Mar 4, 2008
Where to hold Grad Ball 2008?
Is it your Grad Ball this year?
We’re really want to know what you think.There are some options that can’t happen because of where we are in the country, the relatively small graduating class and unfortunately there is no subsidy for the event.
BTW, LUSU makes no money on this event, every penny from the ticket sales goes into making Grad Ball the best it can be.We’ve been looking at stuff for a while and it seems there are few realistic options available. All of the options we’re giving you are based on each event having the same amount of money spent on entertainment. Each of the options allows us to have at least two ‘stages’.
The ents are in no way confirmed at this stage and everything depends on the exact package. We will try and provide a range our ents and they are likely to be fairly mainstream. Again, it’s this sort of stuff that we want to know how you feel about it.
Just to let you know, these prices are just to give you an idea, they’re in no way definite.
Option 1: The Sugarhouse, £33.50
Pros: Cheap, easily accessible, drink promotions
Cons: Is it special enough?
Option 2: Great Hall Complex, Campus, £41.00
Pros: Cheaper, easily accessible, support Colleges, a funfair in County Plaza - varying food options could be added (though not one place for all).
Cons: A lot of work to bring in extra bars etc. Grad Ball used to be on campus and was moved. You sat your exams in some of the complex.
Option 3: Blackpool Winter Gardens with meal, £60.00
Pros: You get a meal included, the Ballroom is amazing
Cons: Expensive, distance to travel (especially on the way back), previous complaints about food, expensive drinks. Moved from here previously due to complaints.
Option 4: Blackpool Winter Gardens without meal, £51.50
Pros: The ballroom
Cons: Expensive, distance to travel (especially on the way back), expensive drinks, (without food it may not be possible to use the ballroom - which would bring the ticket price down by a couple of pounds)
Let us know what you think!
You can vote at:
http://gradball2008.questionpro.com
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70 comments, Comment or Ping
If you’re willing to go to Blackpool, have you had a look at Whites Hotel at the Reebok Stadium in Horwich. It’s only 40mins away and they held the North West University Ball there already this year so are used to functions like this.
We have looked at the Whites Hotel, and whilst a really excellent venue, costs and inability to have two large arenas make it inappropriate for such a large event.
The North West Ball was only catering for 1000 people and Lancaster’s Grad Ball is even larger than this.
What about the tower ballroom in blackpool? Its fairly close by, massive and I think would definitely leave an impression! Hell if it can show Strictly Come Dancing its good enough for us!
@Chris
The tower is actually smaller than the Winter Gardens and more difficult to use (and the Winter Gardens is of the same period architecturally) - we looked at this a few years ago.
If we are having problems finding a big enough venue would it be worth looking at hiring a big marquee (a proper one where they put down real flooring and decorate it and stuff) and holding it outside?
It would be the middle of summer so very warm and those marquees can be heated anyway for after dark. You could then bring in outside caterers who would do a proper job on the meal and it would be lovely to be able to go outside on the warm evening to enjoy a drink with your friends.
I dont really know numbers so im guessing this might not be possible due to the sheer size but it might be worth looking into.
@Fiona
The costs of marquees are enormous and if you’re looking at putting on any decent entertainment would make it prohibitively costly on tickets (the small marquee added onto the Sugar House cost in excess of £2000!), plus electricity and a great deal of added infra structure.
Will the sugarhouse be linked with liquid this year, as it was last year. I went to last years and found that bar the marque, which looked good, there was little in way of decoration. Few ballons up the fire exit of liquid was a great effort. I know you don’t make profit off the ticket sales but surely you make a killing from drink sales??
Will sugarhouse be big enough? I remember it being fairly packed last year and that was with liquid, how many is the event planned for?
Considering the acts that were on last year i think your budget must be quite limited. Would it not be better to have a more impressive location (more memorable) than a load of mediocre acts. Spend less of rubbish acts and provide an affordable location.People will spend the money on drinks, they do it at Christmas ball!
At the end of the day, graduation ball should be something special and that seems more achievable by having a great location. I understand the difficulties you must face but considering last years effort I have found my college Christmas ball to be better than graduation. I would be disappointed should it be held in sugarhouse again.
If I can find some alternatives i’ll suggest them.
option 2 defo. think it would be fun. sugar house blows and shouldnt even be considered.
@Philo
If it were at the Sugar House we would hope to work with Liquid on the event.
