Booker Venue

28/02/2024

Harrods!
When I was 20 years old, I wrote a hand written letter to the food and beverage manager at Harrods, telling him I wanted to work there! He gave me a job and for a year I worked in various restaurants and even ended up working for the big boss of Harrods!!
Fast forward to today, I am older, wider (oops I mean wiser…. Or do I 🤣) and back to see their private dining spaces ! It’s been a bit of a ‘down memory lane’ kinda morning!!!

I loved serving people then and I love serving my clients now by finding them amazing venues and I bet you didn’t know you could hire some of the 24 restaurants within Harrods!!!

Booker Venue always proud to be finding new places for your next events!

02/01/2024

Happy New Year to all my wonderful
Clients and industry colleagues. Let’s hope 2024 is a happy, healthy, successful one. Shine Bright in everything you do 🌟💖

05/12/2023

6 years ago I made the best decision of my working life! To start a business I could grow and be extremely proud of. One that has donated thousands of pounds to charity and one that does everything with passion, professionalism and to exceed expectations.

Thanks to all my amazing clients, many of whom have supported me since day 1. Without you I would be nothing!

Let’s hope Booker Venue continues to grow and flourish. In an industry filled with competition, I hope I will always stand out from the crowd for all the right reasons

Thank you to all my supporters, you are AMAZING ❤️

And finally to my office manager Luna for being the best staff member I could ask for 🤣

18/10/2023

I really want to acknowledge because I am so pleased that we can talk about it and not hide from something that affects all women.

I am the first to admit, it’s really hard. I was 44 when I was thrown into surgical menopause and wow I wasn’t prepared for the many symptoms and struggles!

This photo is of me smiling but there are many days that I really don’t look like this! My hair is greying and I think I am going to embrace it. I have been suffering with major hair loss which has been heartbreaking. The anxiety is often crippling. I cry most days! I get angry, upset, irrational and then I laugh. Who knew that doing a few hours of gardening would cause so many aches and pains!!

Does it make me any less good at what I do, absolutely not. My business is my dream and my reality. I may have to make more lists because my memory isn’t what it used to be and I may forget names sometimes but they always come back to me! I’ve always been good at multi tasking , thankfully, I may cry at my computer and get a bit paranoid and insecure some days but I am still me and still pride myself on doing a good job and owning a business which stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.

Menopause is hard but as women we carry on, we smile and put a brave face on and we do the very best we can, to be the best versions of ourselves.

To all women everywhere who are struggling with the menopause. Keep going and if you can take some HRT, do it! It’s literally been my saviour and I will take it for as long as I can!!

Another reason Booker Venue Ltd - The Ethical Venue Finder supports Mind Uk. Our minds control our lives, we need to look after them ❤️

12/10/2023

Fabulous night with fabulous clients at the fabulous . It was awesome and can highly recommend for a fabulous night out 🤣

10/10/2023

On world mental health day, I remember why I have donated a percentage of all my profit to Mind Uk for the past 5 and half years. I’m not afraid to admit my own struggles, from the years of PMDD to my daily battle with anxiety and insecurities that come with the menopause. I have many wonderful friends and clients who battle with mental health all of whom are amazing human beings and I am proud to have in my life. Support each other, support mental health charities . Educate and get rid of the stigma. https://www.mind.org.uk/get-involved/world-mental-health-day/

The photo is of my garden as it’s my happy place, helps me to feel calm and is so therapeutic!!!

15/09/2023

Yesterday was all about seeing fabulous clients and fabulous venues in shoreditch!!’ It’s so cool! London is most definitely one of the most amazing cities in the world 🌍

17/05/2023

Yesterday was a fabulous day! One where I took a handful of my amazing clients to see 2 very unique venues.

I LOVE what I do and days like yesterday are a treat. My job looks glamorous and sometimes it is but most days involve working a minimum of 10 hours and sometimes as many as 16. It’s a lot of juggling , a lot of conversations, negotiations, research, attention to detail and more.

I always go the extra mile, perhaps because it’s my own busienss and I have a huge desire to look after my clients so they never have a need to go elsewhere! You reap what you sow and I am incredibly lucky that I have amazing loyal clients who stay with me and recommend me!

So my motto for today, always push yourself and go the extra mile because it will always make things better! And that’s exactly what we experienced Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve & Howletts Wild Animal Park with Fiona Churchill and The Gallivant with Sarah Houghton

Booker Venue Ltd - The Ethical Venue Finder always going the extra mile !

Happy hump day!!

04/04/2023

Booker Venue has been out and about today with a fabulous client seeing some awesome venues for summer and Christmas parties alike! Loved them both
Can’t wait to book lots of events with you!!!

23/03/2023

About last night ……….

With some of my amazing clients and friends, I celebrated 5 fabulous years of Booker Venue.

Hosted at the wonderful It was an evening full of fun, laughter, love, emotion and appreciation.

