Location, Location, Location
Apr 6th, 2007 by surfer_chick
“Why don’t you just find a hall?” a friend asked us.
We did hope it would be that simple. Call around a few churches and community groups, and find one with a pleasant enough hall which can fit about 60 guests (current estimate) for our party in Australia.
Ah, how wrong we were.
We were full of hope for the community halls, which were pretty enough in the promotional pictures. However, most turned out to be senior citizens day care centres, complete with stark strip lighting and a light scent of boiled cabbage. And for reasons we probably don’t need to go into, the religious-owned centres were’t an option for us.
It seemed that we would have to plump for a commercially owned option - a hotel, pub or functions hall. Of course, they all have exclusive catering arrangements. So, little choice as to where the food comes from, perhaps more difficulty meeting gluten-free, kosher and vegan requirements… and the budget has to be tripled.
But finally, we found it! A small sports club in a nearby suburb has a function room complete with stage, private bar and dance floor. We shall work our magic with balloons and fairy lights, and transform it into a romantic fairy-tale!
Well, perhaps not, but I think it will be perfect for us. We’re very pleased to be supporting a community organisation through the modest rental fee, and it even has a pool table (which is on our ‘nice to have’ list) just down in the main bar.
So, having booked a cottage for our UK party, we now have venues for both parties where we can effectively ‘do our own thing’ in terms of decorations and catering. And there we have the NEXT challenges!