Venue choosing is hard work

How do you choose a venue. Where do you have a children’s party? Where do you have any type of party for that matter.

 

Do you have it at your home where you don’t have to pay for a venue but you do have to do the cleaning up and secretly hope that no one spills wine on your expensive carpet? Or do you have it at a venue where you have to fork out money for the venue and the food but at least you can just arrive and leave without worrying about too many of the details.

 

 

The Venue will be determined by a number of factors:

1. how many people you’re having
2. your attendees (this you should have determined in Step 1 – if not go back to the beginning and read through Step 1)
3. the requirements for your catering (water, electricity, bbq)
4. what you need to provide for your guests (toilets, shade, play equipment, ice skating rink)
5. the time of year

 

 

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE YOU HAVING 

 

While you wont know the exact number at this stage you have to prepare for at least 80% of the people you invite saying yes – it is easier to text 4 people and tell them that you are having the party elsewhere if no one else is coming that to text everyone you invited to tell them that the party has been moved to a bigger location.

 

 

WHO ARE YOUR ATTENDEES

 

If you followed step 1 then you should know who you have invited. Your party venue will need to be suitable for your attendees (goes without saying really).

 

If you have a group of adults then you can hold your party almost anywhere that fits your theme: you can have it at home and kit out your house according to the theme or go somewhere that embodies the theme.

 

On the other hand if you have a group of children you are going to need a venue that is suitable to their age group. Here are some very generic guidelines for kids up to the age of 5 years old:

 

• Little babies wont need much more than a comfortable place to roll around and their parents somewhere to sit. If your home has this space then thats wonderful. If not a park or picnic spot is also great.
• Toddlers need a safe space to explore and not much more than a few play things to keep themselves occupied.
• Pre-schoolers need some form of activity or play area to keep themselves entertained. A playground or indoor play area works wonders for this age group.

 

You will also need to take into account whether your guests are going to have to pay to enter the venue and if so whether they are likely or able to want to pay that entrance fee.

 

 

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR CATERING 

 

At the very least you are going to need a table to put your food out – even if you aren’t doing a meal and going with a cake and party food you need something to put it on.

 

Now that you’ve got a table you may need a chair or too – just for the elderly folk in the group and the overly-tired parents 🙂

 

For catering purposes you will need the following in certain circumstances:

• If you have drinks: you’ll need somewhere to store them and keep them cold.
• If you need to heat up food: you’ll need an oven or microwave.
• If you’re planning on barbecuing: you’ll need BBQ facilities that you can use or at least a point at which you can use yours.
• If you want music or hot tea: you will need to have an electricity connection

 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR GUESTS 

 

1. Toilets at the venue or very close by.
2. Whatever you have promised your guests as entertainment – movie night means you will need a TV and enough space for everyone to sit who is going to watch the movie.
3. Parking should be accessible if people are travelling by car. If people are coming by public transport you want them to be able to get close enough to the venue without walking miles.

 

TIME OF DAY AND SEASON 

 

The time of day that you hold the party will affect your venue:

• at midday you will need some shade cover or to have your party inside
• late afternoon and you will need to make sure you’re in a warm environment or out of any potential wind

 

I know that around my son’s birthday I have to worry about rain so I have to make sure that I either have a indoor venue, or an outdoor venue with a plan b or an outdoor venue with a shelter.

 

For my daughter’s birthday it is generally boiling hot so I need to make sure that I have air-conditioning if I hold it indoors or shade cover if it is outdoors.

 

SOME IDEAS ON WHERE TO HOLD A PARTY

 

• Your home.
• The grandparents, relatives or close family friends.
• The local or at least closest good park.
• A playground.
• The beach, alongside a lake or dam.
• Indoor play centres.
• A sports field where you can hire a sports coach to teach the kids a new sport.
• A gymnastics hall or local community hall.

 

♦

FOR IDEAS ON WHERE TO HOLD A BIRTHDAY PARTY IN SYDNEY PLEASE LOOK AT THE LIST OF SYDNEY BIRTHDAY PARTY VENUES I AM COMPILING. 

 

P.S it’s not too late to enter the giveaway in our last post, the first in the series It’s All In The Invite you can win 1 000 Paperless Post Coins.