Have you ever been to a party that features the most delectable catering, danceable music, and lively entertainment and yet still cant seem to get off the ground??  If you have, then you have experienced the lame-venue phenomenon.  Maybe the party was upscale and the venue was lowbrow.  Or perhaps the event was hands-on athletic, and the venue was white-glove posh.  The significance of selecting the appropriate venue for your event should never be underestimated.   To ensure that your party is paired with the perfect venue, Event Experience event planning professional Becca Iverson offers 5 helpful tips

1. Getting Started:  According to Iverson, the first step to pairing the right venue with your event, is taking a good look in the mirror.  Being realistic about your budget is the best way to get the right venue matched to the right dollar amount.  Establishing a realistic budget for your venue, she adds, enables maximized prioritization for the rest of your spending.   

2. Identify Group Needs: After establishing a venue budget, the participants of your event must be considered.  Iverson says, I always ask a few key questions: What size is the group? What is the style or theme of the event?  Is location important to the client?  What level of access does the client need?  Answering these questions helps to establish an accurate criterion with which to pair your venue budget.

3. Strategize Budget Priorities:  Because the dynamic of each group and each event are sure to be varying, Iverson suggests prioritizing your groups interests.  Sometimes a group isnt interested in the prestige of a ballroom.  She continues, Maybe food is the clients biggest priority.  So well have the event in a community center and invest the budget in catering.  Prioritization is particularly key, when working with a strict venue and catering budget.

4. Pinpoint Corporate Culture:  According to Iverson, when selecting the perfect venue, the cumulative personality or culture of the event participants must be considered.  Is the client willing to travel to a really unique venuethat just happens to be located at the end of an alley?  She adds, Some clients would rather spend more money for the convenience of a venue that is more central to the homes of the participants.  Determining the corporate culture is the cornerstone to identifying these exterior factors.    

5. Atmosphere, Atmosphere, Atmosphere:  The last tip offered by Becca Iverson is to always emphasize the features of a venue that lend to greater ambience.  Pay attention to lighting, use pipe-and-drape to hide less aesthetic portions of a venue, play up interesting table linens to draw attention to centerpieces.  Iverson points out that regardless of where your event is held, creating the perfect atmosphere almost always translates to success!   

--B. Ghorley