Help! Planning surprise 30th birthday party for my boyfriend! GAAAAAH!

[gogodarling]

So here’s my situation. I’m planning a surprise 30th birthday party for my boyfriend in December. A bunch of his friends are flying in from all over the country to surprise him. I just moved to Vegas a few months ago to be with the boy, so I’m in charge of all the planning.

Now, the problems are few but the problems are these:
- The boy is not a “club person.” He hates most top-40/house stuff. This is the main reason why I haven’t been to many clubs since moving here.
- He’s into rock music/seeing live bands, since he used to be in a local band. My original plan was to have the party at Wasted Space, but they had to go and close down last weekend. Womp womp.
- We’re going to have a HUGE mixed group, which is currently approaching 40 people and will have a guy/girl ratio of almost 1 to 1.
- This group will include both sets of our parents and other family members as well. Everyone is all about going to a bar or a club, but I just can’t see my mom on the dance floor at, well, any club. Heh.

I need your help with where to go, how to deal with a group this large, etc. I’d like to stay as close to the Strip as possible for the out-of-town guests. We’re prepared to make a table reservation and get bottle service, so that’s not an issue. Also, how far in advance should I contact the club/make the reservation?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated! I’ve been a longtime lurker and have been consistently impressed with this site. You run a fine ship, Mr. Colton.

[Guest]

wow.. hating house and top 40... I m gonna let the other experts take the wheel on this one!

[gogodarling]

wow.. hating house and top 40...

Exactly. That shit ain't right.

[AK2Vegas]

Royale doesn't get stumped easily.

hmmm... Spearmint Rhino?

[ChasKrew]

Royale doesn't get stumped easily.

hmmm... Spearmint Rhino?

both sets of parents, prolly out of the question. Sounds like what is needed is a really nice dinner spot that kind of clears up and turns into more of a bar atmosphere, kind of like Tao, but just not as clubby.(is that a word?)

Ok I gave a fairly descent idea, now take it away pros.

[AK2Vegas]

Royale doesn't get stumped easily.

hmmm... Spearmint Rhino?

both sets of parents, prolly out of the question. Sounds like what is needed is a really nice dinner spot that kind of clears up and turns into more of a bar atmosphere, kind of like Tao, but just not as clubby.(is that a word?)

Ok I gave a fairly descent idea, now take it away pros.

No, I was totally joking. I haven't been to Vegas enough to answer this question. 40+ people, parents, no house, no top 40...this one's totally outta my league.

[VtecVick]

mandalay bay mix lounge?? or voodoo lounge?? possibility.

even though they play top 40

[Drew]

As for tables...usually a week or 2 in advance is fine, but for 40 might start feeling clubs out maybe 3-4 weeks, without confirming anything until closer to the date. Be prepared, 40 people - bottles and costs will be $$$$ at any of the majors, unless you ask for bottles for a smaller number of people and ask for guestlist on the rest.



As for venue....sorry don't have suggestions since house/top40 is everywhere. So umm... country music at Stoneys?

[WarreN]

First and most importantly: What is the budget?

Secondly: Are you absolutely certain that all guests are/will be on board with going to a bar/club? What are the age ranges?

Answer those 2 questions and then I think we can pull together and help.

[Guest]

Royale doesn't get stumped easily.

hmmm... Spearmint Rhino?

both sets of parents, prolly out of the question. Sounds like what is needed is a really nice dinner spot that kind of clears up and turns into more of a bar atmosphere, kind of like Tao, but just not as clubby.(is that a word?)

Ok I gave a fairly descent idea, now take it away pros.

No, I was totally joking. I haven't been to Vegas enough to answer this question. 40+ people, parents, no house, no top 40...this one's totally outta my league.

The experts on TripAdvisor would actually give good advice in this case

[gogodarling]

First and most importantly: What is the budget?

Secondly: Are you absolutely certain that all guests are/will be on board with going to a bar/club? What are the age ranges?

Answer those 2 questions and then I think we can pull together and help.

The budget will probably fall in the 6-8K range. However, that's my low-end conservative estimate. Knowing this crowd, we'll no doubt go higher, but I don't want to assume anything just yet.

Not counting our parents and various aunts and uncles, the age range is approx 28-36, so an 'older' crowd overall.

Having dinner at a place that opens up into a club/lounge would be perfect! I can't believe I didn't think of that!

