We’re off! Have you plans for the biggest party of the year? We have! And we’ve got the tickets to speak to it. They’re quite elegant, with little star bursts and an image of a wide-bottomed bottle to summon up all the delicious, bubbly champers we’ll be drinking this evening, to put us in just the right frame of mind for welcoming in 2009.

My man is looking fit in his tuxedo. (Who doesn’t look fit in a tux? Although I really ought to go straighten his bow tie.) I love any excuse to don that slinky black gown, strap on the towering heels (ooo…now I can look at his chin!), and carry that little beaded bag my mum found in Gran’s things. A real vintage item!

The event tickets have been teasing me for weeks, just sitting there on the cork board reminding me of the fun to be had tonight. Even a limousine couldn’t transport me so quickly, in so much style. We can’t afford a limo anyway. And besides, the ride only lasts a few minutes. The tickets are forever. When we’re old and gray, we’ll look back on the stubs in my scrap album and remember they nights we stayed out dancing ’til dawn.

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For some reason, I can’t stop thinking about scrap booking. I’m not the kind of person who buys little themed cardboard cutouts, word bubble stickers, and star-shaped hole-punchers to adorn my holiday snaps. I do arrange photographs in acid-free archival albums, though, and I save little mementos to adorn the pictures. Event programs, ticket stubs, seating cards, and even fancy printed cocktail napkins make the best decorations.

I guess that’s why I like the idea of printing event tickets with just the right image. If my friends and I dress up and attend a charity ball, we’re sure to bring our cameras, and even though we’re shooting digital these days, we still print out the best shots. Our photo albums look even better, since we’re making more conscious decisions about what goes inside. And cool tickets tie it all together. I love the ones that let users upload their own images, so there are recognizable and memorable logos or head shots right there on the ticket.

When you’re putting a photo album together, if you have your ticket stub, you don’t even have to date the page. You just slip the ticket next to the picture. And if your snapshots only show you and your fabulous friends, your tickets give a little glimpse of what else went on that night.

• Date & time
• Location
• Event name
• Sponsor or charity
• Band, musician, or entertainer
• Team names

It’s all there.

Plus, if the tickets have a wonderful design, you just don’t need the cute cardboard cutouts.

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The Victorians kept scrapbooks, the concept of colour printing being something of a novelty in their greyer world. The beautiful images we take for granted today, for instance, in print advertisements, were once modern marvels to be cherished, collected, and admired.

Can we rekindle this love of fine design and learn to see with fresh eyes? At UK Ticket Printing, hundreds of stunning images turn your average, workaday event ticket into tiny work of art. How can your patrons fail to get excited when a beautiful design reminds them of the fun in store for those who attend your event?

I love the Mask Ticket, for example. It’s just a simple Venetian mask in red, gold, and black, but for me it conjures up so many wonderful theater experiences. The mask is a symbol of mystery and transformation, and whether you’re putting on Shakespeare or a fancy dress ball, it’s a wonderful symbol of a magical evening.

The Yellow Rose and Red Rose Tickets offer up a sumptuous glimpse into the intricate heart of a gorgeous flower, just like the work of Georgie O’Keeffe. There are tickets with images of cars and motorcycles to make a mechanic’s mouth water, and abstract designs in a rainbow of colours.

I like to look around the gallery and remind myself how lucky we are to live in the twenty-first century, where lovely colour printing is commonplace and affordable.

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I’m a theatre person: musicals, comedies, dramas, pantomimes. I don’t care. I just love the thrill of the stage. My boyfriend prefers live music but he isn’t particular either: he’ll take rock and roll, classical, and everything in between. On a good day, we’ll have four or five pairs of tickets tacked to our cork board, just tempting us into daydreaming about our upcoming events.

There’s something special about tickets like that. We see a lot of small shows and community theatre, and while a little generic slip that says “admit one” helps us remember our plans, it’s even more exciting to see the really special tickets, that ones that show someone has put some time and energy into customising.

It’s not hard to find relevant designs, and they don’t cost much more than plain tickets. Anyone who’s putting on a show can order tickets on-line. With a fun illustration and all the important details, the right ticket helps stir up some excitement long before your show starts.

I don’t know why anyone would want to do any less for the patrons who come out to support them!

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