Whether you’re bringing people together for a wedding, anniversary celebration, birthday, or baptism, there are certain considerations concerning how you’d like the event to feel. If you prefer intimate gatherings, you might assume that there’s no way to achieve this atmosphere when the guest list is considerably long. In truth, a bit of creative thinking can help you discover a plethora of options that can give even the biggest of events a small feel. Review these tips and feel inspired for planning your next big celebration.
Work With the Space
The overall vibe of your event will be dictated by a few key factors. Above all else, the venue itself will have the biggest impact. This means you can start your design journey by assessing the space where the event will unfold. If you’re anticipating a lot of attendees, your main focus should be on decluttering the space. A venue with cumbersome décor can overload a room to begin with, so work with management on making the event room as open as possible. This gives you a perfect blank canvas.
Simplicity is key when you want to encourage an affair that feels like an intimate gathering of friends. When there is ample space for guests to move about and mingle, there’s less of a chance your event will feel like an overcrowded frat party.
Play With Lighting
Ask anyone in the world of theater about setting a mood, and they’ll all tell you to focus on the lighting. Using a few clever elements can turn even the largest of festivities into a peaceful and ambient affair. Mood lighting is always a good fit for nighttime events, meaning you’ll get a lot out of an investment in tea candles and string lights. For daytime gatherings, work with natural lighting as best you can. If sunlight stands to flood the room with too much brightness, colored curtains can cast whatever tones you’d prefer over the crowd.
Unless you’re a skilled electrician or professional light engineer, you may need to do a bit of research to pull off the perfect effect. Look up images online that capture the lighting you’d like for your gathering and put some effort into finding out how to successfully replicate the mood on your own.
Make Everything Easy
One of the biggest challenges of a large event is trying to coordinate all of the guests without anyone getting lost in the shuffle. To guarantee this at your own celebration, focus on making each aspect of the event as easy as possible. If there are table settings, arrange the information in a way that allows every guest to find their seats without a struggle. Similarly, simple signage can point attendees in the direction of the bar, bathroom, or whatever vital location they need to find. When people are kept in the know, moods tend to be calm and agreeable.
Use Sentiment to Your Advantage
Events always feel more intimate when guests have a personal connection to the moment. This is where a simple concept like a photograph can work wonders. If you’re planning a wedding, for example, consider displaying your favorite photos of yourself with each of your guests. Whether you hang physical pictures or project a slideshow of digital images, this gesture makes everyone feel included in the love and warmth of the moment. Decorating with photos works for any kind of event, whether you’re planning a child’s birthday party or a memorial service for someone you’ve lost in recent years.
Find the Perfect Fit
No matter how large the event you’re planning might seem on paper, there is nothing stopping you from shaping the celebration into one that feels relaxed and intimate. When you control simple elements like the flow of the venue and the way the space is lit, you’ll discover that you have unlimited design options at your disposal.
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