glass windows and structure of the gothic Grade 1 building are intact and you really feel as if you are in church, which feels bizarre. The guests danced at the altar, the DJ’s rig was in the organ space, my announcements were from the pulpit. There was top musical talent and a burlesque show. One entertaining distraction available to guests during the evening was an unusual PHOTOBOOTH run by Jon-X and Rita Dobo. With their fertile imagination, in the past two years they built haunted castles, 16th century boudoirs, Japanese gardens, magical forests, and desert islands. Partygoers have survived airplane crashes, hitchhiked a Harley, fought tigers & posed with pumas or had their teeth pulled out at a dentist surgery! They use no green screen technology or other usual gimmicks, instead they build tailor-made 3D photo booths. There are no digital effects or post-production involved and the sets give a huge, real life, visual impact. The “models” are the attending guests who play, pose and act within the sets. For more information, go to www.bigbigday.com

About the Author: Richard Birtchnell, a?london toastmaster ?who covers events all over London and beyond. If you want your event to run smoothly, on time and with a bit of pizazz, why not contact Richard now?to check his availability.