- Electrify Pyrotechnics

The Top 5 things to consider when having fireworks at your wedding

30 June 2022

There isn’t anything more awe inspiring than a firework display at your wedding. Fireworks are used around the world for celebratory purposes, whether to ring in the new year, announce the arrival of a new corporate product or a give a big finale to a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary.

Your Wedding Day is your special day You’re pampered and the centre of attention for the entire day and there’s much to look forward to. So from the ceremony and meeting with friends and family, the speeches (hilarious, heart-warming or cringe worthy!), a lovely meal and drinks, the disco/band/entertainment and of course your first dance. It can be a tiring day however it speeds by, and the months and years of pre-preparation are all worth it as you see all your hard work fall into place.With a firework display at your wedding not only is it a reflection of the air of celebration, a big bang to say “look everyone, we’re married”, a recognition of the importance of the day, but it is also something to look forward to after all the other activities are done. As your day draws to an end, it’s an extra something else to look forward to. It’s the perfect finale to your perfect day, and so here’s our guide to the key things to consider when booking your wedding firework display…

Our Top 5 Tips:

Pick the right company – it’s not just about the impressive display – make sure you select a professional firework company that has a track record of safety and good customer service. A good firework company will do a site survey at your venue, offer full liability insurance (often up to £10million) and be able to tell you what processes they have to deliver an impressive display through a multitude of scenarios (strong winds, flooded firing site etc). Audience safety is paramount and your firework display company should deliver all of the above as part of the display price as standard – no added costs!
Consider a surprise – it’s great when the firework display is a surprise and either the audience or the bride and groom aren’t expecting it. Just when you thought the day couldn’t get any better, there’s something else toward the end of the night to entertain the guests or surprise the special couple. A good Firework Display company should be able to organise and set up a display conspicuously so the game isn’t given away until the DJ announces that everyone needs to go outside. We’ve seen Brides moved to tears because there’s another wonderful surprise waiting for her from her thoughtful groom, or from her parents. Tell your firework company if you want to keep it hush-hush.
Make it different – not everyone has fireworks at their wedding, and so by having them you’re already making your day different. Consider bespoking your display further to make yours even more unique. At Electrify, we offer a free colour matching finale (so the fireworks that make up the huge finish at the end of your display match the colour schemes of the day). We also offer fire-writing of the bride and grooms’ initials aside a beautiful burning love heart, or the ability to start the display yourself with the press of a button or the push of a plunger. All for a small additional fee. Alternatively, you can do something amazingly different and add music to your display – a pyromusical with fireworks firing perfectly to the beat of the songs that you’ve chosen and that are special to you. Electrify also offer a totally unique music and lightshow with your fireworks.
Don’t necessarily go with the cheapest option – many couples go for the cheapest display on offer, after all getting married isn’t cheap. However, for just a couple of hundred Pounds more you can get a whole lot more ‘bang for your buck’. It’s remarkable what you can get extra for that small amount more – the display has more ‘pyro’ content, it’s higher impact often with a much bigger finale. It is definitely worth trying to go for at least the next display up, you’ll really be able to tell the difference and it’ll really knock you and your guests away.
Longer isn’t necessarily better – I appreciate that’s not something you necessarily want to hear on your wedding night, but in the case of firework displays a longer display doesn’t necessarily mean a better one. 8-10 minutes is sufficient for a wedding display, any longer than 12 minutes and the impact is lost and the audience can start to get bored. To reiterate point 4, it’s better to go for a 10 minute high impact celebration of your special day that will absolutely wow your audience and save the 15 plus minute displays to the Firework Competitions and Bonfire Nights.

Electrify Pyrotechnics are specialists in Wedding Firework Displays. Not only can we help guide you to get the most out of your display, we’ll do all the organising for you, to ensure that your perfect day ends with shivers up your spine and a firework display to remember. We’ll do the site survey, ensure the venue is aware, provide the insurance and design the display. All you need to do is pick the display you want and tell us your colour scheme.

Welshpool 8 miles of fireworks roundup

10 October 2017

On Saturday 2^nd September Electrify Pyrotechnics delivered what was a real first. A logistical challenge never faced before. 8 miles of fireworks as a steam train powered through the Welsh valleys, and it was delivered exceptionally smoothly and efficiently.

So how did they do it, what were the challenges and what was the outcome?

What a great weekend – 8 miles of fireworks at the Welshpool & Llanfair light railway in mid-Wales. For those that don’t know it, the WLLR is a narrow gauge steam railway that originally opened in 1903 in order to carry locals and farming produce from the small mid-Wales communities to the market town of Welshpool in order to sell their goods. It was a lifeline for the community however with the advent of the car if eventually closed in 1956, only to be rebuilt and opened again in 1963. So this year was a special anniversary, as it has now been open longer as a volunteer run heritage railway than a commercial line.

So what better way than to celebrate with fireworks – at the first and last station and all the stops inbetween…for 8 miles!

It sounds amazing and was remarkable – however, the sheer amount of planning and hardwork it took to pull it off was astonishing….

