The Signature Approach
How an AFTR Signature event comes together.
Every event we produce follows the same six stages, from the first conversation to the morning after. You will always know which stage you are in, what has been decided, what is still open and what we need from you. Nothing is a surprise, including the invoice.
The first conversation
We start with an hour together, in person if we can. We want to know what you are hosting, who is coming, what you need them to think when they leave, and what has gone wrong before. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right fit and roughly what your idea will cost.
Concept, venue and budget
We come back with one proposal rather than three. It includes a concept that belongs to your company, two or three venues we have personally walked, a line-by-line budget with contingency built in, and a timeline. You will see where every pound goes before you commit to anything.
Design and the guest’s evening
We design the event from the guest’s point of view: the invitation, the arrival, the first drink, the seat they are given, the food, the pace, the moment they will photograph and the way they leave. Décor, lighting, sound, menus and entertainment are chosen to serve that sequence rather than to fill a room.
Production and partners
Our in-house production team and long-standing partners take over the building of it. Technical rehearsals, supplier contracts, logistics, deliveries, insurance, risk assessments and the hundred small confirmations that make an evening look easy. You receive a short weekly note so you always know where things stand.
The final fortnight
We lock the guest list, the dietary requirements, the seating plan and the timings. We brief your hosts and speakers. We walk the venue one more time. If anything is going to go wrong, this is where we find it, and we usually do.
The night, and the morning after
We are in the room from the first delivery to the last taxi. Gabby or a senior producer leads on the night, with a team sized to the guest count. The next morning you receive a short note: what happened, what we noticed, and the final reconciliation of the budget within ten working days.
What we hold ourselves to.
Discretion
We do not name clients without written permission, and we sign confidentiality agreements as a matter of course.
One point of contact
You deal with one senior person from the first conversation to the final invoice.
Honest budgets
We tell you what a figure can and cannot achieve before you commit, and we reconcile every line afterwards.
Guests first
Every decision is tested against how it will feel for the person sitting at table fourteen.
We are there
A senior member of our team is in the room for the whole event. Always.
Tell us what you are hosting.
A few lines is enough to begin. We reply personally within one working day, and the first conversation is an hour of our time at no charge. If the date is close, say so and we will call you the same day.