Hayley Goodwin, Head of Jockey Club Venues outlines five things you should take into consideration when booking a shared Christmas party for those who are already looking into next year’s festivities.
Décor
At Christmas people want to experience a touch of luxury, so it’s important to make your venue look fantastic. The décor is going to give the first impression of the night to your guests, so make sure it’s something that will wow them as soon as they enter the room – give them something to talk about.
Jockey Club Venues’ advice: Take into consideration modern trends and make the most out of your venue’s space. If you have limited space don’t try and cram everything in; go for something more simplistic that you can make look incredible. Similarly, if you have a larger venue use larger decorations or oversized accessories to fill the space and create a dramatic look your guests will love.
Atmosphere
Everyone enjoys a good dance at Christmas so we always use a DJ at our shared parties. Some of our racecourses also book live bands. This year in Cheltenham we have Britain’s Got Talent finalist ‘Race The Horizon’ and at Wincanton we have The Voice contestant Tom Carpenter.
Jockey Club Venues’ advice: If you’re booking live entertainment you must consider your venue space and the acoustics. There is nothing worse than drowning out conversations but you also don’t want your musical entertainment to get ‘lost’ in the room. Timing also plays a key factor in the atmosphere – a DJ wouldn’t be suitable during dinner but is great for some post-dinner dancing to get everyone up on their feet.
Be different
At Jockey Club Venues we are very lucky with the amount of flexible space we have so we are able to offer additional entertainment. For example, Aintree offers a charity casino, fairground dodgems, silent auctions and a photo booth at its Christmas parties.
Jockey Club Venues’ advice: Size up the local competition. Do something different and give guests something to remember; your venue needs to stand out for its creativity.
Value for money
Shared parties are great value for money and that needs to be reflected in what you’re offering your guests. We want our guests to feel like they’re getting a fantastic experience so we can encourage repeat business not just for the following Christmas but at our race day events too.
Jockey Club Venues’ advice: As an extra incentive this year we are giving each guest a pair of tickets for selected racing fixtures in 2017, which we hope will encourage them to return to our venues and recommend to others. Our racecourses have some fantastic flexible spaces for events, which can be enjoyed all year round.
Security
Obviously everyone likes to get into the Christmas spirit, but some party guests take advantage of the Christmas cheer more than others. It’s important to check that your insurance policy is up to date to cover all eventualities. We’re used to running large public events and our expertise means we place extra importance on security.
Jockey Club Venues’ advice: Make sure all staff working during the season are briefed and confident enough to deal with any issues that arise.
