Party Tips: Dealing with Dilemma

Communicating Plans to Each Guest
Before heading out for a night full of dancing, drinking & debauchery, make sure that all of your guests are in the loop for what you have planned. The best way to do this is by verbal communication with each guest. Though it can seem time consuming, it is one of the most important aspects of planning a successful event. Emails, text messaging and other forms of invitations can easily be lost or overlooked. If you collect payment from each guest, be extremely specific as to what their money is contributing towards. Go over package details, itineraries, and drink specials to avoid confusion later in the night.

At the Door
It almost seems that all door hosts are required by law to be an ass. Let’s take a second to remember the responsibilities of a door host.

1. Greet guests
2. Check IDs
3. Enforce dress code
4. Refuse entry to guests who may be intoxicated

When you arrive at a club, be prepared to deal with an egotistical door host. Make sure your group has their IDs ready when arriving. The first person checking in should be the person who made the reservations, the designated driver or the most sober. If you have pre-made reservations, inform the door host prior to standing line. The door host should check the list and let your group in after checking IDs. Sometimes they may ask your group to wait while they help another group and this is normal. If you run into any issues with your group not being on the list, inform the door host of when and who you made your reservations with. If this is no help, kindly ask to speak to a manager.

Normally reservations made during the week are with an event coordinator or daytime manager who does not work on the weekends. The reservation list is passed on from the weekday employee, to the weekend manager. After looking over the list and adding last minute reservations, the weekend manager will give the list to the door host. By this time it has been handled by many other employees so it is possible that names have been removed, misspelled, or accidentally crossed out. Make sure you play it cool, no matter what the case.

If you made reservations with a 3rd party or promoter, you should have a number to call  and inform them ASAP. Make sure the rest of your group remains informed and calm. Any angry guests or  rude comments can ultimately lead to the door host denying entry to your group. In all reality, the door host has final say who is allowed entry and the whole night atmosphere is created by the experience you have at the door of a bar or nightclub. Door drama can linger all night with your group and the best way to deal with issues is to address them and move forward. If you are turned away for whatever reason, lead your group to the next bar or club and shrug it off. You and your group do not want to spend your money at a place that is denying your party entrance anyways.

Drunken Patrons
Once in a bar or club you are bound to run into a customer who has had a little too much to drink. If one of these happy drunk dancers spills their drink on you or one of your friends, take a second to analyze the situation. Although you might be extremely pissed off, try to calm down, dry off your clothes and cool off. In this scenario, the spilled drink can escalate to a bar fight which will get your group kicked out, and ruin the entire night. In the end, it’s really not worth it. I suggest that you laugh it off and ask the happy person who spilled to buy the you and/or the guest of honor a shot or a drink to make up for it. If you do run into an issue with another person or group, it is best to inform a member of security. If an altercation does emerge, security will most likely escort the other group out of the venue.

Intoxicated Friends
No one wants to regulate the amount of alcohol consumption during a party, however when combining alcohol with a group of close companions, it is imperative to make sure that everyone is drinking responsibly and within their limit. As the planner, you are in charge of making sure things run smoothly and getting any over-served guests, back to their home or hotel safely. If not, drunken friends can create unwanted stress and ruin the entire evening. Keep your eyes open for a few hinting mannerisms that might indicate one of your friends is on their way to a drunken stupor. Rambling or slurring words, having difficulties paying attention, and sharing extreme emotions (love, lust, anger or sadness) are just a few instances where you may need to assist a friend to grab some grub or head to bed. Though this may seem to put a damper on the party, taking care of your friends can help avoid embarrassment, fights, jail, or even worse; hangovers! Keep the momentum for the party going and don’t let it ruin the night.

Busy Bartenders & Servers
Typically at any bar or nightclub, bartenders are more likely to take care of their customers in this order: Big Tippers, Regulars, Friends, Ladies and lastly guys. The best way to ensure getting your drinks well made and quickly is to take care of your servers and bartenders. The more you tip, the more attention they will give you. In most cases, good tipping will get you free drinks or shots, a discounted tab, and a new friendship. When you are friends with the bartender, you are guaranteed to be served first over some joe schmoe who just walked up to the bar. Remember that the person serving you drinks can make or break your night. Bartenders & servers usually make about 2-3 bucks per hour and your tips are what they use to pay their bills and fill their fridge. Take care of those who serve you, and they will be sure to return the favor.