Safety

Something of this nature takes planning, a whole lot of planning. It’s not all about making the displays look beautiful for the audience because safety is a key issue for the audience and the staff. A usual firework display requires an initial site risk assessment to consider amongst other things:

Access to the site
Size of firing site
Location of the audience
Location of any houses, roads, public rights of way near to the firing site
Wind direction
Firework debris fallout zone
Risk of fire in the vicinity of the fallout zone
Backup firing site
Photos for the staff that will set up and fire the display

The list goes on and all aspects of the setup, firing and clear up must be considered as well as a re-assessment once the firing team arrive on site. So imagine doing that for 6 different locations, all previously unknown sites to the company and firing team, sites with public access and moving trains!

Professional firework displays present many dangers to both the audience and the firing team. Electrify considers these when planning their shows, however put firework displays where there are moving trains and that adds a whole new dimension to additional safety elements that had to be considered, trained and reiterated to the firing staff to keep them safe.

Logistics

As well as the safety aspect there were other things to organise:

Getting enough firers to travel to mid-Wales to fire all the displays safely
Keeping the firers fed and watered
Organising overnight accommodation
Planning and designing the displays + the pyro-musical light show at the last site
Getting all the individual display fireworks fused and labelled up for the correct display sites
Ensuring there’s enough electronic firing equipment for each site
Ensuring staff know where to go for their display and raising awareness of their individual site, the risk assessment and how to set up
Ensuring the station displays are fired at the correct time as the train passes
Getting everyone back from their display safely as the train moves along in time for the large display at the end of the line
Getting decent photographs and footage of each mini-display

Thought, planning, training, run-throughs and a whole raft of paperwork was pulled together to cover all of these elements.

Teamwork

The key to success for this event was invariably down to 2 things:

Planning
Teamwork

The planning was perfect down to the last ‘T’ crossed and the last ‘I’ dotted, and all the documentation was out in good time so the team knew exactly where they were meant to be, what they were doing and the team brief at the meeting point before the set up commenced answered all the outstanding questions people were unsure of. However, it was the great team that delivered this incredibly difficult logistical challenge and ensured it went as smoothly and successfully as it did.

We have to consider that Electrify is made up of a whole selection of individuals who are, whilst professionally trained to an incredibly high standard, part-time firework professionals and have day jobs too. It has to be said that we have an amazing group of firers and the day was delivered due to their commitment to deliver a great show, their passion and of course their hard work. It was great fun and the camaraderie was wonderful as the team worked together to get an incredibly large amount of work done.

We can’t thank the team enough, what they did was outstanding and we couldn’t do it without them. Each one of them, despite their tenure and experience, contributed to the event and what ensued would not have happened without their commitment, attention to detail and perseverance.

So, what was it that we delivered?

The displays & timing

At 19:35 passengers boarded a special ‘firework steam train’ at the Llanfair and headed for Welshpool station where the train would turn around and head back for the 8 Miles of Fireworks run…

20:35 – the train departed from Welshpool station where a huge volley of shells were fired using the CH20 firing system.

20:53 – the train arrived at the first station (Sylfaen) – cakes were fired using the new Firestorm system as the train arrived at the station

21:05 – As the engine pulled into Castle Caereinion station modular units were fired, again using one of our Firestorm systems

21:19 – As the train pulled into the Cyfronydd halt, a single shot chase fired up and down the platform as the passengers watched on – a Cobra firing system was used for this chase

21:30 – the engine pulled into the penultimate station, Heniarth, and as it slows cakes and shells explode, fired again by a Firestorm system

The train then headed off for its’ final destination Llanfair where it arrived at 21:45 to be greeted by an extremely large audience and a huge pyromusical lightshow. As with all timetables, this was subject to change and in true railway style the train was around 20 minutes late, however that kept the firing team on their toes. Their cue to fire was as the train pulled up however they were able to prepare as they saw their colleagues fire their shows in the distance and the sound of the steam engine and it’s whistle in the dark in the distance! Despite the late train, the displays ran like clockwork and we were all surprise to see firework chasers who drive their cars to each station ahead of the train to catch each display. We also had staff with cameras who drove to each station and captured images of the fireworks.

The end result

What really made this event was the feedback at the end. As the display finished all the steam engines sounded their horns and whistles over the claps and cheers of the audience, and the site echoed with a nostalgic sound that felt like post war Britain as the troops returned to their families. It was an indescribable feeling and moment. Feedback from the passengers on the train was phenomenal and they said they absolutely loved the variety of fireworks as they differed from station to station. The combination of the emotion of being on a steam train and the excitement of fireworks as they slowed for each station was, as one passenger described it “an amazing emotional experience never to be experienced again, it was truly wonderful”.

The management team from the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway said they were “blown away by the displays and the lightshow pyromusical at the terminus yard by far exceeded all of their expectations.”

The clean up afterwards was long and hard, and made even more challenging because of the moving trains which were being put away. It is when you are tired that you become most vulnerable, however each team member looked out for the others as is always the case with our displays. The drinks and pizzas back at the campsite were very welcome and making the front page of the Shropshire Star the next day was icing on the cake.

Watch the full video from the fireworks display here.

It was certainly well worth going that extra 8 miles!

