Hip & Historic Coexist in SoChi

Events & The City
Hip & Historic Do Coexist in Macon’s SoChi District

It’s time to pull out that invitation list and start checking it twice. If the thrill (or burden) of throwing the company holiday party has been put in your lap … will the boss think you’ve been naughty or nice after it’s all said and done? Talk about Holiday Stress!

From location to food to flowers … Macon’s SoChi District (South of Chi Chesters, Midtown & Downtown) has it all. With vast locations to choose from you can have grandly historic or modernly hip.

The first thing on your Party Planning To-Do list should be LOCATION! Secure a place to have the event because facilities get booked well in advance of the holidays. When looking for locations, keep in-mind the size of the group. You don’t want the space to be too large or too small for the guests to comfortably enjoy themselves. There are a variety of event facilities, restaurants & bars in the downtown district that can accommodate any size party.

Obviously a good guesstimate of the number of people will be a major deciding factor as to WHERE you decided to host the event…so work on that guest list!

Now, what kind of experience do you want this event to be? Will it be a seated dinner or are you thinking more cocktail party?

If your group is on the smaller side, a cool option would be a roving party, meaning using two or more places starting at one and ending at another. Start off with dinner at restaurant, move onto a facility or bar for dancing and/or cocktails & dessert.

Lighting is super important. If you are having an evening function, visit the location at night. Is the place too bright? Too dark? Dim lighting makes everyone look & feel better & younger.

Parking is not an issue downtown! Have you seen all the available parking decks in downtown? If you select a non-weekend street parking is vastly available.

I would suggest hiring an events planner to handle the details. The success of the party is all in the DETAILS!!!! Entertainment, food, cocktails, décor, theme … these are not to be taken lightly. If you have a party committee the probability of “too many chiefs, not enough Indians” is a very real thing. The fewer the decision makers, the better the end result.

An event planner’s contacts & vision is what you are renting …they know the market’s vendors and can get better deals on everything. So in the end you most likely will save money working with an events planner.

Cost-Cutting Tips:
- One of the most effective ways to cut costs is to select a non-premium night. Saturday night is the most expensive night to have a party, followed by Friday night. For instance, a Thursday evening or Sunday afternoon would be less expensive.
- Don’t do formal. We live in a more casual world today. Perhaps doing a fun spin on the attire would be more interesting and less expensive.
- Consider bistro tables & buffet tables. Renting tables, chairs & linens can get pricey. Also staff/server requirements go up. A cocktail party is going to be less expensive and more appealing to a younger, social crowd.

Happy planning! May your holiday party be filled with a lot of pleasure & Ho Ho Ho!

* I wrote this article for The Telegraph’s Macon Downtown Connection’s October issue. I thought it worthy to repeat for my blog.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 06th, 2009 and is filed under Lifestyle, Macon, Publicity, SoChi, Television, Terrell Sandefur, The Arts, Uncategorized, event planning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.