When it’s time to celebrate with a big party, costs can add up quickly. You want your special celebration to be elegant and enjoyable but you don’t want to break the bank to host a phenomenal bash. Whether the occasion is a special birthday, anniversary, engagement, retirement, wedding, holiday, reunion or any other of life’s milestones, the goal of a remarkable party is to bring people together with a certain degree of style and panache. Those exceptional elements that punch up a party from ordinary to extraordinary needn’t be overly expensive. The key is to break it down into parts and decide precisely what elements spell “special occasion” to you, what needs a “professional’s” hand and what can be done yourself – or delegated to friends or family.
Venue is everything
Restaurant banquet rooms may seem to be the obvious place to hold your bash. While they may be convenient, close to food and well-suited for your purposes, you’re obliged to serve food from that restaurant, at their offered price and served by their staff. If you can find a restaurant with the ideal combinations of these elements at a price you like, you’re lucky indeed.
It may be wise to look outside the box for a different venue. A stand-alone banquet facility, the party room at a country club or perhaps a church or municipal social hall are worth consideration. These are more independent venues where you have greater flexibility in who provides your food and services, the overall cost and the particular details of your event. You may even have a bigger choice of date/time availability.
Some details over which you may have more control in an independent facility include:
- Food – Your menu is the single costliest – and most impactful – element of your celebration. Therefore, it should be as tasty and impressive as possible. Hiring a caterer may well afford you that elegant, personalized touch a truly special occasion deserves. Options offered by a caterer can be wider and vastly more customizable than the food available from a restaurant’s kitchen. An independent venue will also allow you to bring in homemade foods, if desired.
- Beverages – Another expensive part of a big celebration can be beverages – especially when you want to offer your guests liquor. Restaurant prices on liquor are notoriously high for single-servings. When you consider an independent venue, you can probably bring in your own alcohol which you can purchase at lower prices, avoiding the middle-man’s markup. Purchasing the specific kinds and brands of liquor your guests enjoy is way you can provide an even more custom party experience.
- Decor/Ambiance/Party Experience – Even a plain banquet room can become “celebration central” with a bit of creativity and the willingness to ask friends and family to share their talents and abilities. Decorations, music, photography and other personalized touches may be only as expensive as an invitation to the party.
- Serving – There are options to having your party food served to guests by a wait staff. Consider buffet or family-style service as an option. These means of food distribution are less labor-intensive while allowing guests to customize their food choices for themselves.
- Cleanup – A restaurant will have a cleaning crew to clear the mess after your party is over, of course. Some venues have a maintenance staff to clean the facility after use whose cost is included in your rental fee. Otherwise, you may want to ask for volunteers to help you return the place to the condition in which you found it.
You can enjoy a terrific celebration, made even more terrific because it was uniquely personalized and affordable!
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