The budget is limited by the ticket price - a big problem is how much people want to pay - and the lack of subsidy.
The Ballroom is a magnificent venue and hopefully meets your idea of an impressive location.
All my friends that went last year said it was really good and didn’t look at all like the sugar house. I don’t want to pay £60 for a ticket eat some crap food (because £8.50 a head for the food? is it going to be good??) and then not even be able to get drunk because the drinks cos a fiver and we have an hour bus ride back….
Also, i agree with the post by Philo with regards to money spent on entertainment. Racheal steven? East 17? seems to be money wasted on novelty value.
@Sarah
The food actually costs more like £20 at the Winter Gardens, it’s just without it we have to pay a hall hire fee - can’t comment on the quality @£20 though
Are we supposed to go to the Sugahouse in ballgowns?
It should be more than another night of clubbing.
I like the idea of a fun fair personally.
@SuperFlorence
The funfair was really good when Grad BAll used to be on campus.
Last year people did wear ballgowns to Grad Ball.
I haven’t actively looked for any other locations yet, but I’d just like to make it clear that I definitely agree with Philo. Also, anyone else I’ve ever spoken to about last year’s venue has said exactly the same thing. So this idea about spending the money on the venue rather than the entertainment is NOT far-fetched and unique to one person.
If you know what Grad Ball was like two years ago (2006), you might want to use it as an example. My housemates went that year and were blown away! Starting with the advertisements, it was all glam and even the mini-golf was great. And it was affordable. I hope this suggestion helps a little!
@Christina
Grad Ball two years ago was at Blackpool in the Winter Gardens - it included food and cost just over £50 including transport (as option 3) - the prices quoted above included more for entertainment, but we could obviously downscale this a bit - we just wanted you to compare like with like for entertainment cost.
Sarah’s comments above do show that there is a different view of the Sugar House option - but please do continue to tell us what you want and make sure you vote.
i quite like the idea of having it on campus. But so long as it is somewhere nice where we can all get dressed up in our pretty dress and tux’s and don’t feel out of place im happy!
I think that the sugarhouse is the worst possible idea in the world. A large amount of people who will attend the grad ball do not even attend the sugarhouse regularly while at university. A club style atmosphere does not suit everyone. And for those who do go on a regular basis, what makes this different from every normal friday? A few balloons and £20 instead of £4? I also went to the winter gardens for my first year college christmas ball, and that also was not desirable. People want the ball to be affordable but dont allow quality to suffer for price! This for most people will be one of their last big nights at university with all the friends they have made and they will want to remember it forever. Sugarhouse is a huge mistake. Have you working how much a ticket would cost to have marquees on campus?
@Harriet
We have looked at marquees on Campus and the costs as mentioned earlier would push the price up very high (we do not have the number of graduates that make this kind of option viable - we’ve either got too many or too few!) - Also County field. the cheapest place to put marquees on Campus has now been built on.
An example of a successful marquee based event is at Warwick, Birmingham and Coventry who share a large marquee over three nights which brings the price down to a realistic level
The way i see it, is , we go all out for Roses every year and i think grad ball is just as important. Why not do a vote, to see how much money people are willing to pay for a grad ball ticket? Then you can see how much you would possibly have to work with?
@Harriet
It is difficult to do a vote on the price because it depends on exactly what’s on - but we can’t set the price until we know what we’re booking - it’s a circular argument, which is why we’ve put the comparative prices for different events with the same entertainment cost. If people want to indicate in their comments what they’d like to pay it would be helpful
I like the sound of the sugarhouse and the great hall. The big thing for me is making it open to as many people as possible, the trips to Blackpool are (I’m sure its the same for others as well as me) just too expensive for me to consider. I think the money would go a lot further in lancaster as well given that transport isn’t having to be paid for. The Great Hall idea sounds like a good compromise for those that want it to be cheap and those that don’t want it at the sugarhouse.
Essentially for me though location comes second to price as grad ball should be open to all that want to go.
How on earth is Winter Gardens costing so much when the Christmas balls are £33? I just don’t get it. Basically you’re making all the other options too expensive just so we end up with the Sugarhouse because it’s easier for LUSU to sort out.
@Emma
There is no subsidy for Grad Ball unlike Christmas Dinners which brings the price down for these. Also the entertainment at Christmas Dinners is minimal - if the entertainment was similar to that at Xmas then the price would be much closer to £33, but the event would not differ significantly and in general people have indicated that hey would like an event that stands out from the crowd. It’s not laziness, just economics - we don’t make any money and you pay for what you get.
