STELLAR CELEBRATIONS - PLAN, PLACE AND PERSONALITY

After more than a year of putting events on the back burner, we’re ready to celebrate! Whether it’s a grand occasion or an informal family affair, the Golden Isles offer so many fabulous options to host your gatherings. We’re not only a vacation destination, but a wedding and corporate retreat hot spot too. And why not? We have mild temperatures for most of the year, beautiful beach locales, breathtaking marshes, and maritime forest. There are family-friendly activities, plentiful shops and restaurants to satisfy all tastes and budgets, parks, pools, bike trails, and more. It’s the perfect place for your family and friends to join you for a seaside ceremony, for a guys’ golf getaway, for a sorority sisters spa weekend, or for the best work retreat ever! With all the amazing venues and vendors and fun activities offered here, even a birthday party can be something out of this world. And when you’re as lucky as we are to live here, that’s reason enough to celebrate!

PLAN IT OUT

Once you establish your goal for the event and your budget, your event planner or team can do the leg work needed to secure venues, create branding for the event, and source vendors and supplies. They can hire event staff, speakers, entertainment, and work to secure sponsorships or partners. If your event is a charity gala or fundraising event, your organization may have committees set up to handle all of these steps. The bottom line is that the devil is in the details. And from establishing a name and/or logo for the event to getting the word out through all possible channels, staffing the party to selling tickets, and planning seating charts to making sure garbage cans are emptied, there are a lot of details for most events. Familiarity with licensing and experience with logistics can be a lifesaver. Having someone with strong communication and organizational skills who can delegate tasks and oversee everything can play a major role in the event’s success.

If your home is going to be the event venue, you may need to do some organizing there too. There are professional organizers and businesses, like Organizational Heroes on St. Simons Island, that specialize in de-cluttering, staging furniture, and optimizing rooms who can make sure your space is party-ready. Outdoor prep like landscape trimming and pest control are considerations for our backyard barbeques and community cookouts. Nothing kills a great party vibe more than being attacked by swarms of gnats or having to swat away mosquitos! Sweating the small stuff is something you must do when you want your event to be successful, so don’t be afraid to call in reinforcements to help you!

When planning your party, don’t dismiss the morning hours for an event. Bridal breakfasts and baby shower brunches are a perfect way to start a festive day! What better excuse to enjoy a Mimosa or Bloody Mary Bar?! Set out your favorite juices or mixers and go all out on possible garnishes to let your guests craft their own concoctions to go with your favorite breakfast pastries, a platter of bagels from Sandy Bottom Bagels. They can do egg casseroles too! Most local caterers offer breakfast/brunch options.

Kids love breakfast too! Make their next birthday party a pancake PJ party! Set up their breakfast bar with pancakes, waffles, and hot cocoa, and supply all the whipped cream, chocolate chips, fruit, syrup, sprinkles, and any other toppings you can think of to rock their world. If you’re brave, you can do this the night after hosting a special birthday sleepover.

FINDING YOUR PERFECT PLACE

As soon as you have a solid starting point with the number of attendees you can expect and a budget to follow, you can secure your venue. You should start scouting for appropriate places for consideration as early as possible, as booking availability can be limited. If you have a certain venue in mind, you may have to work around their bookings, so it’s important to know whether your event dates are set in stone.

Location is key. You want to choose a venue that is easy for your guests to get to. It should have plenty of parking available. If you have out-of-town-guests, it should be near accommodations and convenient to the airports. Take into consideration whether transportation for guests will be required to take them to/from planned activities or their accommodations to the event venue.

Make sure the venue has the capacity and size to accommodate your guests. This can be a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, because you want your venue size to be just right. If the room is too small, it will seem crowded; but if it’s too big, it will seem empty and under-attended. Book a venue that has a capacity limit just slightly over your target attendance number. If possible, choose a venue that has multiple room size options so that if you need to move to a different sized room based on registrations, you have that option. Consider open air venues or expanding with an outdoor tent to accommodate larger groups without feeling crowded.

A venue with experience hosting the same or similar types of events to yours is always preferable. They know what you need and how to supply it. As mentioned above, if a venue has their own event planner or staff, they can work through the details of menus, technical needs, and more with you. Venues that provide in-house catering and have their own audio-visual system are ideal, as they have everything on-site, know the space inside and out, and can usually provide creative solutions on the fly if something arises on the day of the event and you or your guests need something that you didn’t anticipate. And don’t underestimate the helpfulness and friendliness of the staff! Having to work with an overly bossy planner or event staff that are inattentive or seem annoyed when approached about details or requests can put a damper on the party.

Of course, price is always going to be one of the biggest considerations. Look for venues with competitive rental rates that include room setups, linens, and other basics. Always be sure to ask what’s included when booking a room, so you’re not surprised by extra charges for things you thought were standard. Some venues require food and beverage minimums, venues that don’t allow you more flexibility to create the type of menu you want while staying within your budget.

Don’t be afraid to buck convention when choosing a place to hold an event or host a meeting. Instead of a country club or a beachfront wedding, opt for the rustic barn or country setting. A venue like the lovingly renovated 1895 farmhouse, LaughingHouse Manor, not only offers guest accommodations but has beautiful grounds to exchange vows and celebrate nuptials. You need a productive work weekend for your team? Bring them to the beach! Work in the conference room or offices at The Sandbox and then enjoy an outing on a shrimp boat. Hold your brainstorming sessions after (or maybe during!) a morning walk at Gould’s Inlet. Break the ice with new employees or have fun with your monthly investors meeting in an unconventional way at Matted Ox Axe Throwing or a meditation break in the salt room at Salt AER Studios.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

One of the most important aspects of an event is making sure everyone feels welcome and included. Here are a few ideas that can help with that. Not all of these ideas will work with every type of event, so tailor to your needs.

