Cambridge May Ball Supplier Directory

A May Ball committee typically works with 15 to 30 suppliers, from headline caterers to the person who delivers the portaloos. Managing these relationships - getting good quotes, negotiating fair terms, and holding suppliers accountable on the night - is one of the most practical skills a committee needs. This guide covers the major supplier categories, what to look for, and how to manage the relationships effectively.

We deliberately avoid naming specific companies. Suppliers change, quality varies year to year, and what works for one college may not work for another. Instead, we focus on what to look for and what questions to ask. The best specific recommendations will come from your predecessor committee's handover documents.

Caterers

Food is one of the biggest line items in your budget and one of the most visible parts of the guest experience. The catering model you choose depends on your budget and the style of your event.

Formal Dining

A sit-down multi-course meal, typically served in a marquee or college hall. This is the traditional May Ball experience for those who buy a dining upgrade ticket. It is also the most expensive and logistically complex catering option. Key considerations:

• Capacity: How many covers can the caterer handle in a single sitting? Do you need multiple sittings?
• Dietary requirements: A Cambridge audience will include significant numbers of vegetarians, vegans, and guests with allergies or religious dietary restrictions. Your caterer must handle these without making guests feel like an afterthought.
• Staff: Formal dining requires a high staff-to-guest ratio. Clarify whether staff are included in the quoted price or billed separately.
• Equipment: Who provides tables, chairs, linen, crockery, and glassware? Some caterers include everything; others expect you to hire separately. This makes a large difference to the total cost.
• Budget: Expect to pay £25-£60 per head for a three-course formal dinner, depending on quality and complexity. Higher-end options with premium ingredients can run to £80+.

Street Food and Stalls

Mobile food vendors serving from trailers, stalls, or pop-up kitchens. This model works well for the "grazing" style that most guests prefer during the main body of the evening. Advantages include variety (you can have multiple cuisines), lower cost per head, and flexibility on quantities. Considerations:

• Variety: Aim for at least 3-5 different food options to cater to different tastes and dietary requirements. A typical mix might include a burger or grill stand, a pizza oven, an Asian food stall, a crepe or dessert stand, and a vegan option.
• Payment model: Some vendors charge a flat fee to attend and keep all sales revenue. Others charge per head or offer a contra deal (reduced fee in exchange for guaranteed volume). The best model depends on your budget structure.
• Power and water: Street food vendors need access to electricity and often water. Check their requirements early and factor these into your site plan.
• Health and hygiene: All food vendors must have a valid food hygiene rating. Ask for certificates.

Late Night Food

Do not underestimate how important food becomes at 3am. A hot food option - a hog roast, a noodle bar, bacon rolls - in the early hours is often the most appreciated part of the catering provision. Budget for it separately from the main dinner service.

Production Companies

Production covers staging, lighting, sound systems, and the technical infrastructure that makes your entertainment work. For larger balls, this is a major budget item and a major logistical challenge.

• Sound: Each stage needs a PA system appropriate for its size and the type of entertainment. A DJ in a small marquee has very different requirements from a band on a main stage. Your production company should do a site visit and recommend appropriate systems.
• Lighting: Good lighting transforms a college garden into something magical. Budget for both functional lighting (path lighting, safety lighting) and decorative lighting (festoon lights, uplighting, moving heads for stages). LED technology has made atmospheric lighting much more affordable than it used to be.
• Staging: Purpose-built stages for music acts, raised platforms for DJs, and possibly a main stage with rigging for lights. Your production company will spec this based on the acts you have booked.
• What to look for: Cambridge experience matters. A production company that has worked in college grounds before understands the constraints - limited vehicle access, power limitations, noise restrictions, and the need to protect historic buildings and grounds. Ask for references from other ball committees.
• Budget: Production costs vary enormously. A basic sound and lighting package for a small event might be £3,000-£5,000. A full production package for a large May Ball with multiple stages, professional rigging, and intelligent lighting can easily exceed £30,000-£50,000.

Security Firms

See our dedicated security guide for a detailed treatment. In summary:

• All security staff must be SIA-licensed. Verify this.
• Prioritise firms with Cambridge May Ball experience. The crashing dynamic is unique.
• Plan for 1 security staff per 50-75 guests, plus additional for perimeter patrols and entry points.
• Budget £15-£25 per hour per staff member. For a 12-hour event, this adds up quickly.
• Insist on a pre-event site walk-through with the security team leader.

Generator Hire

Most college grounds do not have enough fixed power capacity to run a ball. Generator hire is almost always necessary. Key considerations:

• Capacity: Work with your production company and caterers to calculate total power requirements in kVA. Then add 20-30% headroom. Running a generator at maximum capacity is inefficient and risks failure.
• Noise: Generators are loud. Place them as far from entertainment areas and college residences as possible. "Super silent" generators cost more but produce significantly less noise. For events in residential colleges, this is worth the premium.
• Fuel: Who is responsible for fuelling the generators during the event? Most hire companies will deliver fully fuelled, but for a 12+ hour event, you may need a mid-event refuel. Plan for this.
• Cabling: Power distribution from generators to stages, bars, and food stalls requires proper cabling, done by qualified electricians. Your production company or generator hire firm can usually arrange this. Do not attempt to run extension leads across walkways - this is a trip hazard and a fire risk.
• Backup: For critical systems (the main stage, refrigeration for the bar), consider having a backup generator or at least a switchover plan. Power failure during a headline set is a disaster.