I think the Winter Gardens or on campus would be the better options, but in my opinion I’d prefer the Winter Gardens. My problem with the Sugarhouse is that you can’t have a formal ball in a club, it just doesn’t work. A Graduation ball is a once in a lifetime event and am prepared to pay £50 for it to be a formal event. When considering the prices of balls at other universities, i don’t think £50 is bad at all. Maybe a graduation club night could be organised for those who would prefer the club setting to celebrate the end of uni with their year as another event separate to grad ball. This could be a club night with not much extra cost to a normal night at Sugar but with only those graduating able to apply for tickets. Just an idea. Also as previously mentioned at the grad ball it seems people wouldn’t mind so much if less money is spent on entertainment, if entertainment is kept simple it could bring down the cost of the ticket.
Its a difficult decision for you guys at LUSU to make but…..sugarhouse absolute no no, i dont go there in the first place so why would i go there to celebrate the end of my degree???? Ive heard that sugarhouse is doign poorly getting numbers this year anyway and is being outdone by the other clubs, making me even more so not want to go there. I find the option of on campus sounding good. When you say for the cons of it, hard to bring in bars etc…what does the etc mean, what are we meant to assume by this? is this just LUSU not wanting to do much work to make a special night? If grad ball used to be on campus why was it moved? How many years has it been held on campus in the past? I share the view that we dont need a big name band or enetertainment act, give us a good band that plays good music that allows LUSU to spend more money on dressing the place up and making grad ball truely special.
I think the main question that needs asking regards the lack of subsidy; is this normal practice? Surely OUR union ought to have a degree of money set aside for this? And if not, the University itself? What about looking into sponsors? There must be loads of opportunities if you look for them!
There is a limit to how much can be afforded in terms of subsidies, and with nearly £50,000 each year going into Christmas Dinners and Extravs via the JCRs it is difficult to know where any more money could come from.
We are looking to sponsors to help with the event, but £5000 worth of sponsorship will only reduce the ticket price by about £3 - and we don’t want to promise what we do not have
The Grad Ball was moved from campus because of a number of technical difficulties, which we believe can now be overcome with the help of the Great Hall complex management. It had been held on campus for over 20 years prior to this.
(The Sugar House is quieter this year, but is still busier than other clubs/bars in the area - the overall licensed trade is a mess in Lancaster!)
If it’s held at the Sugarhouse I will definately not be going. I’ve probably been to the Sugarhouse no more than 5 times since it refurbished in 2006. And I have no desire to have one of my last nights out at Uni there.
What about the Park Hall Hotel in Chorley? (Next to Camelot). A few Christmas Balls were held there this time and I thought it was pretty good. I suspect it might be a similar cost to Blackpool but it’s not as far! It only took half an hour to get there by coach.
Unfortunately Park Hall is not big enough
I agree with Rick B, campus is definitely the better option. And who cares about a big entertainment act? For the last two years Rachel Steven’s and East 17? How many students do you know would call that good music? The great hall could be made to look really special!
It would also be in the Nuffield Theatre - which can be changed in a multitude of ways.
On acts - unfortunately even relatively small acts cost quite alot and to be a ‘memorable’ night there needs to be quite a lot of them - even a cheap tribute act costs around £1000 and the best cost nearly £10,000 - we’ve always tried to book the acts on the basis of what people are asking for, but as importantly what will hang together as a decent night that makes sense.
When the vote has been taken about where to hold the Grad Ball we will be asking for ideas about line ups and how much a ticket should be - we can’t keep everyone happy, but believe it or not we’d rather not annoy people either (annoying people
actually causes more hassle than making them happy 
)
Is there any chance you could get hold of some photos from previous Grad balls at those 3 locations and put them up?
One thing that my friends commented on last year was how much it didn’t feel like the sugarhouse anymore. I’m also interested in seeing what the great hall can look like. i agree with Laura. it seems like that would be a good compromise; convenient location, (i assume simmilar drink prices to bars on campus?) and its pretty much a blank slate for any decorations.
I can’t afford to pay the £60 for a ticket (and don’t forget, twice the price for drinks) and still afford to have a decent extrav week. The most important thing about Grad ball is that it should be accessible to everyone who wants to go, not just those with money to burn.