Honestly, at this point, I no longer care if my boyfriend hates top 40-type stuff haha. He's going to be so blown away that all of his friends are here that he's not going to notice where we are. What do you guys think of Lavo? That's one of the few clubs I've been to since moving here and it seemed to have more of a relaxed vibe, which I liked. Apart from myself and my girlfriends, no one is really into dancing, so the fact that there's a tiny dance floor isn't an issue. By that point in the evening, a lot of the family members are likely going to have gone back to their hotel rooms, so we'll be down to about 30 people max. Maybe we could get two tables?

Thoughts?

[sleekmr3]

What I would probably do is have an early dinner then hit a bar/lounge after. Hopefully after the bar/lounge that can weed out the parents, aunts, & uncles. Then after you can hit whatever club of lounge of your choice.

If he likes live bands I would suggest you use yelp.com and use the filters to look for a bar,lounge, or club that has a live band. (under the filters section you can select live music as an option)

I found this. Voodoo Steak & Lounge.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/voodoo-steak...uery:nightclub

when it comes to bottle service I like making reservations about 6 weeks in advance and when it comes closer to the trip I like to confirm with my host that he still has me reserved for that night. You could always make last minute arrangements also but I just like to get early dibs.

[WarreN]

What I would probably do is have an early dinner then hit a bar/lounge after. Hopefully after the bar/lounge that can weed out the parents, aunts, & uncles. Then after you can hit whatever club of lounge of your choice.

If he likes live bands I would suggest you use yelp.com and use the filters to look for a bar,lounge, or club that has a live band. (under the filters section you can select live music as an option)

I found this. Voodoo Steak & Lounge.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/voodoo-steak...uery:nightclub

Completely agree here. I've heard of Voodoo Steak and Lounge as well and that may work for you, it was on my list of possibilities as well.

I also did some investigating for you and found a couple options. LAVO imo would be good, but your party may be too large for them to accommodate as their private dining only seats up to 28(you may want to call to confirm this I suppose). So I looked elsewhere... I'm not sure what type of food you were looking to eat but here's what I found that MIGHT work for you.

Since I did some footwork, I might as well post info for you.

Lavo
3327 South Las Vegas Blvd. Suite 1760
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Seats 28
Contact Sales Office at (888) 877-6310


Nobu Las Vegas
Hard Rock Hotel, 4455 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89169

Nobu Lounge
Seats 30, stands 50

Bamboo Room
Seats 50, stands 80
Contact Michelle Liedtke or Brandon Jones at (702)
693-5090


AGO
4455 Paradise Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Semi private dining Seats 10-80 guests
Private Party Contact: Karen Carlough (702) 693-4077



Tao Restaurant and Nightclub
3377 S. Las Vegas Blvd.,
Suite 2025
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Seats 22 (i've heard they can accommodate more)
Phone: (702) 388-8338 (you may be able to just use the host listed on JC.com for this, I've never had dinner here)


House of Blues
Mandalay Bay - 3950 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV, 89119
(702) 632-7607

Ok, so that should get you started. Since you actually live in Las Vegas, I would definitely call and then actually visit these places beforehand so that you can be sure that it fits your needs.

If Lavo can fit you guys I think it would be awesome for your needs.

I chose a couple Hard Rock places because after dinner you could break off and go to Vanity to party.

With Tao you guys could get dinner and then whoever else was still around after could get bottle service or get stamped and no line/wait to get in.

House of Blues will have the live music, I'm just not sure about accommodations for you large group. Check with them


Anyway, hopefully that gets you started. If I get any other info, I'll post.

[gogodarling]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! The countdown is officially at 2 days, 2 hours and about 10 minutes I’ve been getting text messages all morning as everyone’s flights get in. As long as no one gets arrested before Saturday evening, we should be good (getting arrested AFTER the big surprise is perfectly fine, of course).

Thankfully, the guest list has dropped to a MUCH more reasonable 17 people. The plan is to have dinner First Food and Bar at the Palazzo (I’m a Las Vegas Locos cheerleader, and First has taken really good care of us throughout the season), then hitting V Bar afterwards for something chill, with the option of heading to Lavo or Tao.

Does anyone have a contact for V Bar? Do I need a table reservation over there? I’ve gotten a lot of conflicting information, including whether or not we have to pay a cover. I figured if anyone knows for sure, it's you guys

[Roger]

I can help with the V-Bar question. This is some info I got because I have a group of 30 I'm planning for this weekend.

Venetian guest get in free... In the evening there is a $15 cover.

I'm going to attach their bottle prices, and all the sales docs the manager sent me in a zip file...

Hope it helps, and be happy that it was 17 and not 40... This group of 30 has been a challenge.

Here are the docs.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/4ocori