My first ladies night! Help!

[Kitten]

Don't know what I've let myself in for so hoping for some top tips and advice from the geeks! I've got a ladies night at a local primary school on 20 April, it runs from 7 - 9.30pm. I'm offering mini mani's and pedi's, and maybe some simple nail art plus taking some retail stock. I've got lots of questions!

1. I was hoping to do basically: remove varnish, shape, file, paint - will I get this done in 15 mins or should I allow longer per appointment?
2. Is £5 per treatment a reasonable charge?
3. Can I use the Creative logo on my price lists (I'm VTCT trained in mani/pedi) - I'm taking some stock and am planning to offer to order additional goods for delivery afterwards, is this a good idea?
4. Should I give goody bags, if so what to include?

Basically any hints & tips would be much appreciated, I thought it was a good idea at the time and now it's round the corner I'm getting well nervous! Thanks in advance, xxx

 

[alisondenn]

In my experience on the pamper evenings - I found appointments didn't work well, clients booked a slot and then go away and come back late which puts you out of sequence, the best way around this is for clients to put their name on a sheet of paper and you tick off each time u complete. You will probably have a few just hanging around the table waiting for a slot. On goodie bags which are made for order u also need to take a deposit. With pedi I found this didn't work at all, unless u have a helper! if u are soaking feet u r up and down like a yoyo, changing water and takes longer than the 15mins slot. I hope this helps a little.

 

[ADiva1]

Don't know what I've let myself in for so hoping for some top tips and advice from the geeks! I've got a ladies night at a local primary school on 20 April, it runs from 7 - 9.30pm. I'm offering mini mani's and pedi's, and maybe some simple nail art plus taking some retail stock. I've got lots of questions!

1. I was hoping to do basically: remove varnish, shape, file, paint - will I get this done in 15 mins or should I allow longer per appointment?
2. Is £5 per treatment a reasonable charge?
3. Can I use the Creative logo on my price lists (I'm VTCT trained in mani/pedi) - I'm taking some stock and am planning to offer to order additional goods for delivery afterwards, is this a good idea?
4. Should I give goody bags, if so what to include?

Basically any hints & tips would be much appreciated, I thought it was a good idea at the time and now it's round the corner I'm getting well nervous! Thanks in advance, xxx

My opinion is that it might be more realistic to do mini manicures rather than pedicures. Some manicures might take more than 15 minutes, as you won't know what state the client's hands will be in!

And as already said you'd have to be up and down changing the water for the pedicure. All well and good if you have a couple of helpers...

Sounds to me like in 15 mins you can sanistise, file shape buff to high shine or clear coat top coat or colour of their choice for a fiver...

 

[wobbly]

I did a ladies evening at our school two weeks ago.

I ONLY did a quick shape and tidy up, buff to a shine and polish if required. I did offer nail art too, but there were so many people waiting I think everyone felt guilty about holding everyone else up, by taking too long.
For this I charged £5. I also sold solar oil and girlfriend buffers, (after they saw what they could do!) the hand cream didnt sell as well as i had hoped, but we did have the body shop with a stall there too.
I put special offer vouchers on the table, you know, bring this voucher when you book an appt and get £5 off a set of enhancements, that sort of thing.
I also did a prize draw, on which everyone interested put their names and addresses on a slip and someone drew the winner. I am planning to mailshot the people who put their names down, so who knows maybe more business???
HTH
Tina x

 

[Kitten]

Thanks all, some great ideas there for me. I like the idea of a prize draw - I was already trying to think of a clever way of getting everyone's names & addresses to contact at a later date, so that's v helpful. I'll have to have a rethink about the appointments then! Re pedicures - I do have access to a sink but don't want to be up and down all night, so looks like i'll have to put my thinking cap back on. Anyhow, thanks girls! xxx

 

[kateyork1]

Hi, sorry no advice on this but am looking for some on this subject myself!

How did you get to do this at your local school?
Have you done any home ladies night parties/kids parties? How much would you recommend charging for this and how would it work, I've been wanting to do these for some time but not sure where to start!

 

[Kitten]

Hi Kate - my 'real' job is in an office (boo! ) and i job share with the lady who organised this ladies night - it's at the school her two children go to, so luckily for me she asked if I'd like to go along. She runs them fairly regularly (around 3 - 4 times each year) and asked me to the one before Christmas but I wasn't qualified then!). I haven't done anything like this before, and to be honest I'm getting a bit nervous, but I've got a friend coming with me who is a holistic therapist so we can spur each other on! x

 

[wobbly]

Hi Kate,

I'm the secretary of our school pta,
We welcome any ideas from people in or outside of school.
Our ladies night included an underwear fashion show, the body shop, a cookwear rep, orchard educational toys, a jewellery stall, a mum who made her own cards and of course myself doing mini manicures. as it was our first one we didnt ask for any money to have a stall, all we asked was a raffle prize from each stallholder.
We charged everyone £2 to come in and gave them a glass of wine included in their ticket price. we then held a raffle and most stall holders had a prize draw too.
What started as an experimental evening to see how well it would be received, actually ended up making £175 for pta funds !!!!!
Sorry for waffling but if you are thinking of it or how to approach your local school, I hope this helps.

Hi, sorry no advice on this but am looking for some on this subject myself!

How did you get to do this at your local school?
Have you done any home ladies night parties/kids parties? How much would you recommend charging for this and how would it work, I've been wanting to do these for some time but not sure where to start!

 

[MINKUS]

these sound like a brilliant idea, and i loved the ideas you guys came up with.

Great stuff.

Amb x

 

[Kitten]

Thanks everyone, you've been really helpful. Just bumping this up again incase anyone else has any advice for me! xxx