I have been to so many parties of all sorts and could point out a dozen “no-no’s” from all of them in one way or another. Most of the time the top of my list is why in the world they had the event where they had it.

Why can’t we just think a little more about the guests, isn’t that what the event is really for? It’s hard to not think about the guests…the food, the seating, the location.  The last thing thought about is what is the true amount of guests that really are going to arrive, is there going to be almost 100% turnout or 50% turnout?  Have you made sure an RSVP is in place so you know exactly how many are going to show up?  The reason I say this is simple, atmosphere can make or break an event.

Overcrowd a room: If you overcrowd the banquet hall it will be stuffy and hard to move around and talk to each other, with music from a band or DJ it’s just plain annoying.  What you will notice is that people will migrate out of the room to a quieter area for good conversation, or they will go outside if the weather is nice.  All of this will ruin good audience participation for anything you or the music host wants to do.

Undercrowd a room: If you undercrowd a banquet hall it will subliminally cause your guests to feel uncomfortable.  Put a bunch of people into a huge room with too much space and they will get into ‘clicks’ or little groups spread out to corners, your party gives off an effect like not a lot of people showed up.  This can also cause the DJ to need to play the music louder to reach the whole crowd and blowing away anybody close to the music thus causing them to move away to a corner at the back as well.  Don’t give people too much room to stray.

Different rooms and outdoors: I’ve seen this a few times and every time it was a failure for the party, having different rooms for people to go to or a bar outside of the party room.  If you plan to have fun things go on at your party please keep everybody in the same room.  If you don’t then don’t plan a chicken dance, a speech, a ceremony, or barely even a dance.  People will be so far away from the action you will need a runner to gather people back into the room again.  This goes the same for allowing people to enjoy an outdoor deck for some fresh air.  This sounds beautiful and CAN be, but the beauty may cause your party to break up and send your guests off to do their own thing and stay outside for the night.  If you do that then you might as well move the DJ to the outside cause that’s where your guests will be.

Recap:

1) RSVP, RSVP, RSVP – Know just how many are coming.

2) Reserve a room that will be filled to 3/4 capacity of the guests you know are coming.

3) If you have ‘fun things’ going on during your event, keep it all in 1 room.

1. Get liquor wholesale. Buy liquor from a wholesaler who will let you return unopened bottles.

   2. Keep beverage cost down. Serve punch, wine only, or non-alcoholic drinks, like sparkling cider or grape juice.

   3. Handle rentals yourself. Get rentals directly from a rental company rather than through your caterer. You can avoid the middle man.

   4. Decide on a morning or an afternoon reception. A breakfast or brunch is less expensive than a dinner. For an afternoon reception, serve cake and hors d’oeuvres, rather than a full meal. Also, people tend to drink less earlier in the day.

   5. Limit cocktail hour. To save money, if having an open bar, limit the cocktail hour, and then serve only wine after that allotted time. Consider having someone pass drinks on a tray-this can help avoid people setting drinks down, then going to the bar to order another one.

   7. Avoid selecting the most expensive menu items. Items such as shrimp, lobster, crab and beef are more expensive than chicken or pasta.

   8. Serve less expensive hors d’oeuvres. Avoid serving hors d’oeuvres that are labor intensive or use expensive ingredients.

   9. Serve food. Have buffet food served by the caterer’s staff, rather than have guests pile food, much of which will remain uneaten, on their plates themselves. This will help also avoid the embarrassment of running out of food-the nightmare of every hostess.

   10. Cut guest list. Reduce the size of your guest list, consider eliminating dates and children of friends, business associates and casual acquaintances.

   11. Check hotel reception packages. Some hotels have special reception packages, which include a discount on a bridal suite when the reception is held there, or when you book a block of rooms for out-of-town guests.

   12. Home Wedding. Have your reception in your or a friend’s home or garden.

   13. Use disposable plates. Using paper plates, along with plastic cups and utensils, may be less expensive than renting china, glasses and silverware. Check rental prices in your area; don’t forget to allow for breakage.

• Bouquet-tossing can be scary for the shy single girls at a wedding, so a sweet alternative is to have each married couple get on the dance floor, and start by calling the couples who have been married 5 years or less off the floor, then up to 10 years, then 15, 20 and so on. When the last couple is standing (the longest married couple) you give them the bouquet as a celebration of their long lasting love.

• To make your special day more memorable and breathtaking, dedicate a special song to the bridal party. You can also dedicate special songs to parents, grandparents and other special friends or relatives at your reception.

• Have the lyrics of your wedding song displayed in a frame near or next to the entrance of the reception room for your guests’ viewing pleasure.

• Put disposable cameras on the guest tables and collect them at the end of the reception. This will give you more precious pictures to put into your Wedding Photo Album.

Put baskets in the bathrooms at the reception hall. A basket stocked with hair spray, clear nail polish, extra pairs of stockings, trial size lipstick & perfumes for the Ladies  Room… combs, hair gel, mouthwash and trial size colognes for the Men.