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Secrets to Picking the Right Venue

The venue with the best deal may not always be the perfect venue for you. Understanding your guests’ needs and the desired vibe of your party is the first step to choosing a venue.
 
Do not pick too large a space or overestimate your guest numbers as open spaces can make your party feel empty and dead. This is often the biggest mistake clients make by choosing venues that are too large for their party and subsequently having to deal with dead space and a sparse room.
 
Assess the following when picking the right venue

• If everyone is traveling by train/tram, check how far the venue is from local transport. Will it be easy to get a taxi home at the end of the night?  
• Is parking close or convenient?
  
• Does the vibe of the staff and venue match the vibe of you and your guests? 
  
• Do you want a sit down setting or a cocktail stand up setting? Factor this into your selection
  
• Is it important for your venue to be close to other entertainment, such as clubs, bars or restaurants?  Are you planning on continuing on to other bars or clubs after your function concludes?
  

Arrange to visit the venue for inspection at a time similar to the time you will be hosting your party.  For instance, how a venue looks at 2pm in the afternoon in sunlight will be very different to how it will look at 9pm when the lights are low, and the mood is darker.
If allowed, it helps to drop in while there is a party/function in progress with numbers similar to yours so you can assess the room, capacity and the mood on the night when things are in full swing.
 
If you are busy and time is a factor, find a venue with a competent function coordinator who can spend time assisting you and planning your function to take much of the stress and workload off your back.  Some venues will offer you a dedicated function manager available 5 days a week to assist you, so that once you’ve decided on your budget, food, numbers and entertainment they will look after the rest.  There may not be an extra cost for this, but it will be built into the overall price or room hire fee.  If you want service, be prepared to pay for it.
 
Some of the benefits of using more experienced venues with function coordinators:

• Available throughout the week to answer questions, meet with you and  work on your party
• Experience, advice and tips on organizing the perfect night
  
• May help you save a few dollars through their expertise as well as maximizing your budget
  
• Contacts in the industry
  
• Take over most of the planning for you Smaller, cheaper venues may often also be more flexible and negotiable whereas larger established venues may not have this flexibility due to rigid systems and structures which are essential to manage their volume of business. 
  
• Less risk of something going wrong resulting in a well run nightDon’t automatically assume however that just because a venue is cheaper they won’t offer a high level of service.  Sometimes, smaller or quieter venues may have more time to dedicate to your needs, while busier venues may be too busy to personalize their service and be as attentive as you would like.  Assess each venue and each function manager independently.
  
• Takes the pressure off you when it comes to making big decisions
  

See also "Negotiating with Venues."