I think we should have dinner since many people are coming from out of town. It could be a casual dinner, so it does not need to be expensive. Often having just appetizers can, in the end, be as costly as a casual dinner.
Hey, this is Kevin. With people coming in from out of town, I think having a dinner is a good idea. I'd be for a cash bar, as it would not be as expensive for everyone as open bar. With that, I think we could help manage the average per person cost of the event with the cash bar, and let people choose how much they want to spend on drinks individually.
As far as appetizers, I think they are great, but expensive for what you get. Depending on where we choose the event, we could offer local people to bring an appetizer for the beginning part of the event if they want to. Just an idea, and I know Renee and I would likely end up wanting to make a bunch of different things.
Here are some comments JD of the planning committee:
It sounds like we're moving in the pre-paid food direction, as opposed to offering food on an individual "pay as you go" basis like at the beach bash. Although I'd rather do pay as you go (to allow people to keep their personal cost down if they want, and ensure max attendance), I recognize the pre-paid direction is the way reunions are normally set up, so that's fine.
I would suggest, though, that we keep the cost below $20/person. Anything over that could seem pricey to folks and depress attendance, particularly of significant others. Based on research for the beach bash, it shouldn't be hard for us to find a place that comes in below $20/person.
And from Gina: I think it would be difficult to find a place where we weren't necessarily mixed with with the non reunion crowd that didn't include a food or drink package of some sort. Most places will want us to commit to something in order to reserve the sqft. I am expecting an even better turn out than the beach bash, which would required a decent amount of space for us all. With that said, I think under $20.00 a person is would be easy to do.
More from Gina: I agree with you that just appetizers can get costly, I guess I need to clarify my suggestion. I was thinking of a casual way to have food, not a formal way where you sit down and have a meal. You can take a buffet menu, which is normally the cheapest way to order, and break it up into stations around the room. That way people mix and mingle while they eat. Of course we will have places for them to actually sit if they want. But usually you only supply a portion of seating because not everyone is sitting down at the same time.
And from Jen: yep, I like the idea of stations (or a buffet) too. if it is a sitdown dinner, then we get into the hassle of seating, space, meal choices, etc. It is like wedding planning all over again!
Comment from Jen: I think the $20 number will not be enough to include an open bar if we want food options, but it also depends on where we are looking at. I gave a shower not too long ago and work on some fundraising committees and $$ adds up really fast. But again, the location is key. Food stations work out well (esp. if simple like carving stations, etc.)
So iif we think $20 is about right (we could also tweek it to like $25 per person or $40 per couple to give us some extra $)- we can start from there. Now we just need a list of possible places.
I agree that the $20 per person price would be the most ideal. And if kids are allowed, perhaps a smaller cost for them.
Alot of people, including my family will have to fly in, get a rental car and a Hotel for the weekend. So this will already cost a small fortune. I'm sure we can find a resonable place that can accomadate us at that price.
We are after all meeting to catch up on old times and see how everyone has progressed in life. And not just for a great meal.
10 comments:
I think we should have dinner since many people are coming from out of town. It could be a casual dinner, so it does not need to be expensive. Often having just appetizers can, in the end, be as costly as a casual dinner.
Hey, this is Kevin. With people coming in from out of town, I think having a dinner is a good idea. I'd be for a cash bar, as it would not be as expensive for everyone as open bar. With that, I think we could help manage the average per person cost of the event with the cash bar, and let people choose how much they want to spend on drinks individually.
As far as appetizers, I think they are great, but expensive for what you get. Depending on where we choose the event, we could offer local people to bring an appetizer for the beginning part of the event if they want to. Just an idea, and I know Renee and I would likely end up wanting to make a bunch of different things.
What do you think?
Kevin
I think having people who want to bring appetizers is a great idea if we can do it.
Here are some comments JD of the planning committee:
It sounds like we're moving in the pre-paid food direction, as opposed to offering food on an individual "pay as you go" basis like at the beach bash. Although I'd rather do pay as you go (to allow people to keep their personal cost down if they want, and ensure max attendance), I recognize the pre-paid direction is the way reunions are normally set up, so that's fine.
I would suggest, though, that we keep the cost below $20/person. Anything over that could seem pricey to folks and depress attendance, particularly of significant others. Based on research for the beach bash, it shouldn't be hard for us to find a place that comes in below $20/person.
And from Gina:
I think it would be difficult to find a place where we weren't necessarily mixed with with the non reunion crowd that didn't include a food or drink package of some sort. Most places will want us to commit to something in order to reserve the sqft. I am expecting an even better turn out than the beach bash, which would required a decent amount of space for us all. With that said, I think under $20.00 a person is would be easy to do.
More from Gina:
I agree with you that just appetizers can get costly, I guess I need to clarify my suggestion. I was thinking of a casual way to have food, not a formal way where you sit down and have a meal. You can take a buffet menu, which is normally the cheapest way to order, and break it up into stations around the room. That way people mix and mingle while they eat. Of course we will have places for them to actually sit if they want. But usually you only supply a portion of seating because not everyone is sitting down at the same time.
And from Jen:
yep, I like the idea of stations (or a buffet) too. if it is a sitdown dinner, then we get into the hassle of seating, space, meal choices, etc. It is like wedding planning all over again!
I completely agree that no more than $20 per person is the goal for cost.
The stations with a buffet is a great idea - letting people mix.
Comment from Jen:
I think the $20 number will not be enough to include an open bar if we want food options, but it also depends on where we are looking at. I gave a shower not too long ago and work on some fundraising committees and $$ adds up really fast. But again, the location is key. Food stations work out well (esp. if simple like carving stations, etc.)
So iif we think $20 is about right (we could also tweek it to like $25 per person or $40 per couple to give us some extra $)- we can start from there. Now we just need a list of possible places.
I agree that the $20 per person price would be the most ideal. And if kids are allowed, perhaps a smaller cost for them.
Alot of people, including my family will have to fly in, get a rental car and a Hotel for the weekend. So this will already cost a small fortune. I'm sure we can find a resonable place that can accomadate us at that price.
We are after all meeting to catch up on old times and see how everyone has progressed in life. And not just for a great meal.
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