Guides and notes

July 28, 2026 7 min read Seasons and weather: how the month changes the evening The same evening looks different in July and January — not only because of the heat, but because of what each season opens and closes. Read → July 28, 2026 6 min read The budget: where not to save, and where you can Most evenings do not fail on a small budget. They fail on a badly divided one. Here is what buys what. Read → July 28, 2026 7 min read Ten questions worth asking before you book a show Most people book for the first time and do not know what to ask. Here is the list, including the questions nobody likes asking. Read → July 28, 2026 8 min read How many people should be in the room Six, twelve or twenty is not a difference in chairs. It is a difference in how the room behaves and what is possible in it. Read → July 28, 2026 6 min read Guest etiquette: what to do and what never happens Most guests do not know how to behave, and not because they are rude. Nobody ever explained. Here is the explanation. Read → July 28, 2026 7 min read The organiser’s checklist: a week before, a day before, an hour before Whoever organises the evening carries all of it. This breaks the job into three stages and about twenty minutes of actual work. Read → July 28, 2026 7 min read How not to spoil the surprise Most surprises are not blown at the last moment. They go during the week, and always in the same three places. Read → July 28, 2026 9 min read How to set up the room in fifteen minutes Floor, light, a chair and a speaker. Four things decide how the evening looks, and all four take a quarter of an hour. Read → July 28, 2026 7 min read Flat, cabin or hotel: where to hold the evening Each of the three options has a price that is not in the photographs. Here is what each gives you and what each takes away. Read → July 28, 2026 7 min read How to plan a bachelor party: a running order that works A bachelor party rarely fails on budget. It fails on order. Here is what a well-run evening looks like, hour by hour. Read →