February 2004 Article                                                           Back to February 2004 Email

How to Do New Orleans on Every Budget!

Exotic, quixotic New Orleans exudes so much atmosphere that just being there feels like an event unto itself. From budget friendly to tres cher, you can plan an event in the Big Easy that gives your meeting goers an insider’s feel and an awfully good time. Bonnie Boyd and Beth Amadon of Bonnie Boyd & Company, a New Orleans DMC, give you a menu of possibilities for all spending levels. Check out their ideas, from parades to streetcars to swamp tours…

$ Modest but merry
Imagine dancing down the street escorted by the police and following a jazz band while sipping from your “go-cup” (it’s legal there), on your way to a session or a party. This “second line” parade is not only a party on foot, it’s an inexpensive way to provide transport to or from a hotel, meeting center, or other site. Such a parade can be done on a shoestring… costs contained or expanded depending on the size of the band and size of the group. And groups can number from a few hundred to thousands. This event can come in between $2,000 and $5,000.

$ Budget-friendly Rock N Bowl
Get out your most colorful shirt, make sure your socks are hole-free, and spend the night bowling in a funky 1950s era alley, where music goes along with the gutter balls, strikes, and falling pins. This event can help build teams, improve your 50s dance style, and provide tons of fun for under $5,000 for up to 100 folk. Another inexpensive evening can be staged at the New Orleans Triple A baseball park.

$$ Middle of the Swamp Middle Range
For a few dollars more you can host an atmospheric Bayou rendezvous in the swamp. Guests dine on Cajun fare, take a swamp tour, toe tap to zydeco music, take tips from an alligator handler, and have their fortune told by the Cajun “bones” lady. Fantastic and reasonably priced dinner can include jambalaya, crawfish, catfish, and po boys. It’s easy to add entertaining team building too as guests compete to invent dance steps and songs…with a little help from the local musicians. Price tag: $15,000 or less.

$$$ Exclusive, Expensive Elegance
Board the Streetcar Named Desire with Tennessee Williams characters Blanche, Stella, and Stanley on your way to a progressive dinner at three of New Orleans’ architectural treasures. Have cocktails and salad in one private home, entrée, and dessert and dancing in two others. And, for a break from the sophistication, consider a “Stella Shouting Contest.” Another distinctive and distinguished event at the higher level would be dinner with a celebrity chef at a plantation just outside the city. Picture candelabra, period music, and pampering 19th Century Style. 

$$$$ Piece de Resistance for a Pretty Penny
You too can know the ultimate New Orleans experience. For a goodly amount, you can ride on a float during Mardi Gras tossing the beads and goodies to the admiring throng. This one’s not for everyone and would take a while to arrange. But what a coup!

Other ideas from Bonnie and Beth include: 

• $ an inexpensive, in-hotel party with décor, music, and cuisine that can bring the Mardi Gras to you
  
  
• $ a scavenger hunt through the French Quarter that promotes team building and allows everyone to win
  
  
• $$ a Jazz Funeral where you can bury either your competition or an anti-productive attitude (pessimism) complete with a gospel choir, mourners, and an old-time eulogy by a preacher 
  
  
• $$$ a wine tasting reception where guests learn as they enjoy upscale labels 

All of these exciting events are best arranged by a DMC, Bonnie and Beth explain, because a DMC has the exclusive inside knowledge and negotiating power of a year-round buyer.  Find out more about Bonnie Boyd & Company.