Now that you’ve the date you can start to look at venues. Before you visit any venues make sure you and your partner have a clear idea of what it is you are looking for. Why not consider whether you would like:

- a traditional wedding day or something more informal?

- somewhere that can provide a wedding breakfast or a simple evening buffet?

- everything in one main room or would you like an additional area with informal seating or somewhere for children to play?

- guest to be able to stay for the weekend? – if you have family and friends travelling from all over the country it’s important to look for accommodation nearby, ideally you should have more than one option including a lower priced alternative so that there is something for everyone.

Something that may affect your choice of venue is the number of guests that you are looking to invite. Start by listing your wedding party and closest friends. Depending on your budget and the type of day you are looking to have you may choose to have an intimate ceremony and wedding breakfast and then invite more people along for your evening event or you could have everyone along for the whole day. Be aware that some venues may have minimum number requirements so it’s important to check the terms and conditions and find out if any booking would be affected if your numbers were to drop (it’s worth working on the assumption that a few people won’t be able to make it).

The main cost associated with hiring a venue is often the catering – some places are happy to hire out and let you arrange your own catering whereas others will insist that you use their catering facilities. To start with ask the venue to send you a copy of their wedding menus. You will find that most menus come as packages, however, don’t be afraid to ask for a bespoke package. Any venue worth their salt should be willing to meet with you to discuss exactly what you want – it is your day after all!

You may already have plenty of ideas of how you would like your wedding to be but it can be a daunting task to start turning the ideas into a reality. The first step is to pick a venue. Whether that’s a local church or registry office for the ceremony and a separate venue for your reception or finding somewhere that can host the entire day for you it’s important to find somewhere that can cater to your exact requirements.

Setting the date can be a challenge in itself but once this is arranged you can begin to work on everything else. The season that you choose can shape the style of your day.

For winter weddings you may choose a cosy venue and have mulled wine or mince pies served or for a summer wedding you might want to enjoy the weather and have a drinks reception and venue that is outside in the sunshine. Marquee weddings are always a popular choice and with the right company on board these can be a success come rain or shine and give you the flexibility to create your ideal space without all the constraints of a fixed venue.

Next week we will continue our wedding tips blog and will include questions you should ask yourself before you begin your venue search.

Plans for growth at the Harrogate Flower Shows will continue apace in 2012 with the launch of two new hospitality services.

Now the UK’s biggest and most prestigious independent gardening events, the twice yearly shows will offer a new VIP experience, plus first class business hospitality.

The VIP day includes use of a private hospitality marquee and cloakroom, morning coffee, a Bucks Fizz reception and a three course lunch with wine. The service also includes an introduction to highlights from the show team and preferential parking.

The 2012 Harrogate Spring Flower Show, which runs from 26 – 29 April, will also see the launch of a new business hospitality service aimed at companies and professionals who would like to entertain guests at one of the country’s premier horticultural occasions.

Run by the North of England Horticultural Society, the spring and autumn flower shows have grown from strength to strength in recent years, bucking the trend for most similar events.

Attracting nearly 100,000 visitors and over 1,000 exhibitors each year, the shows moved to the Great Yorkshire Showground 15 years ago, where they have expanded to cover some 22 acres.

New features including outdoor show gardens, innovative nursery displays and giant vegetable classes have added to traditional favourites, such as Britain’s biggest spring floral art marquee and thousands of beautiful autumn blooms, to increase the popularity of the 100 year old event.

Show Director Martin Fish said: “Many of our visitors and partner businesses have told us that they would like an opportunity to make the flower show an unforgettable experience, as well as a great day out.

The VIP package offers the chance to combine all the favourite features of the shows with fine dining and the use of private facilities for relaxing and savouring the atmosphere of the day. Our new business hospitality service is a natural extension of the range of partnership opportunities we already provide for companies across the region.”

The VIP experience is priced at £99 per person, call 01423 546157 or visit www.flowershow.org.uk for further details. For more information about the hospitality service please contact Deborah Wright on 01423 546216 or at deb@flowershow.org.uk

Show tickets: There is a £2.50 discount on tickets booked by noon on 17 April 2012. Ticket hotline 01423 546157 or book online at www.flowershow.org.uk. Ticket prices on the day: Thursday/Friday/Saturday £16; Sunday £14; under-16s FREE.

Opening times: 9.30am – 5.30pm. Car parking is free.

Instead of facing the crowds in the restaurants on Valentine’s Day, why not show your loved one how much you care by preparing a romantic home cooked meal.

Sophie Dahl has put together an easy but impressive menu plan to wow your partner.

• Starters & nibbles

      Mozzarella bruschetta with shaved fennel & courgette

• Main course

     Crab & salmon fishcakes with homemade tartare sauce

• Desserts

     Lemon mousse

• Drinks and cocktails

     Rose prosecco cocktail

Valentine’s day is considered one of the most popular days to propose, so if need any top wedding tips have a look at our next blog.

Source: BBC Food

You should have the wedding that you want without having to worry about the cost. To make sure you have the day you’ve always dreamed of, we’ve put together a bespoke wedding package* for just £2012.

Our bespoke wedding package is based on 50 guests during the day and 100 evening guests and includes:

- Personal dedicated wedding co-ordinator

- Dedicated event manager for the whole of your wedding

- Venue hire**

- Use of the grounds for your photographs

- A glass of sparkling wine on arrival

- Toastmaster

- A choice of three course menus for 50 guests

- One glass of red, white, or rose wine per person

- White table linen, crockery and glassware

- Late license for your evening wedding guests

- Evening buffet for 100 guests

- Loan of a wedding knife

- Free parking

To make a booking or for more information please contact our events team via the contact form or on 0113 287 6387.

