Cutty Sark transformed

I was lucky enough to be asked to shadow a top corporate event at Cutty Sark last night, for a large oil company who were using the dry berth for a Christmas drink reception.
The Cutty Sark bookings are taken by the Events team who I am working with at the moment, the venue is hired from the museum and then they have to bring in caterers, floral displays, lighting, sound and the whole shabang! The museum works with accredited suppliers for all these areas to satisfy the conservators and the insurers. This kind of thing as I am sure you can imagine does not come cheap! Many of the clients are from big city firms, an event in such a lovely setting is a big sell for them.
There are all kinds of rules and regulations for the events including that you can't serve staining foods like beetroot or red wine which may damage the ship. This area of the administration was very interesting and the fact that the top catering firms get round these regulations for the client by making things like beetroot jelly, which is permitted is very interesting too. I guess that's what you pay for.
I also had a chance to chat to the 'Event Hosts' members of staff who just man the events for the museums, many of whom use this part time work to get some extra cash or use it as a leg up into the events and museums industries.