It’s been 5 years of loving every day of my working life.
5 years of supporting the best clients a girl could wish for
And 5 years of forging amazing relationships with clients and industry friends and colleagues alike.

I take huge pride in my business. It’s a total passion for me and I always strive to exceed expectations. Proud that since day one I’ve donated a percentage of all my profits to charity, proud that the business has grown from recommendation alone.

5 years ago I had a dream to create a wonderful, ethical, honest, professional business which stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons. Thanks to all those people who support me, my dream came true.

The team at the Vintry and mercer and Jo Beames at JG Collection, thank you for great service last night! Fabulous venue! Also the many venues who donated prizes for the fab prize draw!

Here’s to many more years of loving what I do and helping so many amazing people! I truly felt the love last night. It was simply amazing ❤️
Thank you to everyone who has and continues to support me and my beloved business - you are all AWESOME!

Quote of the night from one of my amazing clients - ‘anyone who doesn’t use you, is a muppet’ 🤣🤣

Booker Venue Ltd - The Ethical Venue Finder

08/03/2023

When women support each other, amazing things happen. Thank you to all my amazing clients and industry friends. I don’t know where I would be without you ❤️❤️

06/02/2023

I never know what my next client will ask for but I love it when I get asked to find a venue which is totally unique! ticks all the boxes. Amazing venue, fabulous staff and the food in their Italian restaurant was exceptional! We always strive to exceed expectations for our clients and this venue helps to achieve that goal!

10/09/2022

I had the pleasure of joining Ryan Doyle and Angus last night at M&IT Awards. Met some lovely industry colleagues and whilst it felt slightly wrong to attend an event during such a sad time, it was lovely to support the fabulous Park Regis Birmingham who won 2 awards! Huge congratulations, you are an awesome team and I love working with you!

I stayed at the wonderful Dilly hotel near Piccadilly

As expected I didn’t win my catergory but I am still blown away that my clients voted for me and managed to get me to the finals up against much larger businesses. My clients are just amazing.

And the best bit were the messages that my beloved family sent me when I told them the news ❤️. (Excuse the typos from the youngest!!)

Thank you to everyone who continually supports me and my wonderful, small but perfectly formed business

10/09/2022

I had the pleasure of joining Ryan Doyle last night at M&IT Awards. Met some lovely industry colleagues and whilst it felt slightly wrong to attend an event during such a sad time, it was lovely to support the fabulous Park Regis Birmingham who won 2 awards! Huge congratulations, you are an awesome team and I love working with you!

I stayed at the wonderful Dilly hotel near Piccadilly

As expected I didn’t win my catergory but I am still blown away that my clients voted for me and managed to get me to the finals up against much larger businesses. My clients are just amazing.

And the best bit were the messages that my beloved family sent me when I told them the news ❤️. (Excuse the typos from the youngest!!)

Thank you to everyone who continually supports me and my wonderful, small but perfectly formed business

08/09/2022

I am looking forward to attending the M&IT awards tomorrow. So lovely to have a reason to get dressed up and connect with many industry friends and colleagues.

I’m lucky enough to be a finalist in the best mid size agency section, which is thanks for my amazing clients.
I know I won’t win!!!! That’s not me being negative, merely realistic as I’m up against some much larger, long standing businesses.

However for me to get to the finals, has made me so honoured and proud as well as extremely grateful.

My clients are everything to me and in the words of my dear dad, ‘Carina, if you look after your customers, then your customers will look after you’

Here’s to a great night celebrating all the wonderful people and venues in our fabulous industry!

20/06/2022

I started my business almost 5 years ago with a vision and a promise that I would do things honestly, ethically, professionally and always with a smile. I have always thought how amazing it would be to be recognised for doing my job well and owning a business which stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.

Today i found out that thanks to my AMAZING clients and supporters, I am an M&IT Awards finalist.

I may not get any further but just to be a finalist means the world to me. My clients are just awesome. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. &IT

08/03/2022

Just need to do something. Supporting

08/03/2022

All women are amazing. To all my wonderful female clients, industry colleagues and friends. Keep being awesome. Each and every one of us, no matter what, we are all fabulous and doing an amazing job.
Embrace the positives because life is short, work hard, play hard, love lots, eat the crisps and stop feeling guilty about everything!

05/02/2022

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/carina-booker-1469a416_the-first-residential-fam-trip-since-february-activity-6895653289656950784-Ops6

The first residential fam trip since February 2020 and thanks to Foxhills Club & Resort it was an AMAZING one. I arrived looking forward to seeing some...