Plan group activities. If you’re flexible about the types of activities that will be offered, ask your guests what they’d like to do or provide a list of options when having them register for the event. For instance, at a reunion, ask whether they’d like to attend a karaoke night or a sunset cruise; based on responses you can tailor activities or offer alternative options to ensure that all guests have some activity in which to participate. Not everyone wants to compete in the family frisbee challenge! Be sure to ask your guests at registration about any special needs and plan accordingly to accommodate.

Create a social media event page and tag for your event. Invite your guests to interact with each other here and post updates about planning or use it to promote raffles, auction items, entertainment, and other aspects of the event. Use this to generate (and gauge) excitement.

Give tasks or assignments to as many people as you can. This can be as simple as requiring everyone to bring a dish to a potluck or family cookout or involve the creation of committees to man the registration table, monitor the silent auction items, ensure the garbage cans aren’t full, assemble welcome bags. Make people feel like they have a special role to play so they’re invested in the event’s success.

Personalize your event. For a corporate or non-profit event, this means incorporating your branding and sponsors wherever you can. When hosting a family party, add special touches that are meaningful to family members, like your great-grandmother’s apron design or a sketch of the beach cottage where you spent your summers together. A welcome gift or swag bag for each attendee is always a nice touch and perfect place to include branding or event-related swag. If your guests are coming here from out of town, include local treats like handcrafted confections from Sugar Marsh Cottage Island Chocolatiers. Make sure to include a current issue of Elegant Island Living!

If you’re setting aside a photo area, use your brand or event logo on the backdrop. At Elegant Island Living’s 10-year anniversary party, we had guests pose for fun photos with props and gave them each their own magazine “cover shot” to keep. Decorate using the brand colors with balloons, linens, florals, centerpieces, and place settings. Is your company’s signature color green? Hold a “green tie” event and request that guests include green in their attire. Serve a green signature cocktail.

Creating a special signature drink and asking guests to donate a set price for each drink is an easy way to raise money for charity at an event. Create a Purple Passion Fizz to raise awareness about Alzheimer’s Disease and donate the proceeds to Georgia Alzheimer’s Foundation or Memory Matters. A Pink Flamingo can benefit the American Cancer Society’s breast cancer support programs. A Golden Sunrise can be dedicated to local efforts to raise childhood cancer awareness, like Mattie’s Mission.

Not a corporate function or non-profit gala? The suggestions above work equally well for school colors and mascots. Use old photos from school yearbooks, church directories, family photo albums and the like to identify people on nametags or place cards for tables. Create a menu inspired by favorite family recipes and give each guest a book with the original recipes printed or copies of the actual handwritten recipe cards.

If you want to go that extra step and get everyone in your group personalized shirts, hats, cups, beach towels or something else, Tonya’s Treasures has got you covered. Whether it’s “You Wouldn’t Understand, It’s a Butler Thing” matching t-shirts or insulated tumblers for a family golf outing that say “The Greens Know Their Greens,” they can print, etch, or carve any name, date, occasion, or message you’d like on a wide range of products that are available from their three Golden Isles locations. Be creative!

THE TAKEAWAYS

While every party host and event planner wants to make sure their guests leave with the best memories and keepsakes from the event, it’s important that the hosts also have something to commemorate the occasion. Be sure to have guest books for attendees to sign and make sure you’re capturing the fun for posterity with photos and video.

If you’d like something more elaborate than a guest book, request that guests write down and share a piece of advice, a favorite moment from the event, a quote or song that’s special to them, and leave it in a box or fishbowl at the event. For birthday parties or special holiday events, a creative and especially poignant idea is to have a special table set aside for cards or gifts covered with a tablecloth that guests can sign in permanent market with their name, date, and a comment. Pull out that same tablecloth to use at each birthday and watch how the guests evolve over the years. Keepsakes like this are truly treasures.

Party favors and gift bags for event guests should be personalized to the occasion. Individually wrapped custom cookies that feature the event theme or company logo or wedded couple’s initials, etc., are a tasty takeaway. At recent fundraisers, we’ve seen some very cute creations by Casey Mo’s Cookies. Wedding favors have become incredibly creative! “Let love grow” personalized seed packets mean your guests can remember you with flowers growing in their home or garden. There are custom blended coffees, signature scent candles, and personalized wine bottle labels, just to mention a few trends out there.

A special touch is to also include something as a reminder of their time in the Golden Isles. A bottle of Southern Soul Barbeque Sauce might be just the perfect touch or maybe you want something more long-lasting like a cup, hat, or shirt with the Golden Isles logo from the CVB Visitor Center, Island Time T-shirt from the Village, or SSI Tee Time SSI wave sticker. Local boutique Tonya’s Treasures specializes in putting your special message or design on a wide variety of products. Whether a shirt from their favorite restaurant, Sea Island golf hat, or a few shells from the beach, you want your guests to remember the special and unique environment of our island home.

For help planning your next event, pull out the Plan It Connection directory you’ll find inserted in the February issue or access it online HERE. We've compiled a listing of local venues and vendors that welcome your business and want to make sure you have a party to remember!