Grand Opening Ideas

Keep Your Guests Entertained

A Grand Opening is a festive celebration so coordinate that with some festive entertainment. Nothing says festive like some hopping music. Depending upon the type of venue you’re opening, match the genre of music with the type of opening you’re celebrating. If you’re opening a Mexican restaurant, hire a Mariachi Band. If you’re opening a boutique, it may be nice to have a jazz band or piano playing as background music. Other musical options include, a country band, cover band, party band, or world music, among other genres.

A band is a perfect option if you are opening up a performance venue, like a club, theatre, or performance hall. Most performance venues have a stage which leaves you with a lot of entertainment options for your grand opening. You could also hire on a magician, comedian, or comedy improve show. Any of these entertainers would be great options for entertaining your guests on the opening night of your venue.

Decorative Entertainment and Decor

If you want some more versatile entertainment, an interactive, intriguing option is circus entertainment. These performers can be the center of attention or interact as strolling entertainers. You could have sideshow and variety entertainers like contortionists, aerialists, or fire eaters headline the event on the stage or if the venue is a restaurant you could set up a performance area. Other options would be to have stilt walkers, jugglers, or close-up magicians strolling throughout the crowd.

You can’t have wonderful entertainment without having proper decor to set the mood for your guests. Proper lighting and and other decor will make your event. A fun way to showcase the entrance or stage at your opening is to adorn it with balloon decor in the form of columns, archways, etc. You can also feature items from your venue with the decor. If you’re opening an art gallery, you can showcase some of your top pieces at the opening. For a business or retail store, display some of your items to the future patrons. You could hire an interior decorator as well; this is their speciality, and they know the best places to rent items from. Depending on the venue that is opening you could decorate the space with large, cushy couches for guests to lounge on. If the venue already has seating, then this isn’t an issue.

Have a Grand Feast for Your Grand Opening

You will need to be sure to have proper food and beverage for your guests. If the opening is for a restaurant, then this part is easy. Feature some of your signature items in a buffet line or have waitstaff butler items to your guests. For other venues, hire a caterer to set up a buffet or create hors d’ouvres for your guests. When it comes to drinks, hire a bartender to mix up cocktails for your guests. You can theme the drinks around the type of venue that you’re opening. If you’re opening an art gallery, you could have the bartender mix up classy martinis; for a Mexican restaurant, be sure to have the margaritas flowing.

There are many different types of grand opening celebrations. The main concept to hold onto when planning the event is to be sure the theme of the party revolves around the type of venue or business you are opening. If you want to be sure everything goes the way you’d like it to, hire an event planner to do the coordinating for you. If you need any assistance finding entertainers or services, you can do so on GigSalad!