01/02/2022

Booker Venue Ltd - The Ethical Venue Finder is 4 years old!
It was the best decision I ever made and I still love each and every day!
I want to thank all my amazing clients but also all my industry colleagues and friends who are such professionals in helping me make my business great. My mantra will always be, ‘Its all about the people and great relationships’

Here’s to the next 4 years! 🎉🥳🎂🎁🎈

24/11/2021

Fabulous visit to , we loved it. Sitting in their lounge, listening to the fabulous singer on the stage was mesmerising. It’s a fabulous hotel, beautifully designed and in the heart of Leicester Square. Lovely catch up with some of my awesome clients too ❤️

18/11/2021

A wonderful hotel means nothing without fabulous staff and amazing service.
This hotel shows how it should be done!

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/carina-booker-1469a416_hospitality-hotels-serviceexcellence-activity-6867120728957825024-cICh

Yesterday I had the pleasure of accompanying one of my amazing clients to see a few hotels for her Board event in 2022. One of those hotels stood above...

17/10/2021

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting the lovely Andaz London Liverpool Street again. I have used it before but this time I got to take some of my awesome clients.
I am really bad at photography! But it’s honestly one of my
Favourite London hotels. It has such a lot to offer to all manner of events and the one thing it always delivers on is fabulous service and hospitality.

As I have always said, a beautiful venue is nothing without amazing staff.

09/09/2021

Today I had a quick trip to London to do 3 things!
Firstly to catch up with a couple of my wonderful clients at their offices in the city.
Secondly to pop into the for some inspiration for the C word!
And lastly to see the amazing for a quick look round. Can’t wait to place some business with you!

Now back to the office to answer the many emails and enquiries! It’s so good to be busy again.

26/08/2021

Meet the Team here at Booker Venue …….
Head of Security 😜 Luna the Shorkiepoo ❤️

25/07/2021

It’s been a difficult 16 months! Luckily I am now getting very busy again, but a few months back, a local friend asked me if I would help arrange his wife’s 50th birthday party. Now usually I venue find and arrange corporate events but my background was in weddings and parties as well and it’s something I have always enjoyed. So I obviously said yes.

A loose Alice in Wonderland theme was required so with the help of some amazing industry friends and colleagues .net_ and the dedication of my wonderful client (who worked so hard too!) we pulled off a wonderful party.

Now COVID wasn’t happy with just messing up business for me last year, and it decided to attach itself to my eldest daughter meaning I had to self isolate and couldn’t be there on the day 😔.
But will a little help from some friends, a huge amount of hard work from the client and the power of face time, it was still a great success!

I felt sad all day as I couldn’t be there to make it all perfect (in the eyes of an event planner!) and to miss out on a great event but I also feel very grateful to have had the honour to help make this occasion such a special one.

So back to my day job of venue finding and running corporate events but if anyone ever wants my help with a party or wedding, I will always be more than happy to assist!!!

25/07/2021

It’s been a difficult 16 months! Luckily I am now getting very busy again, but a few months back, a local friend asked me if I would help arrange his wife’s 50th birthday party. Now usually I venue find and arrange corporate events but my background was in weddings and parties as well and it’s something I have always enjoyed. So I obviously said yes.

A loose Alice in Wonderland theme was required so with the help of some amazing industry friends and colleagues,HeadStart Events LtdManwithapan.net and the dedication of my wonderful client (who worked so hard too!) we pulled off a wonderful party.

Now COVID wasn’t happy with just messing up business for me last year, and it decided to attach itself to my eldest daughter meaning I had to self isolate and couldn’t be there on the day 😔.
But will a little help from some friends, a huge amount of hard work from the client and the power of face time, it was still a great success!

I felt sad all day as I couldn’t be there to make it all perfect (in the eyes of an event planner!) and to miss out on a great event but I also feel very grateful to have had the honour to help make this occasion such a special one.

So back to my day job of venue finding and running corporate events but if anyone ever wants my help with a party or wedding, I will always be more than happy to assist!!!

23/06/2021

So I am a bit late getting back to seeing venues but I have the excuse of having had major surgery a few weeks back!! Today was a good day, out with one of my best clients seeing 3 fabulous venues Tylney Hall Hotel Heckfield Place Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire

One of the best things about today apart from catching up with my lovely client was to see all 3 hotels crazily busy!! After such a horrid year for our industry, it was amazing to see them thriving again.

Hospitality really is a fabulous industry to be in.
It felt so good to be in some of our beautiful country house hotels again

17/05/2021

Never underestimate those who work in hospitality!
I am not just a venue finder, I have spent all my life living snd breathing the hospitality industry. My parents owned restaurants and I started working at 12, I then went to catering college, worked in hotels and restaurants for over 20 years and although now I am on the other side, I am married to a hotel General Manager! I understand it all and I know first hand what the impacts of the past year have had on our wonderful industry. Brexit has also had a massive effect and the industry is struggling to find staff.
So today I wish all my industry colleagues and friends and massive ‘Good Luck’ as they reopen their doors.
It’s one of the best industries in the world. Never underestimate those who work in hospitality because they are all AWESOME 👏