The Less Glamorous Side of Award Ceremonies

Planning an awards ceremony involves far more than the red carpet and speeches. The most important behind-the-scenes work falls into four areas: managing street furniture and red carpet logistics, security and crowd control, VIP arrivals and care, and AV/content accuracy checks (winner names, videos, presentation decks, running order, microphones). Getting these right is what makes an event look effortless on the night.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Red carpet logistics need planning well beyond laying the carpet: surface, guest flow, sightlines, street furniture removal, traffic management and permissions all have to be sorted in advance.

Security should be over-resourced, not under-resourced: it’s easier to scale down a calm event than to be caught short-staffed.

Every key VIP or VIP group should have one dedicated point of contact: who knows the running order, venue access routes, and who to escalate to.

Green rooms matter: private breakout space with easy access to the stage makes a VIP’s experience feel seamless.

AV accuracy is imperative: winner names, video versions, presentation decks, enough mics and the running order all need double-checking against each other, tested in the actual venue.

Nothing beats a red carpet moment, but there are a lot of steps to take before those picture-perfect moments can happen. A huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes to make sure everything looks effortless on the day.

Laying the carpet itself requires more planning than you might think. You need to consider the surface it is going onto, how it will be secured, where guests will enter and exit, and how the carpet will look from the photographers’ point of view. Then there is everything around it – barriers, bollards, road signs, parking bays, traffic management and any other street furniture that might get in the way of that all-important photo.

It sounds like a small detail, but getting the area around the carpet right can make a huge difference. You don’t want a beautifully dressed red carpet with a road sign or a row of bollards creeping into every photograph. Equally, you need to make sure that anything being moved or covered is done safely and with the correct permissions.

Venues can help here too, but Story Events always go the extra mile to make sure everything is properly covered. That might mean liaising with the venue, local authorities, traffic management teams or suppliers to make sure the red carpet area is ready to go before the first guest arrives.

Another thing to consider for your photo ops is a step and repeat. It’s vital that no key logos are missed, as this is a key moment for exposure. Make sure logos are high-res and up to date, and understand the print deadlines so you can get this kind of collateral produced in time for the event without compromising on quality or price with a last-minute rush job.

That said, Story Events do have a few trusted quick-turnaround suppliers in our back pocket. Even the most prepared events can find themselves dealing with last-minute changes, so knowing who you can call when something needs turning around quickly is invaluable.

It may not be the most glamorous part of an event, but security and crowd control are absolutely vital for safety and should be a top priority in the planning process.

The first step is understanding what kind of crowd your event is likely to attract. An awards ceremony with a high-profile guest list can create a very different dynamic to a private corporate event, particularly if you have well-known names arriving on a red carpet. You need to think about not just the guests inside the venue, but also what might happen outside including photographers, fans, members of the public, press and passers-by. 

Story Events always recommend erring on the side of caution when it comes to being prepared. Having too many security guards is a line on the budget you don’t want to compromise on. It’s much easier to scale a security presence down if things are calm than it is to deal with a situation where you suddenly realise you don’t have enough people on hand.

Overcrowding can be a real safety risk, so working closely with the venue is vital. They will be able to advise on the capacity of different areas, what is typically the norm for the space and where potential pinch points might be. From there, you can start thinking about how guests will move through the venue and where you may need additional support.

Good crowd management should feel almost invisible to your guests. When it’s done well, people can move around easily, VIPs feel looked after and the event feels calm and controlled.

Let’s face it, we all have our list of dream VIPs we’d love to work with. But we also know that sometimes working with celebrities can be a challenge, whether that’s due to high expectations, tight schedules or heightened excitement from the general public. It’s our job to treat the situation with respect and professionalism.

The VIP experience starts before they even walk through the door. Think about the journey from car to venue: where will they be dropped off, is there a discreet entrance they can use and who is going to meet them when they arrive? Having this mapped out in advance means there is no last-minute confusion when the car pulls up.

Story Events also recommend having one dedicated person responsible for looking after each key VIP or VIP group. They should know the running order, the venue, the access routes and who to contact if anything changes. It means the guest has one familiar face to go to rather than being passed between different members of the event team, and it gives everyone else a clear point of contact too.

It’s important to find out what breakout rooms are available at the venue for important guests to get changed and relax before and after they may be on stage or presenting. Think about whether there are private bathrooms they may need to use, too. Don’t forget that their team may also be travelling with them — agents, assistants, publicists, stylists or security — so it’s worth establishing in advance who is coming and what access they will need. We love 60 Great Queen Street‘s Grand Officer’s Suite as a gorgeous green room complete with stained glass windows and a private bathroom, as well as access to a side door directly onto the stage for guest presenters. Having somewhere that allows a VIP to move seamlessly from getting ready to being on stage can make a huge difference.

It’s also important to brief your VIPs properly. Don’t assume they know where they need to be or what is happening next. Whether they’re presenting an award, giving a speech or simply attending, make sure they know the timings and have someone available to guide them through the process. The aim is to make their experience feel effortless, rather than handing them a running order and hoping for the best.

And, of course, sometimes things don’t go quite to plan. A VIP arrives with an extra guest, changes their schedule at the last minute or decides they’d rather use a different entrance. This is where good planning and a calm event team really come into their own.

When it comes to awards ceremonies, here are some key AV points that are vital to triple-check…

Winner names and titles being correct on screen
Check spelling, job titles, company names and category names carefully, and make sure any changes made at the last minute are reflected across all versions of the event materials. Don’t assume the hosts will get it right as well, keep an eye out if you need to quickly flex for a last minute change.

Videos are the correct version
Don’t just check that the video plays. Check that it’s the final version, that the audio is working, that it is the right length and that it is formatted correctly for the screens in the venue. Ideally, everything should be tested in the actual room rather than assuming it will look the same as it did on a laptop.

Presentation decks and award graphics being checked
Make sure the correct branding, category names, sponsor logos and winner information are all showing where they should be. It’s also worth checking how everything looks on the actual screens, as text or logos that look perfectly clear on a laptop can be surprisingly difficult to read from the back of a room. These elements are often tied to important sponsorship agreements that need to be followed. Sending the content ahead of time helps ensure the AV team has fully understood the vision and done have to scramble last minute on the day.

The running order matches the content
It sounds simple, but make sure the presentation deck, autocue, videos, award graphics and physical trophies are all working from the same running order. One small change can have a knock-on effect across the whole ceremony.

Make sure you have enough mics
It sounds obvious, but make sure to ensure there are enough for everyone (with some spares set aside) so that you do not have to switch them mid-session.