The Definitive Guide To Planning A Dinner & Dance, Part 2
*This is a 5 part series detailing the various different things to note while preparing for a Dinner & Dance, not just in Singapore, but internationally as well. These points are arranged chronologically, according to order of importance. A link to the full article will be included at the end of the last installment. *
2. CONFIRMING THE EVENT COMPANY
Might seem like a controversial choice at number 2, but again, do let me explain. Logically speaking, after the date is secured, the next step should be to secure the venue yes? Well, it’s a yes and no. Yes because you are correct in saying in terms of priority, the next one after securing the date would be to confirm a venue. But securing a venue on your own or with your committee would mean that you can’t tap on the experience an Event Company has with regards to venue options in Singapore or wherever you want to hold the dinner function at. Tapping on that vast knowledge would be key to saving a lot of time and effort which you can redirect towards other pertinent issues.
For example, if you need to find a suitable venue to hold a Dinner & Dance for 1000 pax, and you are unsure as to which venues in Singapore can accommodate so many guests. You could do a Google search but you would not be able to find any specific venues, with most search results returning venue search sites or listicles, which means you would still have to do the research and personally email all possible venues with details about your event, patiently wait for their reply, then arrange a site recce date and time that fits with the schedule of everyone. Quite a bit of work don’t you think?
An event company can help you cut straight to just firming up the site recce date and time. They can do the research and leg work in securing the available locations, setup the site recce, and most importantly, be able to objectively advise you what the pros and cons of each location are. Also, when they head down to the site recce with you, the event company can also do a pre-emptive check on the site’s staging, sound, lights and other technical installations during the recce to see what is available, and what equipment would have to be brought in. This would help save valuable time and effort in the planning of the technical requirements and logistics needed for the event. This is why I placed getting an event company as second on the to-do list. Having the experience and technical know-how of an established EO (an acronym for the Event Organizer) at this stage is essential to getting the event planning off to a good start. The last thing you want to do is to waste time going back and forth with the venue to get essential information that could have been obtained from the site recce.
An event company can help you cut straight to just firming up the site recce date and time.
This of course brings us to the next item on the to-do list, which is…
3) Securing The Venue
Do note, that all of these steps are not independent to each other. Most, if not all of the time, all of these steps would be getting firmed up concurrently, sometimes one before the other. But as a guide, the venue should be one of the first few items to confirm along with the Date and the Event Company. Due to negotiations with the venue, either by yourself or through the EO, confirmation is usually slower which is why this item is third on my list, though it could also easily be fourth depending on how long it takes your HR/Legal department to go through the contract as well.
As explained in point 2, the site recce and consequent in-depth discussion about which venue is most suitable for your needs should be handled with the EO involved to provide feedback and gather crucial information. Once the venue has been confirmed, further communication between the EO and the sales & banquet managers would be required for updates on food tasting, move-in and move-out timings, temporary storage rooms for logistics, required licenses submissions, room structural plans for rigging if needed and floor plan of table placement, among many other details.
Securing the venue would require a deposit, normally around 20% to 50% of the total worth of the required number of dinner tables, with the balance — and other ad-hoc expenses incurred during the night’s function — payable on the night itself, after the event. Most of the time, you or a representative of the company would handle the billing, though there have been cases where the EO handles the payables on your behalf, for a fee, so both you and the committee can focus on enjoying yourself.
- stay tuned for the third part to find out what the 4th and 5th steps are!*
- Here is the link for the first part if you have missed it! And if you want to head on to the second part, click here!
