Choosing the right event venue is the first step in creating a memorable event. As event planner, you need to match the event goals to the event setting.
Let’s say you client wants to host a VIP luncheon for 100 top customers. The president of the company will speak and high profile business people from the community will be seated at the head table. Your job is to WOW them all.
Budget
The first thing you need to do is eliminate venues that exceed the budget and venues that are cheap and inappropriate. Typically a restaurant will be the least expensive, country clubs and other private venues will be more expensive, and hotels will be the most expensive. Often the price of the rental is secondary to the cost of food and beverage you must buy from that venue.
Sight Lines
Make sure that the event venue space has clear sight lines for every guest. Columns, walls, and other obstructions should not prohibit even one guest from seeing the speaker. Such spaces are hardest to find in restaurants and easiest to find in country club and hotel ballrooms.
The WOW Factor
For this event, however, you want to look beyond the ballroom for the unique, the creative, the impressive. You want guests to leave with the feeling that the experience that they just had could not have happened anywhere else but in this fabulous location. Here are suggested venues that can help you accomplish that goal:
- Venues with spectacular views: waterfronts, mountains, desert, the top floor of a skyscraper
- A sound stage at a movie studio
- A presidential library
- A large yacht or ship
- A museum (car, art, airplane, etc.)
- A historical site
Just make certain the event venue is accessible. You don’t want guests to have to drive more than 30 minutes. In my world, attendees often are from out of town and are coming from a convention center. You don’t want them to have to spend more than 30 minutes (10-20 minutes is ideal) traveling to the venue. Time is important, and your attendance can be greatly affected if the event venue is located in a remote area, even if that area has a big WOW factor.
Happy planning!
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