5 Steps to Help Plan an Amazing Corporate Banquet

Have you been placed in charge of planning your next corporate banquet? No worries, we’re here to guide you with the corporate banquet planning process. Use these 5 tips to make your corporate banquet planning run smoothly and have your boss smile from ear to ear for an amazing job!

The first step in the corporate banquet planning process is to determine the size of your budget. Some expenses to consider are the event location, catering, entertainment, and the cost of awards and recognitions. These expenses added together will serve as an approximate budget so you have a general idea of what management will minimally agree to spend for the event. Once your rough estimates are more exact down the road, you can negotiate the actual budget if it’s more than you had initially anticipated.

The second step in the planning process is to take a poll of your fellow employees to find out what they would like to have included in your upcoming banquet. You may decide to simply send out a mass email with a survey form asking your co-workers what they would like to see, hear, and/or eat at the event. Some ideas for survey topics are banquet location, catering, and entertainment. By getting everyone’s feedback, you’re giving everyone a chance to take partial ownership of the event, thereby raising attendance.

The third step in the corporate banquet planning process is to choose a location. Many banquet halls and convention centers will offer you package pricing that includes a variety of meal choices to choose from. Some companies hold outdoor events that require an onsite catering service. Whether your choose an outdoor or indoor venue for your event, it’s helpful to get the feedback of previous clients to ensure that the venue and catering service have a history of excellent service with satisfied customers.

The fourth step to think about when planning your corporate banquet is the entertainment. Some common entertainment categories are deejays, live bands, stand-up comedians, magicians, and motivational speakers. Budgeting can be tricky in this area, because even planners tend to under-estimate the cost of good entertainment and think they can get by with spending a few hundred dollars. Some will even make the horrible mistake of having the entertainment be provided in-house. If you try to wing it in this category, you will definitely see a lot of bored and disappointed people mumbling during the event. Another big mistake is bringing in the same entertainment year after year. Try something new each time, such as a comedian or comedy hypnotist, to mix it up and keep your events unpredictable and exciting to attend. Plan on spending between $1000-$5000 in this area to ensure you get quality, memorable entertainment.

Sepan Banquet Hall Is The Perfect Place For Your Coorporate Banquet

The fifth and final tip in the corporate banquet planning process is to present the choices for your event to the budget approval team correctly. Never present your ideas based on their price, but rather with how they’ll benefit the company and the banquet. This can be particularly helpful when it comes to the entertainment of the event, because a) an entertained crowd is a happy crowd, b) exciting and fun events boost attendance, and c) management can easily show that they care about their employees, because it’s not all about working and making profits but about playing and having fun together as well.

Given these five party planning steps, you should be a bit more confident going into the planning process for your next corporate banquet. At Sepan Banquet Hall and Catering, we’re ready to help you every step of they way, and when it comes to the perfect venue and catering service, you know who to call!