Sorry, I haven’t got photos that would really show it off - the ones we’ve got is of people from the last few years in posh frocks and suits and it all looks pretty much the same wherever (and from the Great Hall and Nuffield we’re missing photos altogether - but there may be a ’survivors photo’ somewhere in the LUSU Building) - but as you say many people thought last year was good and many people thought the year before in Blackpool was good… and many people liked a few years before on campus - then again many people complained about each…
People don’t care about the entertainment at all as long as they are with their friends. A decent DJ is fine, and I’m not talking some Radio 1 DJ…just a bog standard run-of-the-mill one. It’s not the entertainment that makes it special - it’s the dressing up and being with members of your graduating year that does that.
The problem we have, is that whilst many people here seem to be saying the Ents don’t matter (and the less Ents the easier for us - we are quite lazy
) - many people in the past have tended to say why can’t we have X, Y or Z for our grad ball…
Seriously, once we’ve solved the venue we will try to ascertain what sort of ents/price people want (next week) - and yes we’ll still not keep everyone happy!
“An example of a successful marquee based event is at Warwick, Birmingham and Coventry who share a large marquee over three nights which brings the price down to a realistic level”
In this case would we be able to discuss perhaps sharing a marquee with Cumbria Uni? they must be havin the same problems of a lack of a decent venue to have their grad ball in too. Perhaps even some of the high schools around might like to use it for their leaving balls??
I really think a marquee is the best option if we can work it out somehow.
But if not then i think the great hall is looking like the next best thing. I would prefer to go off campus but im not making the effort to go all the way to blackpool for something that has not been so good in the past. The trouble with the great hall complex is that as a music student i spend half my life in there doin rehearsals and things and yes many of us will have sat exams in there too. You will have to do some pretty spectacular decorating to make it special. But if you could make it so i hardly know im in the great hall then i reckon you could be onto a winner!
Up until recently Cumbria’s event has been a great deal smaller than ours (and taken place at Park Hall) and also as they finish at different times and the dates of the events have not been able to coincide (this year theirs is at the end of May during exams)
Definitely one to look at for the future
In the past the great hall has had a Marquee liner in it, balloon nets, confetti cannons and/or a range of other decoration - it costs, but there’s a lot of possibilities
People who are suggesting the Winter Gardens have either not been there or gone with rose tinted spectacles! I have been to the Winter Gardens three times now for xmas balls and the place gets worse year by year. A stunning venue but a hassle and time waster to get there and back (i have sat on the bus for an hour waiting for it to fill up before they set off back), the drinks selection does not have enough variety and is a rip off also, the food it pretty bad.
I think the great hall could be a good chance to see the place in a different light seen as though most of us will do our exams there, which may be seen as a con, i still think if done up properly it could like very ballish and isnt that what we want?!
Lets remember we are Lancaster in students so i think we should have our ball in the Lancaster area.
James i think you in right in saying may people dont bother about entertainment as the entertainment we can actually afford is not very good anyway. It would be better to spend money to get a nice location and sit down meal(winter gardens) to make it special and just use a small local band and good dj for the evening as that seems to be what is costing the most and not many people pay attention to it anyway. We have been going to sugar house for over three years now and it is the norm it is not special enough to end our degrees there!!!!
How many to you plan will be attending grad ball? and how many can the great hall hold? you need to let us know if ppl are to make realistic suggestions.
@ James
Ppl in the past have ask for X, Y, and Z? look at the general consensus from the posts here, ppl would prefer good quality, even local, bands who play a wide variety of good music (band to play earlier on, DJ for latter on, you ain’t putting on a festival). They’ll cost a damn site less than the rubbish thats been in the past. Its not about what ppl wanted in the past, its what ppl want now.
Please don’t try and justify having it at sugarhouse, i think that you will alienate a lot more ppl with this option this year. Ppl didn’t know what to expect last year so gave it the benefit of the doubt. Comments have passed down the grapevine so i think you’ll find less ppl wanting to go the sugerhouse this year. I was shocked that it was even an option in the first place.
Also what are the “technical difficulties” that someone mentioned above for the great hall?
Normal attendance is about 1300 - 1400 and the capacity on campus is about 1500.
‘technical difficulties’ a euphemism for former problems that can now be avoided.
