Hmmmmm.

[j4]

If I were to have a birthday party in a pub, should I make it a proper Private Party thing where they don't let riff-raff in, or just let people turn up (and rely on the fact that a horde of black-clad freaks are probably going to scare off the normal customers anyway)?

The main disadvantage with the private party thing is that if nobody turns up I not only lose money but look like a complete Billy No-Mates...

Oh, go on, let's make it into a poll:

[Poll #282283]

Comments

[juliet]

Depends on the likely fullness of the pub in question (i.e. if you know that on that night of the week the place is invariably rammed to the rafters, book a room. If it's usually deathly quiet, don't bother.).

Also: whenwhenwhen?

[bibliogirl.livejournal.com]

Depending on the pub, they may or may not charge you to book the room in any case, or they may have some kind of minimum take, and if they take more than that, you don't get charged. Last time I tried this (booked part of the upstairs of a pub in London), they didn't charge me but that may have been because I ordered a buffet....

[mpinna.livejournal.com]

If you were hypothetically planning on having it at the Carlton, it doesn't seem too difficult to dominate the comfy half if you have a reasonable number of people. Having said that though people might feel able to be more black-clad and freaky if normal people weren't going to show up too.

[timeplease.livejournal.com]

I'd go for the "private party" approach, assuming the landlord is willing. (The Carlton?) It might not make a practical difference, but it does give you more of a right to ask the landlord to eject someone if you don't like them being there.

[daneel-olivaw.livejournal.com]

Assuming this is The Carlton, then the functional difference between the two options is rather small. Elsewhere, I think it depends on the venue, and especially on how much they plan to charge...

[taimatsu]

Been there, done that, got 7 people in a room for 30. But you were one of the nice people :) I personally wouldn't do it again unless I were having the kind of party with proper paper invitations and RSVPs and everything. Because otherwise I couldn't count on people to be there. It's not the loss of money, it's the feeling that people couldn't be bothered. That said, it was a fun night anyway in the end, overall :)

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

A party isn't a party without the possibility of uninvited (and
hopefully interesting) people turning up, I always say. Open up your life to serendipity!

[claerwen.livejournal.com]

I rather like the idea of just turning up and having a party at a pub, since there's the chance of random friendly people joining in and, I would expect, little risk of anyone bothering to be arsey. In any case, there's safety and sarcasm in freaky black-clad numbers. You can always let the landlord know informally that you intend to bring along your celebratory horde.

[d-floorlandmine.livejournal.com]

[cough] When? [grin]

I need to plan for this travelling type thing, you know!