Portaloo Hire

Not glamorous, but absolutely essential. Getting this wrong results in queues, complaints, and sanitation problems that can ruin the atmosphere.

• Ratios: The industry standard is approximately 1 toilet per 50-75 guests for events lasting several hours. For a 12-hour ball, err towards the higher end. Consider the gender split - women's facilities typically need more units than men's.
• Types: Standard portaloos are the cheapest but not the most pleasant. "Luxury" trailer units with flushing toilets, sinks, and mirrors are more expensive but significantly improve the guest experience. A common approach is a mix: luxury units near the main areas, standard units in more peripheral locations.
• Placement: Close enough to the action that people can find them, far enough away that they do not spoil the ambience. Well-lit and well-signed. Keep them away from food preparation areas.
• Servicing: For a 12-hour event, arrange for mid-event servicing (emptying, restocking toilet paper, cleaning). Most hire companies offer this as an add-on.

Bar Suppliers

Running bars at a ball involves sourcing stock, hiring bar staff, and managing a logistics chain under time pressure. Your options are:

• Full-service bar operator: A company that provides stock, staff, equipment, and management for a fixed fee or a revenue-share arrangement. Lower risk for the committee but less control and typically lower margins.
• Self-run bars: The committee sources stock (from a wholesaler or drinks sponsor), hires bar staff, and manages everything. Higher risk and more work, but potentially more profitable and more control over pricing and product selection.
• Hybrid: Use a professional bar operator for the main bars, and run smaller speciality bars (cocktail bar, wine bar) in-house or through sponsors.

Regardless of model, remember that selling alcohol requires a TEN or premises licence. All bar staff should be briefed on responsible service (no serving visibly intoxicated guests, challenge-25 for age verification). Glassware versus plastic is a recurring debate - glassware looks better but creates a safety hazard (especially outdoors and as the night progresses). Many balls compromise by using glassware for formal dining and plastic for all other bars.

Photographers and Videographers

Professional photography serves two purposes: it documents the event for the committee and provides content for marketing the following year's ball. Videography is increasingly important for social media content.

• Hire at least one professional photographer for the full duration of the event. Two is better - one for roaming candid shots, one for a dedicated photo booth or portrait area.
• Brief photographers on key moments: entry, dining, headline acts, the sunrise photo. These are the images that will define how the ball is remembered.
• Agree on turnaround time and deliverables. You want a selection of edited images within a week of the ball for immediate social media use, and a full gallery within a month.
• Consider a photo booth as a separate attraction. These are popular with guests and generate shareable content. Many companies offer booths with instant printing and digital sharing.
• For video, a short highlight reel (2-3 minutes) is more useful than 10 hours of raw footage. Hire a videographer who understands event highlight editing and can deliver a polished product quickly.

Florists and Decorators

Decorations are what transform a college from a place of study into a fantasy world for a night. The decoration budget can range from modest (a few hundred pounds of fairy lights and fabric) to extravagant (five-figure florist contracts and custom set builds). Considerations:

• Your theme dictates your decoration needs. A "Gatsby" theme requires very different treatments from an "enchanted forest" theme.
• Lighting is the single highest-impact decoration investment. Festoon lights, uplighting, and atmospheric LED installations can transform a space for relatively modest cost.
• Fresh flowers are beautiful but expensive and perishable. Consider where the impact justifies the cost (dining tables, entrance) and where alternatives (silk flowers, foliage, projection) are more practical.
• Involve art students. Cambridge has exceptional creative talent, and many students are happy to contribute to decoration projects for a free ticket and creative licence. This can dramatically reduce your decoration costs while producing genuinely original results.
• Plan for installation and removal. Decorations need to go up during build day and come down during teardown. Factor in the labour hours and any access equipment needed.

Tips for Managing Supplier Relationships

Working with suppliers is a skill that many student committees learn on the job. Here are principles that will serve you well:

• Get everything in writing. Verbal agreements are not contracts. Every supplier should have a written agreement specifying what they will deliver, when, for how much, and what happens if either side needs to cancel.
• Get multiple quotes. Never accept the first price you are given. Get at least three quotes for any significant purchase. Suppliers expect negotiation - the listed price is a starting point, not a final offer.
• Pay on time. Your reputation in the Cambridge events world follows your ball, not your committee. A committee that pays late makes it harder and more expensive for their successors. Equally, push back on unreasonable payment terms - you should not be paying 100% upfront to anyone.
• Communicate proactively. Suppliers hate surprises. If your plans change, tell them early. If there is a problem, address it before it escalates. A five-minute email in March can prevent a crisis in June.
• Document everything. Keep a file of all quotes, contracts, correspondence, and invoices. After the ball, write a brief review of each supplier: what they quoted, what they delivered, what was good, what was not. This is one of the most valuable parts of your handover.
• Leverage the network. Talk to other ball committees. They may be using the same suppliers and can share experiences, or you may be able to negotiate better rates by placing a joint order.
• Be professional. You are students, but you are spending serious money. Suppliers respond to committees that are organised, responsive, and respectful. Show up to meetings on time, respond to emails promptly, and make decisions when decisions are needed.