How the evening should run

Arrive early
Give yourself plenty of time to set up and help the hostess prepare. 30-45 minutes early should be plenty. Any longer and you will be sitting around waiting for guests which can feel uncomfortable for the hostess. Take time to just go through with the hostess how the evening will run and check if she has any questions.

Set up
Begin setting up your display. You will need to let the hostess know in advance that you will require her to provide a table for you, but always take your own cloth incase she doesn't have one. Arrange your display items so that they are not all on the same level - use silk or dried flowers to "pretty up" the display.

Greet the guests
When guests start arriving, greet them at the door, say hello and thank them for coming.

When they have all arrived
When you have everybody's attention, thank everyone for coming and thank the hostess for inviting us into her home. Give the hostess her free gifts and let the guests know that she is receiving these gifts for free as a thank you for hosting the party. Tell them that if they are interested in hosting a party and receiving free candles, to talk to you at the end of the evening.

Anyone bring a friend?
Give a free gift (votive, tealight) to any party guests who brought a friend. My party invites let the guests know that if they bring a friend with them, they get a free gift. This is a way to get more people to come to the party which means more sales for the hostess, more free gifts for her and more money for you!

Introduce yourself
Spend two minutes introducing yourself ... tell them your name, about why you started making candles, the general "blurb" about why hand poured candles are better than commercially produced candles, how long you have been in business ... this is your chance to really sell those candles!! Don't talk for too long - you don't want to lose their attention.

Invite introductions
Get the guests to introduce themselves - give a free votive to the person who offers to start.

Get to know you Game "Left and Right Game"

After the game
Pass out the catalogues & order forms for the guests to look through.

"Okay, it's time to show you some of the range of candles. Obviously I couldn't bring absolutely everything with me tonight, so if you have any questions about the candles or fragrances not shown here, please feel free to ask at the end and I'd be glad to give you a full description. To make an order, simply fill in the order forms and pass them to me before I leave along with your payment.. Your orders will usually be ready in 7-10 days, sometimes sooner, but please allow up to 14 days and will be here at Hostess's house for you to pick up. Of course, there is no obligation to order right now, but if you do order from the party tonight, you will receive 10% discount if you spend £15 or more....

Now, just before I take you through the range, I want to give away another free candle!!! Hostess, if you could just hold this for me …."

Game - "Pass the Gift"

Next ....
This is the stage in the evening when you want to begin talking about the products. Take them through each of the range and explain why it is special. Keep asking if anybody has any questions about the product, let them know it can be custom coloured/scented where applicable.

After you have taken them through the items, let them browse the catalogue while you take the time to explain candle maintenance. Talk about why they should trim wicks, why wicks mushroom, the correct way to extinguish candles, how to repair dripping candles etc. (this information is discussed in Candle Burning 101)

Once again ask if there are any questions. Give a free votive to the one who asks first....

"Well if there aren't any more questions, I think we are about done! Thank you again to Hostess for having us all here this evening and thank you all for coming! If you'd like to come up to the table to have a look and a smell or ask any further questions and I'm ready to take your orders!"

Sit back and count the money!!

I hand out a feedback form with every order form - this is a way to get their thoughts on how the evening went. At the end of the evening I do a prize draw for 2 free votives to the first name pulled out of the hat. Only those that fill in the feedback form qualify.