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Tips on Outdoor Event Venues

As spring approaches event planners start looking for great outdoor places for their clients to host events. While being outside can add to the fun and festivities, dealing with the details of planning al fresco affairs can be challenging. Here are some tips to help you along the way.

Where to Go and What to Do?

The options are too numerous to name, but here are some suggestions:

• Plan a picnic in the park (or at a theme park) for employees and their families.
  
  
• Schedule a day at the races: meet the jockeys and their mounts, watch the races, and hold a post-race party on the grounds or in an event tent afterwards.
  
  
• Take them out to a ballgame: whether you buy a block of seats or have a private VIP viewing and entertaining area, your group can have fun cheering for the home team.
  
  
• Plan a golf outing. Golf courses/resorts often employ meeting and event planning coordinators to help organize events on and off the course. Pros are generally available for specialized clinics or private and group lessons. And many golf resorts offer recreational facilities for golfers and non-golfers alike. (It doesn't have to be serious business!)
  
  
• Have your party on a yacht. Yachts in many areas of the country are available for groups from four to hundreds.
  
  
• Organize a team-building event or team challenge. Hold it at a golf course, on a schooner where your team learns to rig the masts and sail, or anywhere outside for scavenger hunts, three-legged races, volleyball games, croquet matches, and more.
  
  
• Head for the zoo or the botanical gardens. Many such facilities are well equipped for hosting events of all kinds from Black-tie affairs in the Penguin Hall to cocktail parties by the seal pool.
  
  
• Go for a hike. Plenty of trails-of various degrees of difficulty-wind through the countryside and along the shore.
  
  
• Go for a bike. Bike paths are all the rage, especially along old rail lines that are being converted for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.
  
  
• Head for the beach. Organize fun in the sun, from cookouts and clambakes to Frisbee and volleyball games.
  
  
• Book a restaurant with a lovely backyard garden, terrace or outdoor patio for a leisurely cocktail party or laid-back sit-down meal.
  
  
• Attend an outdoor concert and bring plenty of food and drinks for a picnic.
  
  
• Visit a local winery for a wine tasting, a farm to gather fresh herbs and produce, or a nursery to select seasonal plants and flowers for guests to arrange on picnic tables or take home as a souvenir of the day.
  
  
• Stage a dinner dance under the stars with Champagne and live music.

How to Chose the Site

Your choice of venue will depend on what you want to do and the size of your group, as well as your budget.

Location is also a big consideration. Will you be planning transportation for all your guests or expect them to arrive on their own accord? Sometimes local is better if convenience is an issue.

Safety is a key factor, especially if you're taking a group to the beach, on a hike, or even on a yacht outing. Make sure safety precautions are in place before your group arrives (i.e. lifeguards are on duty, the yacht is Coast Guard certified, has proper insurance, etc.).

Check the facilities: i.e. tennis courts if your group will be using them, the clubhouse, pools, restaurants, snack bars, changing and bathroom facilities, etc.

The size, the specs, and the permits: Make sure the place is large enough for your group and that you will be able to do what you want to do there (i.e., light grills for a barbecue, play softball, serve alcohol, etc.)

Also, be sure to find out about special permits you need to secure the site or do what you want to do at the site (i.e. light fires for grilling or clambakes, place softball on the diamonds, etc.) Often a staff person at the venue will be able to provide this type of information.

What's included in the program? Will you need to hire a caterer? Make sure the site has extra staff (i.e. life guards) on call? Are there equipment or facility usage charges? Parking fees? Time limits on when your guests can arrive and when the event has end?

The Plan B

When planning outdoor events, weather is always a consideration. What if it rains on your parade? You ought to have a plan B. Either arrange for a rain date or make sure the site has an indoor option where the event can take place. Restaurants, for example, may allow you to hold your event indoors instead of outside, depending on the available space, but you need to negotiate use of the space beforehand. If your event absolutely has to take place outdoors, however, you need to be able to cancel and reschedule if the weather doesn't cooperate. Venues handle weather-related cancellations in different ways. Sometimes charges will apply, sometimes not. Always check with the site about their cancellation policies, lead times for canceling, rain date possibilities, etc. before you book the space.

The Tent Option

One way to make sure certain types of events (picnics, cocktail parties, etc.) can take place despite Mother Nature's mood is to rent a tent. Rain or shine, a tent provides a festive atmosphere of its own, as well as a welcome shelter from the hot sun or rain showers.

However, tented events have a very special set of unique challenges and detailed requirements that need to be addressed:

• Allow plenty of time to work out the details. Details to consider include climate control, electrical set-ups, parking, rest-room facilities, and insurance.
  
  
• Make sure all permits are secured in advance, i.e. fire and building permits.
  
  
• Know an approximate head count to make sure the structure will be large enough to accommodate the expected crowd.
  
  
• Consider having a floor, not just placing the tent on a grass lawn, especially if there is any chance at all of rain.
  
  
• Hire a professional company, one with plenty of experience in the tent business.

Keep Your Guests Informed

Let guests know exactly what the event they're attending entails. What do they need to bring? (Golf clubs, swim suits, etc.) Can guests rent equipment on-site (golf clubs, shoes, kayaks, etc.)? How should they dress? Does the site have a dress code (no shorts, T-shirts, etc.)? What kind of shoes should they wear (are they hiking or sailing)? Should they bring along insect repellent? Sunscreen? A hat? Do they have to show any particular type of ID (i.e. in order to board a yacht, enter the clubhouse, attend a function in a government facility or UN space, etc.)?

And, be sure to tell everyone what the plans will be if it rains. Note a rain date well in advance, specify when you will make the call to go ahead with the event or cancel and reschedule, or tell your guests that the event will be held rain or shine.