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Choose a venue that has an outdoor space:

Many of your guests will feel more comfortable if they are able to be outside with fresh air. If your space doesn't have an outdoor option or weather doesn't permit an outdoor reception, consider investing in some air purifiers. Consult your venue and vendors as many may already have these for you to rent and use.

Have help to enforce social distancing:

One of the best tips on how to stay safe and still host events we recommend hiring a Social Coordinator. Many of our event planners and day of coordinators are perfect to help with this. This professional will be able to assist all guests in reminding them to social distance and throughout the event prevent congregating. They can also oversee all other protocols are being followed by supporting staff and vendors. Here are some of our recommendations for professionals to ask.

• • Harvest Moon Events
  • Fuse Weddings and Events
  • Michelle Leo Events
  • Over the Top Events
  • Hoopes Events 
  • Bluebird Events DMC
  • PRA DMC
  • RMC DMC
  • Summit Events
  • Your caterer is also an excellent resource to staff this position.

Proper signage:

Have signage to designate distancing, social procedures, and directions. This is a piece of events that often gets overlooked but signage can be a great place to create something fun for your event, from floor stickers to lawn signs, there are so many options on how to embrace this new social norm and make it beautiful!

Masks: 

This is another opportunity to embrace this new normal. Custom masks are the new thing! Add your logo or monogram. Make them something special people will keep and reuse. Also, this is a great place for signage reminding people to be kind and mask up.  

Washing and Sanitation Stations: 

Help your guests stay healthy by setting up sanitation stations to clean their hands. These ones are for rent from our friends Utah Live Bands.

Wellness check for your guests:

have a check-in station for your guests. Where they are reminded of the health concerns and have their temperatures taken. This is a great place to hand out masks and have some great signage or sanitation station.

Consider hosting micro-parties!

Forget the 300 person event host small events by department or family! You can create an incredible experience for a smaller group and reuse rentals and florals and decor for each seating.

Use Eventbrite to create tickets for specific times to have guests join the party!

This can also be a great place to have your guests sign a contract to agree to abide by health guidelines and not join if feeling ill. You can also include a Contact Tracing form for your guests to download. Such as this one.

Have an arrival plan.

Guests tend to mingle at any entrance. Speak with your planner or social coordinator about an arrival plan. How to funnel people in safely and get them checked in. This can even go as far as staggering start times for groups of guests. If you are transporting your guests on buses or vans ask your transportation company to stagger the leaving and arrival of vans and buses to allow time for everyone to maintain proper distancing.

Use vendors that will be supportive in keeping everyone healthy.

Salt Lake Chamber started the program Stay Safe, Stay Open , statewide campaign to meet the critical imperatives of helping Utah address the health-related objectives to prevent and recover from the coronavirus while at the same time assisting the business community in an effort to appropriately strengthen our state’s economy. Businesses participating in this campaign are clearly identified their participation by colorful signage displayed in their windows and throughout their establishments, demonstrating that they have taken a pledge to follow the state’s guidelines. You can also find a list of these companies on their website. 

Your vendors: It takes a team to put together a great event. make sure your vendors on their teams are being safe.

• • Ensure they are strictly observing all state guidelines and protocols from the Governor’s Office as well as the local health department.
  • Ask all vendors and their teams to complete a wellness check prior to arriving at your venue. It should include logging their temperatures and filling out a basic health questionnaire.
  • Confirm that teams will strictly adhere to all health department guidelines for frequent hand washing and proper glove use.
  • Request to see their contact tracing protocol for their team.
  • Assign one of your vendors to be responsible for cleaning and sanitizing high-frequency touch surfaces (door handles, elevator buttons, etc.) every 30 minutes during use. Your caterers are usually the largest team onsite and should be equipped to do this. They probably already have this on their radar but confirm with them.
  • Explore a variety of service styles. Many can be implemented to service the unique needs of your event while maintaining health and safety for all in attendance.

Thanks for reading these tips on how to stay safe and still host events. Check out more Salt Lake City, Park City, and Utah County catering at www.culinarycrafts.com!