*available Monday – Thursday

**at selected venues

If you fancy doing something different why not join in some of the Chinese New Year celebrations that will take place around the country.

Go and have a look at the dragon dances that are performed at New Year to scare away evil spirits. Or if you fancy trying your hand at some Chinese cooking why not have a go at this peking duck recipe.

Peking Duck, or Peking Roast Duck is a famous duck dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the imperial era, and is now considered one of China’s national foods. The dish is prized for the thin, crisp skin and is eaten with pancakes, spring onions, and hoisin sauce or sweet bean sauce.

If you’re looking for something to do with the children, why not make these paper lanterns and dragons?  These are not only fun to make but would make fantastic table decorations.

Before you start looking through the internet for venues think about your event needs. Write a checklist of things you are looking for so you can make sure that you don’t miss anything out.

Here are a few things to include on your list:

• Location – If you’re thinking about the best location for your venue, start by considering the travel needs of your audience. You can then focus on areas that have access to motorways, major roads or train stations.

• Room capacity and layout – Ask the venue whether they have a room that is large enough to seat all of your attendees, in the layout that you want. You may find that you can fit 100 people if the room is laid out in a theatre style but if you were to have attendees sat around tables you could find that there is not enough space.

Most venues should place room layout and capacity information on their website. To get an idea of how information may be presented and what layout options are available please click here and view some of our venues.

• Parking – If the majority of your audience will be driving, it will be important to have access to a car park. Ensure you find out how many car parking spaces the venue has and if there is any charge for the use of these.

• Accessibility – Think about whether you need disabled access to the building and rooms or a T – Loop for hearing aids.

• Equipment – If you need specific equipment for your event, check to see if the venue is able to provide these e.g. the internet, lectern, dance floor.

• Type of event – The event you hold will affect the type of venue you are searching for. If you’re holding a glittering awards ceremony you may want to look for an impressive and unique venue.

Once you find a venue that you meets your expectations don’t forget to check when it’s available.

The amount of people you invite to any event will always be linked to your budget and the type of food you intend to serve and also the type of atmosphere you want to create.

For example if you want to create a buzzing sales seminar, you may want to invite more people, and provide them with a simple buffet rather than a sit down three course meal. However, if you want to impress a select group of clients, a luxurious location
and a gourmet meal may be more appropriate.

You must also remember that not everyone you invite will be able to accept your invitation. So with this in mind, you should always add a few more people onto the initial invite list.

Then, once you have your final list don’t forget to set a deadline for RSVPs so that you know exactly how many people will be attending and you can plan your event to perfection.

Once you’ve worked out how many people you want to invite you can start looking at venues. Our next blogs gives you handy tips on finding the perfect venue.

When organising an event it’s hard to know who to invite. You might be tempted to just begin writing down names.

However, before you start writing, you need to work out what you hope to achieve from the event, for example, are you;

• Trying to build a relationship with a new / potential client
• Hoping to strengthen an existing client relationship
• Wanting to raise your profile in your business sector

You need to have some clear goals in your mind to keep you focused on inviting the right people to your event.

Then, once you have worked out the aim of the event you can take a look at your database of clients and prospects, or even buy a list of relevant people though a reputable list broker. You can then select individuals or organisations to build your invite list .  Just make sure that everyone on the list meets your target criteria, and don’t forget to look at the level of attendees, do you want to invite managing directors or marketing executives or could there be a mixture?

Whatever your event is, inviting the right people will contribute to its success, and help you achieve your objectives.

The next blog article will look at how many people you can invite, once you have an idea of your initial guest list.

How do I pick the best date and time for an event?

This blog provides helpful tips that will help you work out what is the best date and time for your event. Although the focus is on corporate events, many of the principles can be applied when planning social events, like a birthday party.

What is the best date for an event?

The key to getting started is to think about a wide timeframe, so you don’t limit your options and to give yourself some flexibility. You then need to think about certain key factors that will help you decide which dates are suitable, such as:

• Which key people need to be at the event? Focus on who is a key part of the event e.g. a key speaker, managing director. It’s important to check the availability of these people and to find dates when everyone is free. If it’s proving impossible, see if anything can be changed or moved around in their diary or yours.

•  Are there any notable dates coming up? When planning for your event, think about how your audiences calendar may be affected on certain dates e.g. on bank and school holidays many people may be out of the office, and Christmas can see calendars get booked up with work parties and entertaining clients.

• Are any sector specific periods that will affect your event? For example, if you were targeting accountants, you wouldn’t want to run events during March as this is the end of the financial year or at the end of January when personal tax returns have to be submitted, as these could be some of their busiest times .

• What day of the week works best? There are certain days that will be less or more attractive to attendees, so look at past events to see if there is a pattern to the number of responses received. You may find that you don’t get many responses for Friday events, as most people will want to stay in the office to finish their work before they leave for the weekend.

How do I pick the right time?

Once you have selected a date you will then need to think about the best time for the event. This is definitely something worth thinking about as the start time could see the event gain or lose attendees. Once again, look at past events to see if there is a pattern to the number of responses received and think about what is suitable for the audience.

If your attendees are reluctant to take time out of the office you could look at hosting the event before the office opens. Having an early morning event at 8am could attract more attendees as it doesn’t encroach on any office time, and you will be less likely to have last minute cancellations as attendees won’t get detained in the office.

Let’s recap

When looking at the most suitable date for your event it is important to consider all of the key factors, such as, who needs to be there, what dates and days of the week are best and what time works best for our audience.

Taking the time to understand your audience, their busy times and when they prefer to attend events will have a big impact on the success of your event and the number of attendess that decided to come along.

The next blog post will look at how to develop a guest list.