Gala dinner aerial dance: how to announce the show

Ten minutes before the lights go down, half your table is still on dessert. Someone has stepped outside for air. The aerialist is already climbing the silk. None of that is a guest problem — it is an invitation that never said when the show starts.

A gala dinner with an aerial act runs on two clocks: the one in the kitchen and the one hanging above the middle of the room. Your invitation has to carry both. Otherwise people spend the best part of the evening looking at a plate.

Gala dinner aerial dance: the order of the night

Write down the exact time the act starts, not only the time dinner begins. If the duo goes up at 10:15 pm, say 10:15 pm. Then lay the evening out as one chain of scenes — cocktails, long dinner, aerial act, final toast — so a guest knows when to put their fork down.

• The exact start time of the aerial act, separate from the dinner time.
• The running order in one line: cocktails, dinner, act, toast.
• A short note if there are two performances, so nobody misses the second one from the terrace.
• One sentence on whether service pauses or continues while the act runs.

Vertigo, explained in one line

If tables get cleared away, or the act happens over the dance floor, say so. Anyone arriving with a walking stick, a wheelchair or a pushchair plans their route before leaving home, and "the show takes place above the middle of the room" is the sentence they need.

Same with phones. One discreet line — no flash during the aerial act — saves you a white square where the photo should be. And say whether waiters keep pouring while the silks are up, so nobody has a bottle in front of their face at the moment everyone looks up.

The act lasts a few minutes. The invitation is how you make sure nobody spends them looking at the cheese board.

Dress code under a trapeze

Use real words: black tie, long dress, cocktail. "Formal" tells nobody whether a navy suit will glow under a follow spot. If the room goes dark except for the beams above the performance, darker colours keep your table from outshining the silk. If the entrance is gravel, a staircase or cobbles, add a line about shoes — that detail gets decided before anyone leaves the house.

Map, address and replies in the same scene

Put the address, a map link and the start time together. If the ballroom is upstairs, or you cross a courtyard to reach it, one sentence describing that saves a dozen calls at 7 pm. Cocktails in a different room from dinner? Two spaces, two lines.

Then set a reply-by date and keep it visible on the invitation. Ask for what you need: name, plus-one, whether they are staying for the final toast. Confirmations arrive as one ordered list inside the invitation instead of a trail of unanswered messages, and no guest has to install an app to send one.

Work out the order of the night once, then write it down once. A Send The Joy invitation can be tested free, costs 29,99 EUR as a one-off payment, and opens in any browser. The invitation itself can be set up in seven languages.