If you are researching a hall for your social, we would love to give you some ideas of what to look for to help create an successful event.
Everyone that books a hall starts with three things: location, capacity & cost. There is so much more to consider. Here are some key things to look for:
1. Lighting at Hall
Does the hall have to leave overhead florescent lighting on all night to create light or can them dim lighting, especially where the dance floor are is. Nothing hurts a dance floor more than a bright room. People are shy by nature and it really helps get things going if the room is as dark as possible with special dj lighting used to create the light source. Look for a hall that can dim or turn overhead lights off and that has lights on side walls to give light to silent auction tables. Another idea, if hall does not offer this, then string your own lighting around silent auction table so that you can turn the overhead lights off.
2. Late Lunch Set Up
The worst thing you can do for a packed dance floor, is to drag out three social tables full of food across the dance floor at 11pm. If you think guests will keep dancing, think again. You will lose the party atmosphere and it will not come back until tables are removed or guests drink enough which is towards the end of the night. Try and find a hall that you can put the food in either a back room or as far away from dancefloor as possible.
3. Placement of Silent Auction
We understand this is area where couples make the most profit & we love to work with you to push prizes as much as possible. Try and find a hall where you can place the silent auction tables where there is the best light and away from high traffic areas such as dance floor and bar. If you can put in different room, this is best placement. While I am on this subject, when it comes to doing the draw, the quickest way of doing this (as NO ONE likes to sit for 45 mins listening to a draw) is to have dj call the numbers. Have the bags of tickets ready to go, have him call out numbers and get it over with. Do not say what is included in each prize basket, just say prize number 1 etc. The dj is the
most comfortable one with the microphone and due to this, will come across the loudest, clearest and get thru the prizes so your guests can get back on dancefloor. If you feel the need to do thank you speech, do this at end of silent auction and keep it short and sweet. Do not post numbers, it always backfires and takes longer had you just called numbers out in first place. Nothing worse than every song after the draw is posted, for dj to stop the music, and call out the number.
The ideal hall set up for optimum turnout, dancing and party atmosphere is a hall that is close to area that bulk of your guests live. Choose a hall that is realistic in capacity to number of people that will attend. If you think that you can sell 500 tickets, than look for a hall that holds 350-400 as usually only about 80% max of guests attend socials that purchase a ticket. It is better to have a smaller hall full, than a larger hall empty. Find a hall that has separate room for late lunch and silent auction. Look for a hall that the dj is at one end of hall, with dancefloor right in front of them and the guest tables are down the sides of room. Remember, dj dance floor lighting should really be considered when booking your dj company to give any venue a club like atmosphere.
Over the past 25 years in business, we have been lucky to work at all halls in the city. We definitely enjoy going into more than others due to the above ideal conditions that help us create the best party atmosphere possible. We would like to share some of our favorites in various parts of the city to give you some halls to consider.
South Side
St Norbert Community Club | 204-269-4120 | www.stnorbertcc.ca
Waverley Heights Community Centre | 204-269-7000 | www.waverleyheights.mb.ca
St.Vital Mustangs Football Club | 204-257-5242 | www.mustangsfootball.ca
Norwood Community Club | 204-986-7056 | www.norwoodcc.ca
Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain | 204-233-8972 | www.ccfm.mb.ca
Jonathan Toews Community Centre (Dakota) | 204-254-1010 | www.dakotacc.com
Southdale Community Centre | 204-254-6171 | www.southdale.ca
Greendale Park Community Centre | 204-257-6883 | www.greendellcc.com
Transcona/East
Oxford Heights Community Centre | 204-222-2419 | www.oxfordheights.ca
Sunova Centre | 204-336-0294 | www.weststpaul.com
St.James
Sturgeon Heights Community Centre | 204-832-5991 | www.sturgeonheightscc.com
Heritage Victoria Community Centre | 204-837-9653 | www.heritageviccc.com
Army Navy Veterans Branch | 204-896-9897 | www.anavets.ca
Charleswood
Varsity View Community Centre | 204-889-1404 | www.varsityview.org
North/Central
Ukrainian Canadian Prosvita Hall | 204-589-7585
Ukrainian Nation Federation Hall | 204-619-8016 | http://unfcanada.ca/unf-branches/winnipeg/