The Guest of Honor
If planning for a birthday, graduation, promotion, anniversary, or bachelor/ette party it is imperative that you keep any insignificant issues from the guest of honor. The main focus for the night is to ensure that they create memories to associate with their celebration. Again, in the event of a small issue, address and resolve the problem away from the party and GOH to avoid and unnecessary concerns or frustration.

When planning any type of event in Chicago it is always best to expect the unexpected. How you deal with a potential dilemma will determine if your night is one to remember or one to forget. In some cases, everything will go exactly to plan, and that is great! However; make sure to prepare yourself for anything, communicate with your guests, create back up plans, brush off little bumps in the night and always keep a positive attitude. It will encourage your friends and guests to do the same and in the end, it will create a great atmosphere and result in everyone having a great time!

Who Needs Vegas? Chicago is the new Sin City!

Most guys think the best place for a bachelor party is Vegas; The city known for its nightlife and debauchery. But, just the thought alone will burn a hole in your pocket. The typical Vegas bachelor party will include transportation (usually a limousine), a nice dinner (also known as “the last supper”) VIP Clubbing, and who could forget the female entertainment. After the airfare and the hotel rooms, these 6 bachelor party necessities are going to break the bank, alone. Gambling at the casinos, and a couple Las Vegas shows is a must and now the price tag on that one weekend is probably over $2,000.00 per guy, no joke! Now thinking back, is Vegas really the best place for a bachelor party?

Chicago is becoming more popular and is looking up to be the new “Sin City”. The search for 5 star hotels, casinos, limousines and nightclubs is not difficult at all. Just take a look at a few of the VIP options Chicago has to offer…

Hotels
Celebrities are coming to Chicago to party in the Thompson Penthouse Suite at the Sax hotel. This is suite is 1800 square feet with 2 full bathrooms, an entertainment room with 4 extra-large flat screen tvs, a separate dining room and a full service bar area.

Transportation
On any given Friday or Saturday night the windy city streets are bumper to bumper with limousine party buses and stretch SUVs that drop off thier VIPs at the hottest nightclubs Chicago has to offer.

VIP Clubbing
Chicago bachelor parties who want to hit the Vegas style nightclubs will not have an issue. Detention, Bevy, Stone Lotus, Spybar, Max Bar, and Social 25 are sexy nightclubs perfect for bachelor parties in Chicago. Detention Nightclub was made for the Chicago bachelor party! The all-female staff wear their short school uniform skirts as their trademark. At Stone Lotus the entire back side of the club is a giant waterfall which gives the calming effect of a spa which draws attention to a younger crowd of women. Spybar is known for the best DJs in the city and surprise celebrity DJs on Friday and Saturday nights. These places load up on the ladies, just make sure to dress to impress as these Chicago Nightclubs have strict dress codes.

Gambling
After gambling in Chicago was legalized in June 2011, Casinos have been popping up all over the city! The largest and most popular  located just 20 minutes from down town is The Horseshoe Casino which boasts more than 350,000 square feet of casino floor. A perfect option for a bachelor party looking to gamble with over 3,000 slot machines, over 100 world-class table games, and the largest poker room in the Midwest. That’s not all Chicago keeps up its sleeve. No way! Bachelor parties can even have a professional poker or black jack tournament in the private area of a bar, or in their hotel suite. Professional dealers, professional tables, even professional chips. Roulette and craps tables can be brought in too, so let the games begin!

The Last Supper
Chi town bachelor party food options are simple. Guys are looking for steak houses and Chicago has many to offer. Mortons, Gibson, Brazzas, Chicago Chop House, and Ruth’s Chris are all great places for a good meal. David Burke’s Primehouse seems to be extremely popular and is conveniently located inside the James Hotel, (Another amazing 5 star hotel). however the best of the best is found at ZED 451. Here your guests are served an unlimited amount of steak, in addition to other high quality specialty meats including chicken, fish, lamb, duck, lobster, and pork. The price here matches the typical steak house, but the full experience is worth so much more.

Female Entertainment
Chicago has more than enough places for guys to see girls. Pink Monkey, Club 390, VIP Gentlemen’s Club, and Scores Chicago are just a few places scattered throughout the city for a bachelor party. Bachelor party strippers are also easy to find. There are over a dozen websites that will help you get the girls back to your room for the private show for your bachelor.

Party Extras
The Chi Town bachelor party has tons of unique options as well. Sports fanatics can choose baseball, golf, bowling, go kart racing or paintball. The most unique option combines an open bar package with bumper cars, a whiffle ball, a lacrosse scoop, and an upwright basket ball hoop. Whirlyball is the number one extra activity for a Chicago bachelor party. It’s difficult to explain, but it’s more than fun to participate in the drunken sport.