Digital Fireworks

4 April 2017

We’re in the digital age, there’s no doubting that, although many would argue that we’ve been in the digital age for decades now. In fact, it’s been around since the modern computer made its’ way into businesses and domestic households and made many chores such as storing records, communication and marketing become electronic. Away with those large filing cabinets! You’ll notice your email box is full of junk mail, and less in your postbox. In the second decade of the 21^st Century though, what defines this as the Digital Age is the speed of change. Whether you’ve recently flown a drone, spoken to an AI (Siri, Amazon Echo – Alexa), purchased a Bitcoin, driven a Tesla, or programmed your heating to come on from your mobile phone you’re part of the digital transformation.

The digital transformation is touching everyone’s lives, whether at work, at home, in your car or in your personal lives. In the past, a commute to work on the train would involve listening to music on your Walkman, reading a newspaper or book, or reading through work papers. Now, many people, glued to their smartphones can do all that from one device. They can control those things too, interacting live whilst on the train, from selecting one of thousands of song choices from their collections, reading the most up to date breaking news, listening to audio versions of their favourite books to ordering their partners anniversary present. Whatever your age, the digital world touches upon our lives and it is changing at an astonishing rate.

What is fundamentally different about this decade though, and beyond, are the Digital Natives, the children that were born in the digital age that know no different. Many of us have watched as our children have swiped across a small photo in a magazine trying to make it bigger, as they would on a tablet or smartphone. For people my age, we remember teaching our parents how to operate the VHS player, and now our children and grandchildren are teaching us about living, interacting and socialising in the digital world.

The world around us is changing on a daily basis, soon driverless cars will end the quandary about drinking or driving, taxis with drivers will be a thing of the past. Call Centres, the factories of the 21^st century will be replaced by chatbots, AI and virtual agents. The ‘Connected House’, ‘Connected Car’, ‘Connected Everything’ and the Internet of Things will revolutionise how we go about our lives. The question is not if, but when…

So what exactly does this have to do with fireworks? Well, as an owner of a firework company, I am all too aware of the impact of the digital world. (I’m already behind the times writing this Blog, surely it should be a Vlog and uploaded onto YouTube!?! Maybe next time!) How do I interact with today’s customers, how do I use digital to differentiate myself from all the other firework companies out there, how do I get myself as far up the search engine rankings so people find my web presence? How do I make it easier and easier for new customers to find me and make it easier for them to do business with me?

According to an MCA survey back in 2014, 94% of UK Senior Executives saw Digital as important or very important to their business. Now, that is 100%. Digital makes more things possible than before, and provides the agility that firework companies need in order to offer things to their customers in order to modernise. Digital can offer differentiation between firework companies and allows those companies to think about what their specialism is.

Most firework companies have a web presence. Like most companies, if you don’t then you’re missing out on the majority of the customer interaction and your existence is one dimensional and limited, and it’s unlikely you’ll truly thrive as a business. We’ve seen the death of the high street. A good Social Media presence is critical, not only does it help with SEO, it shows your customers and potential customers what you do and what your company is all about. It’s the new marketing and brand aid. None of that is news to anyone, however your brand on Social Media can make, and equally break your company like never before. (Write your complaint on Twitter and see how quickly those customer service orientated companies react).

Online payments, whether that’s a website payment solution, or the ability to take online transfers is critical, as is the ability to contact customers and communicate in a digital way. “Always online, always available” is more important than ever – as a Firework company most of our business is done outside of Mon – Fri 9-5.30pm. We have moved away from that traditional model, you can book one of our firework displays 24 hours, 7 days a week.

Safety too, with electronic systems to calculate and track black powder weights so rules and regulations are adhered to and can be proven to insurance companies and regulatory bodies alike.

What about the actual display? What technology is out there to digitalise the firework display of the future? Since the Chinese invented fireworks 2000 years ago, they have been let off manually (with fire presented to the firework fuse). As firers and lovers of fireworks I can tell you, you can’t beat hand-firing fireworks, the adrenaline buzz of standing next to the pyro and the art of timing it to give a great show. However, many shows now require a level of precision that hand firing just can’t offer. Pyromusicals where we need fireworks to explode to the beat of the music, down to the hundredth of a second, large displays where we need reliability and the ability to watch a demo of the show beforehand to establish its’ impact, or lighting & firework pyromusicals which are unique to Electrify where lights and fireworks move in time to each other and the music. We have embraced the Digital era and have our digital suppliers and systems of choice to make all this happen.

At Electrify we have worked to be fully immersed in the Digital Age, most of our staff are not Digital Natives however we do see ourselves as Digital Entrepreneurs and it’s embracing that technology that is not only revolutionising the way we engage with our customers but the quality and the impact of our shows too. Electrify are fairly unique with our firework and light show pyromusicals. The digital kit that goes together to allow that show to firstly be designed, tested and then finally fired is cutting edge, and that just wouldn’t be possible at that level of precision of a pre-digital age – it’s disruptive and it allows Electrify to be disruptive in a saturated firework industry. We are using digital technology to differentiate ourselves.

In a nutshell, Digital allows old things to be done in a new way, but also for completely new things to be done. Check out our digital lighting and firework pyromusicals here.