Once again, welcome back to our in-depth look at event planning and the decisions that need to be considered as you plan an event. Today we are going to talk about atmosphere and desired formality as they should shape your location planning decisions.
First, referring back to your guest list, who do you expect to be attending your event? Is it primarily adults? Children? Families?
How do you want your event to feel? Is it a laid back social event or a formal training seminar?
You should notice that all of these questions refer back to the age-old “W” questions you’ve heard since grade school: Who, What, Where, When, and Why. “Who” should be answered by your guestlist. “When” and “What” should be the first questions you answer. “Where” is what we are addressing in this and recent posts. “Why” is something you should answer and keep in mind as you plan, as it will shape most of your decisions.
As you can see, these considerations can get very complicated, so rather than list situations and recommending locations, I’m going to list location types with pros and cons of each.
Meeting Hall
This is the serve-all option for event planning. You can find meeting halls in all kinds of locations and styles; Hotels usually have some form of conference center, many towns and communities have meeting rooms in city buildings and libraries, and school gyms and auditoriums can sometimes be booked.
The main consideration for a hall is what size you need–again, this should be answered by your guestlist. The benefit to using a hall is how multi-purpose it truly is. With proper decorations and setup, it can be used for just about any event, regardless of how casual or formal you want it to be.
Another benefit to a hall is that it is not dependent on weather. It works just as well in rain or snow as it does in good weather.
There are few downsides to a hall, none of which are particularly unique to an indoor location. When your event has a large number of people, it can get very warm inside. Also, a hall can have a drab feel to it. This can be fixed, of course, by decorations, which we will cover later.
Bars and Restaurants
If you are willing to share your event with the general public, a bar or restaurant can be a good choice. Many restaurants have private rooms for special events. The upside is that food and drink is taken care of when you decide on a venue. The downside is that you can’t always guarantee that you will have exclusive access to the venue. It can also be difficult to hear if there are special presentations being made, again due to the public nature of these facilities.
Parks/Backyards
Sometimes the perfect solution is to have the event outdoors. If you are having a casual get-together, there are few better opportunities than a picnic or barbecue in a park. Be wary, however, as these locations are extremely dependent on weather for their success. If it rains, is too hot, or too cold, your guests will not enjoy themselves as much.
What it all means
As you choose a venue, take into account what you are trying to achieve. If this is purely a social activity, something casual and family-0riented might be more appropriate than a formal hall. For a wedding or major company event, you probably don’t want the unpredictability of the outdoors, or at the very least you want to choose a venue that has indoor facilities available in case of rain. After that, the venue choice is primarily a function of your own taste and anticipated budget. We will talk about more budgeting specifics in a later post, but the venue should be one of the first things you consider as you decide upon a budget.
Next week, we will begin a multiple post series on entertainment choices.
DJ Jay-Dub
Entertainment Team
The Event Entertainment Experts
Event Planning 101
- Overview
- The Guestlist
- The Venue, Part 1 – Initial Considerations
- The Venue, Part 2 – Location Choices
- The Entertainment – Coming Soon
- The Documentation – Coming Soon
- The Food – Coming Soon
- The Decoration – Coming Soon
- The Details – Coming Soon