Creating a VIP weekend in Chicago is not difficult at all if you know what to look for. A pre-discounted, all-inclusive package which includes a full dinner, VIP Clubbing (No cover, express entry AND drinks included!), Limousine transportation for 7 full hours, and female entertainment could run as low as $100 per guy. This price even includes tax and gratuity for your driver. If hotels are a must, Discounted suites can run as low as $299 at a 5 star hotel and include a 1100 square foot room with 2 bathrooms, a king size bed, and pull out sofa couch. Split that amongst the guys and BOOM, there is that VIP Bachelor party in Chicago.

So think about it guys. When choosing a destination for a bachelor party, consider hitting up Chicago. The cost for an entire weekend in the windy city costs less than a one way plane ticket to Las Vegas. Compare your options and rethink your budget. Check out Chicago. It’s like going to Vegas, without going broke!

Bachelor Party Strippers

Strippers- It’s the first thing that comes to mind when planning a bachelor party. Though most guys feel that girls are a “must have” to make the party a success, you should really be more concerned with the groom’s feelings on having erotic women be a part of his last night out. If he decides he doen’t want the entertainment, don’t force him into it. He probably has an agreement with his future wife and if anything blows up in his face, you will be the one responsible. If he does want dancers, VIP Bachelor highly recommends choosing a gentlemen’s club over ANY company that sends girls to a home or hotel. About 99% of the time- private dancers show late, or never show up at all. This can really put a damper on the party if girls are the main event, especially when you have 20+ guys who have been stuck in a house or hotel with eachother waiting and waiting and waiting for a girl to come in and break up the sausage fest.

With almost 10 years of planning experience, and working with DOZENS of different “proffessional” companies who offer at home entertainment, VIP Bachelor has found it best for bachelor parties to head out to a gentlemen’s club where you know the girls will be there for sure. There is no guessing as to the cost of dances and if you want privacy, most clubs offer private rooms. Gentlemen’s Clubs work best not only because you can plan on going whenever works best for your group, but you also have the high energy of a club setting. If you do have to convince the bride- it’s easier to sway her into having the entertainment since it’s in a public setting.

Just remember- The most important factor in deciding on female entertainment is the groom. Keep him in mind, after all- it is his party.

Bachelor Party Ideas:Bar Hopping

Lets face it guys, celebrating the bachelor party would mean nothing unless you hit up a few bars, pubs, breweries or nightclubs for the last night out. Luckily Chicago has hundreds of different bars and clubs to choose from. But which is the right style for your groom? If the atmosphere is wrong for your group it could possible kill the whole night, but no worries. VIP Bachelor can assist you with those decisions to get your group of guys in the right bar, club or pub and at the right time. Your guests will never have to pay a cover, or wait in line and your drinks are included at each venue.

Whether you have 5 guys or 50 guys a big part of the night will be deciding on how you get to each venue. Arrive at each bar with music blaring from your party bus, or pull up in style with a limousine. If you are on a budget- party vans are a definite way to keep cost down but still get around to each destination. Other alternatives include pick up and drop off service and public transportation. No matter what you decide, VIP Bachelor strongly suggests to have a plan for transportation throughout the night. This will ensure each guest returns home safely.

Some of the places we work with include Some of the clubs we work with are: English Bar, District Bar, Lasalle Power Company, Spybar Nightclub, Crimson Lounge, The Joynt, Sound Bar Nightclub, Griffin Lounge, Jbar, Excalibur Nightclub, Vision Nightclub, Leg Room, Macfaddens, Original Mothers, Funk Nightclub, The Loft, Bootleggers, Detention Nightclub, The Stretch, Red Ivy, Rebel Bar, The Curse, Uncle Fatty’s Rum Resort, Rock Box, Amp Rock Lounge, Evil Olive, Transit Nightclub, Bon V Nightclub, Hogs and Honeys, Joes on Weed, Funky Buddah Lounge, The Hang Uppe, Enclave, The Underground, VIP’s, Club 390, Pink Monkey, and Scores just to name a few!

VIP Bachelor has VIP Clubbing & Bar Crawl packages starting at only $25.00 per guest. Choose any 3 bars, pubs, clubs and gentlemen’s clubs and receive no cover, express entry drinks, shots and/or champagne. Upgrades are available if you want open bar, bottle service, private rooms, or transportation.