You say earlier that next week you will decide upon entertainment etc, does this mean you are deciding the venue this week?? Will you post the actual results from the vote, with the numbers of votes cast on here so we can see who actually pays attention to these things and also how many people feel strongly about their grad ball??
Maybe for the entertainment thing, you could again give some options + appox prices then we vote on which we prefer.
Simply put - yes - we won’t be able to have a voting system on exact line ups - but cost and general ideas yes
I agree with what others are saying about the entertainment, it’s this which seems to be costing the money, and it can be just as special with a local band and good DJ. I would rather spend the money on a nice meal and special location.
Transport is also a large cost unfortunately
If it were on campus we could look at a meal in advance for a limited number at Lancaster House Hotel?
Transport did not seem to be an issue in the past, it is only last year that it was suddenly decided costs needed to be cut and that it should be held in the sugarhouse.
As the general opinion is that the sugarhouse was not special enough surely the transport cost is a given and many people will expect to pay to go somewhere away from lancaster to celebrate their graduation properly, as they did in former years!
the campus option seems quite good, but we were wondering why the price would still be £40? extravs are £5, i appreaciate that there are a lot more people for grad ball and people want grad ball to be bigger, etc, but if roughly 1000 students are coming at £40 per person what is that money being spent on? the funfair would obviously be expensive and hiring bigger bands is also pricey, but if the fair and bands are rubbish is it worth paying over the odds?
I will not go if it’s in blackpool. i cannot afford to spend that amount of money and i hate coach trips. we’re from lancaster university, our grad ball should be in lancaster. i think sugar house was awesome last year, and a meal with friends where you want to go would make it really special. for those who think it will just be another club night at the sugar house should look into last years event and those of us who worked all day and all night making it as special as we could. people are far too critical of the sugar house.
Campus would be good, but with the bar issue and having built over useful spaces it doesnt seem as viable an option.
isnt liquid shutting though, will it still be there for grad?
Extravs are subsidised as mentioned before, but also as you say it’s the level of entertainment/decorations is that much higher - as said we’ll get an idea for what people want to spend on this once we’ve sorted the venue
Why are extravs subsidised but grad ball isn’t? Why do LUSU continue to book Blackpool Winter Gardens and its services if the food is acknowledged to be bad and transport is problematic?
I went to gradball last year and i thought it was brilliant it really didnt look like sugarhouse and liquid the marquee and decorations made it really nice and it was definately value for money. The magician, casino, free drink, chocolate fountain and jazz band were really good and all the different rooms meant there was loads to do all night. I like how you could pick if you wanted to go out for a meal as well and you could go somewhere with nice food and at a price you were happy with if you wanted meaning that grad ball was accesible for a lot more people, if its made as good as last year sugarhouse (with liquid) gets my vote. Also, i like what you’ve done giving people a chance to say what they want but you will never make everyone happy last year was a success even though there was loads of controversy before hand so perhaps just go with what is easiest and value for money (which blackpool certainly is not!).
I think the Great Hall sounds the best option. The fun fair could be really awesome. Just wondering if it would be university catering doing the meal?
First up, Sugarhouse: No. I wouldn’t mind having christmas ball-esque entertainment for a much lower price at the Winter Gardens, I’ve always enjoyed it in the past. From what I’ve heard special guests/entertainment at grad balls have never been worth the extra money. A good, local, tribute band would be fine for me.
If not, I don’t see the problem with having it on campus.
I think on campus, in the Great Hall complex sounds the best option, so long as its fancied up a bit, after all they are some of the ugliest buildings on an already ugly campus. But a funfair? Awesome!
I dont really want my grad ball to be in sugarhouse. Campus is a good option but as few comments says… its a bit pricy esp. being on campus, the venue is hardly a cost!!
I know that my friends and I are planning on going the whole way with ball gowns, shoes etc. so we all think the venue should reflect this. Hopping between sugar house and liquid ISN’T an option. Plus not exaclty like a ball is it?! As someone said before it’s more like going clubbing! Isn’t there anywhere closer to campus? Or perhaps organise a deal with a marquee company…surely a high profile event like this will have some sway over their prices.
Sugarhouse would definatley be the best option. Even last year people kicked up a big fuss about holding it in the Sugarhouse,I also was skeptical, but once I was there it was amazing. So many different things to do to keep you busy the whole night. The place was like a maze, did not look anything like the sugarhouse, was so well decorated. And the fact you can choose what time you go, if you want to eat with friends before hand (and where). Saves travelling an hour to Blackpool!
fun fair does sound fun, but a) what if it rains? and b) how many of the girls will want to go on fair ground rides in their expensive ball gowns?!
