5 Covid-Related Questions To Ask Your Venue
With Covid-19 making it a continuing nightmare for event designers to plan special events, there are a number of situations you may not have considered when it comes to choosing a suitable venue.
If guest numbers have to be reduced
If you had booked say, a hotel function room for 100 guests, and now the space per square metre dictum requires that you have to reduce the guest list numbers to 50, how can your venue accommodate this without losing any of the atmosphere?
When guests have to keep their distance, a function room designed to accommodate 100 attendees can look positively barn-like, and distinctly lacking in a sense of connection, if it's scattered with just 50 guests. Does their venue have an adjoining garden, a rooftop bar, or an outdoor pool area suitable for a cocktail party - and even more importantly, will it be available to use on your event date? Find out how you can visually fill a large space.
If the venue is booked out
Smaller-scale venues are now likely to be the first ones to booked as large-capacity venues designed for hundreds of guests may be adversely affected by the new guest number guidelines. They may be restricted from taking more than one event booking per day, especially if deep cleaning is required after every event.
So be flexible about your choice of venue, event date and time. You may need to swap a large yacht club for a beachside restaurant, or a Friday evening cocktail party to a Wednesday breakfast.
If the travel zone lockdown areas get enforced again
If you're planning an event, you may need to seriously reconsider the location of your venue. When Melbournians were famously restricted to travel within a 5km zone from August to November 2020, it severely limited movement for millions of people.
Where do the majority of your guests live? If they're employees, you may need to organise an event planner to hold your launch at your premises or close by.
If it's a store opening, you may wish to either delay your opening party or celebrate it in a year's time. Alternatively you may decide to host a hyper-local event where guests who live and/or work within the zone can attend.
If existing decor and furniture can be changed
If your venue is a blank canvas, you will need to bring in virtually every element. But if it's a historic house, for example, you might restricted to using most, if not all of the decor and furniture provided, especially if part of your venue hire contract stipulates that anything used by guests require deep cleaning. For example, their in-house acrylic Tiffany chairs can be easily disinfected but hiring designer cotton upholstered, rattan backed Louis chairs might prove hard to deep clean.
In extreme circumstances, you may have to give your venue a highly detailed list of every item you're supplying, from gold cutlery to placecards in case their staff come into contact with them. See whether you should rent chairs or chair covers.
If setup, access and cleaning arrangements change
Check if your venue allows you the same, less or more time to setup your event.
As the Covid-19 impact continues, they may need to see paperwork proving all of your suppliers have been recently tested for the virus and checked negative. You may need to wear masks and gloves while setting up which could add time to your bump-in arrangements.
Will there be a higher cost for cleanup? Will they add deep cleaning bills to your venue hire quote?
You may be charged the same cost for a pre-Covid 19 event as one now with half the guest numbers due to the increased social distancing requirements.
Enjoyed this? Discover Questions You Should Ask Your Venue
