FINDING THE PERFECT LOCATION FOR YOUR EVENT
Whether you’re planning a corporate event, wedding, birthday party, fashion show, launch, fundraiser or conference; you want your location to be both functional and beautiful.
Keep the following in mind when planning your next function.
Luxury Private Villa vs Commercial Event Space
It is important that the location you choose is appropriate for your event brief. For instance, a private villa would not be suitable for 100+ guests. While it’s a great choice for corporate events and launches, the experience is going to seem less elegant and professional if you have a larger gathering of 150 to 250 people. You’re also going to have to keep the neighbours happy, so you’ll have to make sure there’s enough parking and no noise pollution. High ceilings add a luxurious aesthetic and can be necessary when creating sets for a production or fashion show which involves raised platforms.
From a cost perspective, an exclusive luxury villa might at first seem more expensive to hire as a venue for your event, but if you compare what you’ll spend on furniture, décor, hiring, kitchen equipment, etc. it’s more often the better value for money solution for smaller intimate events.
A weather depending back up plan is always good – especially in Cape Town!
Other factors to consider for the setup of an event include loading in and out, stairs vs lift, availability of a goods lift and extra staff needed for loading.
Parking vs Transportation
Commercial venues usually have dedicated parking areas for their guests or enough space for busses to turn if guests are getting shuttled in.
Private villas on the other hand have limited parking. You might want to get your guests to rather Uber or make use of a shuttle service, or why not arrange a drop-off with vintage cars?
Private Birthday Party Event – Cartel Rooftop
Noise Pollution
This is a very sensitive subject, especially in residential areas. Always consider the neighbours! In an area where houses can easily sell for over R100 million, the last thing you want to do is host an event with live bands and hundreds of guests.
The neighbours will complain and the police will shut your event down. The City of Cape Town events and zoning offices are getting stricter on hosting events at villas. So, when putting a villa forward, I always make sure I tick all the boxes:
a) limit the guest list to 40 pax, b) ensure that guests are shuttled in and out of the venue, c) make sure everyone is out by 23h00, and most importantly d) keep the neighbours happy!
Kitchen for Catering
Most commercial venues usually have a dedicated kitchen area. Since we are such a multi-cultural nation, caterers will often bring in their own equipment to the venues or villas. Example – at our Cartel Rooftop at 71 Waterkant Street, Cape Town – we’ve got a dedicated kitchen area, but from Green Catering (Halaal) to Merle (Kosher) to Escoffier, Stir, Slippery Spoon, etc. can cater there as they will bring in their own equipment, cutlery and crockery. It is essential to not be limited with regards to the kitchen area, as catering is often a decisive factor in confirming a venue.
East City Studios – #MRPsummer2016 Media Event
Lighting
Again, most venues and villas nowadays will have adjustable lighting. It’s still important to check. You don’t want harsh, unflattering lighting on your wedding day that can only be switched to either ON or OFF. Effective lighting will set the appropriate mood for a gala dinner, wedding, shoot and film screening, and can very easily spoil a mood as well.
You can also do wonders with fairy lights and candles.
Cartel Rooftop – Aleit Group Year End Party Event
Sound System
It is important to be in control of sound at your event, from casual background music to live entertainment. I always prefer to use the venue or villa’s sound system. It’s easy to plug in a playlist for ambience, but this will depend on your brief. If you want a live DJ or band performing, you need to make sure you get an AV specialist that has worked at the location before and know the noise restrictions along with the acoustics of the venue or villa. The last thing you want is for the band to be echoing between walls the whole night.
Sound can easily make or break the party – when it comes to a birthday, year-end party or wedding reception, people want be entertained!
Bathrooms
When booking your location it is vitally important to keep in mind that your guests would need restroom facilities through-out the event. When exploring a potential venue or villa, make sure the restrooms are accessible, plentiful and clean.
Always try to have dedicated bathrooms for staff. It is inappropriate for your VIP guest to stand in a bathroom queue behind a barman or waitress.
East City Studios – #MRPsummer2016 Media Event