I hope it does get held in the Sugarhouse, last year was so much fun and would definatley be a success this year!
I beg of LUSU not the have the Grad Ball at the Winter Gardens! I have been there on other occasions and the food is bad and the drink prices are rediculous. We have been in Lancaster for three years and so this is where are Graduate Ball should be. Campus does sound like a good idea, but then again isn’t Grad ball the same week as the extravs so would it just turn into another Extrav type thing? And would the great hall be big enough? Sugarhouse seems like the best option for me, but I do agree with the comments about spending less money on acts and putting the money elsewhere. The biggest advantage has got to be that it is the cheapest option and therefore means that more people will be able to go.
You keep mentioning that extravs/Christmas balls are subsidised and that as Grad Ball isn’t then you have less funds, however, you seem to neglect the question of why Grad Ball isn’t subsidised? Perhaps it should be subsidised at the expense of subsidising Christmas balls etc.
Definately not sugarhouse. Even done up it’s still gonna be the sugarhouse. It’s our grad ball for god’s sake so we need to put some effort in. Sugarhouse seems like the easy option.
The extreme cost of having a novelty act is a complete waste of time too from what I’ve heard. I’d much rather pay extra for a nicer venue than a crap one but with east 17!
Would rather have a jazz band or something like we did for college this year or other entertaiment like a fun fair. that’d be awesome.
just not sugarhouse!!!!
HAve you thought about the possibilty of the Guild Hall in Preston??? Its not as far away as black pool but it is off campus and away from lancaster?? You could fit 1500 people in there. I know the cost of the hire is about 3000 grand buit it would actually be a nice location.
Just to add that the room hire would equal at about each person paying about two pounds and then the rest of the money could go to entertainment, decoration and transport. I made it sound as if the 3 grand would be crazy expensive but it doesnt work out as that much.
I just think if it was on campus, (with a fun fair??) it would be a real shame. We have worked bloody hard in the three years we have been there and while i dont think it should be massively expensive i think that we should want a quality night in a special venue and i dont think the three venues we are voting on have anything like that for a grad ball.
Also what about Norbreck castle?? This would be another great location, and there would be oppotunites to be alittle creative with the decoration.
I think campus would be the best option, i’ve seen pictures in the nuffield theatre workshop office of how the nuffield used to look on Grad ball nights and it looks amazing. I think if it’s thought out well then it would be a great place to have it. The great hall is more difficult to adapt but i am sure it can be done.
As what has been said above, i don’t think it is worth paying the money for the special acts… East 17 were rubbish last year and i would rather have had a DJ playing all my fave ‘uni songs’.
Sugarhouse was ok last year, but decor in the interlink between liquid and sugarhouse was pretty naff. This would need to be considered in the great hall complex as well.
The food options last year were pretty good though- the different options in town etc. Maybe some deal could be done again in a similar way… Lancaster House hotel does pretty good food?
To be honest we hadn’t looked at the Guild Hall as its configuration would make it difficult to run the event - it’s got a great single space, but more difficult for a decent secondary area. The Guild Hall tends towards the same ‘public building’ problems that the Great Hall has - given the comments from people in this discussion we will be spending a great deal of time and effort on making the Great Hall special (which I think we would also have to do for the Guild Hall).
Diane’s comments about the Nuffield indicate that it can be changed - and we are spending a great deal more effort on this that when she saw the photos from!
I have always been to the winter gardens for my christmas ball and have never found the travelling a problem. I think the venue is very impressive and will provide enough space for everyone without being squashed into two nightclubs in town. I know people who went to the gradball the last time it was held at the wintergardens and they all said that it was an amazing night because being somewhere outside of lancaster made it more special, which i agree with. I love Lancaser as a town but i am not a big fan of the Sugarhouse and would prefer not to have to go here to celebrate graduation.
I understand the marquee would be quite costly but if we’re all going to be there, surely this should drive down the prices.
Can you not conduct a costings sheet, to see exactly how much this venture would cost without ruling it out completely? I think a marquee on the rugby grounds would be a perfect place/venue for the grad ball…
Also, it would be nice to have it campus as this is where everyone’s memories lie.