One of the big decisions you have to make regarding event planning is deciding on a venue. The venue needs to be perfect for the function and it should have the necessary facilities. In the early stages of planning, you can check for function venues and see what prices they offer for different dates. If you can be flexible regarding the date of the event, you may be able to get a better offer on the venue and save up on cost.
You should start looking for an event venue as soon as possible. You will get more options when you start early. The basic details you should have before selecting a venue are the budget, space requirements for the event and the estimated number of guests. If you can book the venue at least 6 months in advance, you will have sufficient time to plan out all other components. If you are organizing a local event, make sure that the venue is close to the residences or the workplaces of the attendees. If the majority of the attendees are from out of town, you should make that the priority and look for venues that are closer to the airport or the hotels that have booked. But you need to consider how they will be arriving at the event and the traffic conditions at the time of the event. All these things should be looked into before you confirm the venue. So make sure you look for transportation modes that easily access Murray River function venues. You can make sure that the attendees arrive at the event at the right time by giving proper driving directions, parking information and GPS maps to the venue.
The venue should have parking or valet parking for convenience. If the venue doesn’t provide parking, you can check for parking lots nearby that you can reserve. You need to ask for the maximum capacity of the venue so that you have an idea of whether it can accommodate your expected guest list. It is not recommended to go over the capacity of the venue even if the management agrees as there is certain fire and safety codes that you need to abide by. Another thing you need to check is whether the venue has a strong internet connection.
It is a lot easier if you can get the catering done from the venue as well. In this case, you may be able to get a better price from the venue as well. But make sure you test their food in advance so that you know what to expect. If you feel that the food is not up to the standard you are looking for, you can always go for a different catering service. But you need to clear with the venue management that outside food vendors are permitted. Ask whether the venue has a cleaning crew and whether they have furniture hiring services. This would make the planning quite easy for you. If the venue doesn’t provide furniture or linen you will have to hire them from a different company and that will include an additional transport cost as well.