Wifes Big birthday looming - where to hold a party for 50-70 ?

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stevewestern

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My wife wants to celebrate a big birthday next year (just after Easter) by having a party for lots of seldom seen friends.
We are thinking of around 50 - 80 people, and fairly central for us all, so Bristol, Oxford, Bath, maybe London, or maybe slightly further north.
The sort of thing would be a place to eat, many will want to stay a night, but not too expensive, and before you ask, I have no idea of budget.
Ideally food will be varied - we went to a Sausage place in Oxford a few years ago, or if anyone knows Browns of Oxford, Brighton, Cambridge and London then that is the kind of stuff.

The idea of getting a caterer in and a big room somewhere might be good.

So, if anyone has any ideas, suggestions or thoughts then please help !
 
my main suggestion is find out exactly what the wife wants - otherwise whatever you decide will probably be wrong.

then if at all possible get one of her best mates to organise it to a budget set by you...
 
Going by the title, I would have thought you would know what age she is...

Have you ever seen 'Don't tell the Bride'?
It would seem like a good idea to see what she really wants.
 
Ho Ho Ho...
Well, what she wants is a party for 50-70/80 people in a part of the country that is fairly central for all our friends to get to...
One of her friends will do a lot of the organizing but we do need to start with a few ideas about locations !
 
I think you need to specify a budget, I worked in events/hospitality pretty much all of my working life, but they key is how much you want to spend..as truly that will dictate your choice of venue, me personally I'd always much rather a quite drink and meal with a few close friends...

For my aunts 40th several years ago however my uncle chartered a jet from BA and flew 100 family and friends over to Geneva, where there were two coaches waiting at the airport that took us for a meal as a hotel on shores of lake Geneva...but then he was a really flash kind of guy who could afford that...
 
Could you not just hire Browns in Oxford for an evening? Many hotels have restaurants that they will hire for an evening function, and there are plenty of those round Oxfordshire: Bignell Park hotel in Chesterton near Bicester Village and Hopcrofts Holt hotel at Steeple Aston spring to mind.
 
Take them all here, they do catering too!

http://principlesimages.photium.com/photo2062453.html

Oxford Malmaison formerly HMP Oxford, and Oxford Castle prior to that. They will happily detain you in a cell for the night, so no chance of drink driving.

Actually a fab and unusual hotel, last time I stopped there.

Take your own handcuffs.:rolleyes:
 
stevewestern said:
My wife wants to celebrate a big birthday next year (just after Easter) by having a party for lots of seldom seen friends.
We are thinking of around 50 - 80 people, and fairly central for us all, so Bristol, Oxford, Bath, maybe London, or maybe slightly further north.
The sort of thing would be a place to eat, many will want to stay a night, but not too expensive, and before you ask, I have no idea of budget.
Click to expand...

How big a birthday is it? If it is "only" 40 or 50 then I'd take it the guests will all be working and that kind of makes it a weekend event, so you are into other functions such as dinner/dances or weddings. I think the weekend will also bring premium pricing, so I think you'll have to look at the finances asap.
 
In order to be of assistance, could you please be a little more vague? :LOL: :LOL:
 
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OK, so I am being vague, but thats because I have no idea where to start...!
We and our friends are not wealthy, so budget has to be low.
Kate will be 50, so we are all still working, so it will need to be a Saturday night.
Toni and Ian - I'll look into what you suggest.

Meanwhile please keep coming up with ways to narrow down the options until I have some idea of what I need to be looking at..!
 
whereabouts do you live ?
do you want it to be a trip away or a night out near to home ?
when you say low budget can you put a rough figure on it (low means different things to different people) ?
 
big soft moose said:
whereabouts do you live ?
do you want it to be a trip away or a night out near to home ?
when you say low budget can you put a rough figure on it (low means different things to different people) ?
Click to expand...

We live in Cornwall, but our friends are all over the southern half of England - London, Oxford, Northampton, Midlands and as far as Leeds, so it seems to me that somewhere central-ish would be good which is why I suggested places like Oxford or Bristol.
Given that many have children I guess that something around the £100 - £125 per head is likely to be the maximum many can afford for a meal and a bed, so lower would be better, but as I say, I have no idea what these things cost at all, so may be being unrealistic.
Thanks for the help so far, and apologies for being so vague about it all...!
 
Travelodge and then all steam into an adjacent Little Chef, very classy indeed and I'm sure your missus would remember her 50th

Being slightly more serious, how about charter a river boat that does food?
 
From the places you have said your friends (and yourselves) live, somewhere around Cheltenham looks like a mid point.

If you have a fairly central location I think most, given this sounds like quite an event, will want/need accommodation. I assume you are going to decide on the venue and then let those attending sort out their own accommodation.

Therefore I think you'll need a fairly sizeable town. Small places might not have enough hotels/B&Bs within walking distance from the meal/party venue to accommodate 50 – 80 people.


Rich's suggestion of a Travelodge is good. Most Travelodges (or similar places) are fairly reasonably priced, though this is not always the case for those in popular locations. It would be easier for you to leave all the accommodation booking to the guests but If you approached a Travelodge early you might be able to negotiate a good deal and then be able tell the guests that if they book the particular Travelodge and say they are part of your group they will get a discount.

You'd have to be careful you are not left with an unforseen bill from the Travelodge – the Travelodge set aside 30 rooms but some guests drop out so only 20 are booked and you are asked to make up the shortfall, but I'm sure there are ways around it.

Dave
 
personally for that number i'd say lets book a resteraunt out - then leave it to people to pay their own food and arrange their own accomdation
 
London will be expensive, even travel lodges etc are likely to be£100+ if near the centre.

What about going to centre parcs, not cheap but good fun, especially if there are kids needing to be entertained.
 
I've booked function rooms in local hotels for several functions, which also allows people to stay over on premise. Best we did was for my inlaws 50th wedding anniversary at the local De Vere, great food, and had a Frank Sinatra tribute act to entertain
 
Again, thanks for the help - a Travelodge sounds like a good idea, and booking out a restaurant nearby too - I'll look at what Cheltenham has to offer.
Centre Parcs is another good one, but has been done by one of our friends a couple of years ago.
 
If it worked well for your friends, chances are that it'll work well for you as well!

Maybe a caravan park (static 'vans) closer to home could do you a bulk booking at a decent rate? Easter might be a bit "in season" though.
 
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