A Wedding Social in Calgary? - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

JonDuke · 02-05-2013, 05:48 PM

Has anyone ever had or heard of someone having a social in Calgary? I have a friend getting hitched in August and m considering throwing them one. Just not sure if it'll fly here.

For those of you who don't know, a wedding social is a very popular event in Manitoba (also called a Stag n Doe or Jack n Jill in Ontario). It's a fundraiser for the couples wedding.

Rent a community hall and buy a liquor license (or have it at a legion that will take care of booze sales), get a DJ, and invite your friends and family. Local businesses donate prizes that people buy tickets to try to win, 50/50 draw, and typically a big bottle(s) of booze draw, etc etc. They are pretty fun.

We did very well at ours, but it was held in Winnipeg. I would love to help my buddy cover the costs of his wedding by hosting a social for him and am wondering if anyone has experience with how it was received here.

Thanks!

magicpixels · 02-05-2013, 05:50 PM

I did photobooths at 2 this past year so they definitely are being done in Calgary. They are more well known in Sask and Manitoba but with the influx of people we've had I don't think it's such an unusual idea.

ken0042 · 02-05-2013, 06:16 PM

We tried to organize one and ran into a brick wall at every turn. Then I called MLCC and asked them for some advice.

The thing is you are "supposed" to be running it as a break even event. So you obtain the liquor permit based on what you can estimate. You price out glasses at Wal-Mart and then end up buying them at Costco. Estimate bags of ice, then get ice from a buddy who owns a restaurant. Estimate 100 guests but end up selling 150 tickets. Things like that.

The permit you need in Alberta IIRC is called an "occasional permit."

Trojan97 · 02-05-2013, 07:32 PM

Socials are incredible. I would definitely recommend doing one.

vtec260 · 02-05-2013, 11:39 PM

I hate socials....budget your wedding to what your can afford. Basically asking others to pay for wedding that you can't afford.

ken0042 · 02-06-2013, 07:33 AM

I don't think you understand how a social works then. Yes, it works as a bit of a fund raiser for the couple to help offset some of the costs. But the biggest benefit is it gives a chance for all of your friends and family to get together to celebrate the upcoming wedding; not just the ones who you can afford to invite. This is your chance to get the 400 people together, and still have the 150 person regular wedding.

Hockeyguy15 · 02-06-2013, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ken0042

I don't think you understand how a social works then. Yes, it works as a bit of a fund raiser for the couple to help offset some of the costs. But the biggest benefit is it gives a chance for all of your friends and family to get together to celebrate the upcoming wedding; not just the ones who you can afford to invite. This is your chance to get the 400 people together, and still have the 150 person regular wedding.

I was going to say that it seems a bit tacky to expect people to give you a shower gift (if your wife does one) a 'social' gift and then a wedding gift on top of it.

As far as I am concerned weddings are almost obsolete. Yes it's nice to get together and celebrate with friends and family, but for the most part couples live together for a while before they get married now. Back in 1950 you needed a wedding to help you get started because it was taboo to live together, but now many couples are already established.

ken0042 · 02-06-2013, 08:26 AM

There is no gift expected at a social. People buy door tickets for $10, and drinks for $2.50. It's popular because it's a cheap night out for the guests as well.

JonDuke · 02-06-2013, 09:46 AM

Thanks for the replies, and great way to put it Kenn9942!
I have a lot of people telling me that it WONT work, (most of them live in Manitoba and I think they secretly just don't want it to work and would rather it be a Manitoba thing) which is why I want to try even harder to make sure it does. I haven't committed yet, but am pretty certain I'm going to tackle this.
It's just the donation part that will probably be the hardest as we will have to explain to most business owners exactly what this is. I'n not looking forward to that part. Getting all his friends and strangers into a hall to have cheap drinks and win prizes is the easy part.

In about a month or 2, BOLO for the "Looking for corporate donations for a wedding social" thread

KTrain · 02-06-2013, 10:22 AM

The donations part will be the hardest part.

Getting donations for a non-profit fundraiser can be difficult. For-profit companies receive donations from their vendors for parties because they have working relationship with each other. Unless the the business owner knows the couple, I don't see where the advantage would be for them in sponsoring a party like this one.

I would suggest 50/50 draws, buy a Texas mickey of some booze and have a ticket raffle for it (profit goes to the couple).

I just think the amount of effort you'll put forth in getting businesses to donate to a wedding party (that's what they're going to think it is) won't match the reward.

magicpixels · 02-06-2013, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonDuke

Thanks for the replies, and great way to put it Kenn9942!
I have a lot of people telling me that it WONT work, (most of them live in Manitoba and I think they secretly just don't want it to work and would rather it be a Manitoba thing) which is why I want to try even harder to make sure it does. I haven't committed yet, but am pretty certain I'm going to tackle this.
It's just the donation part that will probably be the hardest as we will have to explain to most business owners exactly what this is. I'n not looking forward to that part. Getting all his friends and strangers into a hall to have cheap drinks and win prizes is the easy part.

In about a month or 2, BOLO for the "Looking for corporate donations for a wedding social" thread

Boulder Creek Golf Course has a full size building they use for events that I know will be fairly inexpensive. You may want to contact them as it could give you some ground. I don't think they will care much what you are using the area for as they use it for fitness classes, private parties and fundraisers.

MillerTime GFG · 02-06-2013, 11:04 AM

I'm getting married in August...hopefully you're a friend of mine that I didn't know was a member of CP!

vtec260 · 02-06-2013, 11:51 PM

Maybe I should have a social for me to buy a couple of season tickets to the Flames. It should work as a bit of a fund raiser for me and a buddy to help offset some of the costs. But the biggest benefit is it gives a chance for all of my friends and family to get together to celebrate the upcoming newest members of Flames supporter. This is my chance to get the 400 people together, and if we can't go to the game, I will sell the tickets on CP at my cost.

SeeBass · 02-07-2013, 06:08 AM

I have held a few socials for my hockey team in Calgary.

Easy to do and the people who go to their first are always looking forward to the next one and they always invite more people to come along as word spreads.

it is a great night out and affordable

Tip:- be fussy with the DJ they can make or break it for you
- make sure the bar has prepoured a few drinking cups of liquor to speed up the first few rounds service, nothing stops a party like waiting to long for the next drink.
-Do not spend too long on the mic thanking those that came, do it around 10 so you dont change the party atmosphere in the room when the dance floor is packed
-either hire somebody at an hourly rate to work the bar or ask friends to volunteer for an hour. make sure these friends have worked behind a bar before. everybody wants to be a bartender and everybody thinks they can do it and most times they suck at it. Only let the person you hired or the volunteers work the bar or it will lead to problems.
-sell drink tickets and remember to pull cash every so often, keep note of the starting drink number ticket and the last number left, it wont be accurate as people go home with paid for tickets in their pocket but you can have a rough idea of what was sold.
-ask two women who love a laugh to sell inseam length tickets for a door prize or get a couple of guys to do chest wrap around length tickets (do it around 10 when people are getting silly)
-do not have an auction if you have nothing worthwhile, poor selection just looks stupid.
-dont set your expectation of attendance too high, get a room a bit smaller than you think you need, a party is always better when a smaller room looks full