A Complete Guide to Planning the Perfect Gala Dinner

Details: blog; Updated: 13th October 2023

When planning a gala dinner, your goal should be to make everything look effortless. You're trying to inspire confidence in your guests in the hopes of making your organisation shine. What better way to do that than to plan a grand engagement that appears to run itself?

There's one major challenge when it comes to throwing a truly effortless gala event, however: it takes a lot of, well... effort!

The key to a smooth, successful, and impressive evening is thinking through every detail in advance. By incorporating live music into your Gala event, you can set the tone for every part of the evening to make the celebration feel indulgently endless and still leave guests wanting more!

Whether you're throwing your very first gala dinner or merely trying to improve your event, this gala dinner planning guide is for you. Continue reading to learn how to use music to turn the evening into a truly special and memorable night.

What Is a Gala Dinner?

A gala dinner is a large formal or semi-formal event, including a drinks reception, a sit-down dinner, and dancing.

There will usually be some form of presentation, speech, awards ceremony, or announcement between dinner and dancing. Often, a gala dinner serves as a fundraiser for an organisation, and the host may raffle off prizes. Each section of the evening will have its own tone, and it's the host's job to set that tone with decorations, music, and ambience!

A primary goal is providing a curated opportunity for constituents, employees, and other guests to socialise. In the case of fundraising events, the most crucial facet of the event is securing those individuals' future financial support. It is both a way to say thank you to generous supporters and an appeal for future generosity.

Your goal should be to put together the most spectacular evening possible, full of stunning, highly engaging entertainment. It's key to strike a balance that gives guests time to chat and connect. Choosing the right musicians and performers for each portion of your gala is one of the trickiest components of planning.

Ultimately, the goal of your gala should be to create a positive, classy atmosphere where guests intrinsically know what to do. For organisations or corporate parties, you should use the opportunity to show off your organisational skills and professionalism. When given the chance, don't forget to extol the virtues of your phenomenal organisation and all of the wonderful work that you do!

A Regal Reception

What's the first impression you want your guests to have when they walk in for the reception? Whether you're holding the event in your own space or a rented hall, a sense of elegance and atmosphere are essential. The best way to set the tone is to have a small ensemble or solo musician playing from the start.

Remember that the drinks reception is a fairly causal portion of the evening. Your guests will want to greet one another, chat, mingle, and possibly form some important connections! Take that tone into account when hiring musicians for the task.

Another thing to consider is the theme of your event. Does your theme suggest a particular musical genre - perhaps a period or musical style? Choose a performer or ensemble whose repertoire can complement your theme and elevate the whole affair.

The number of guests will also play a role. The drinks reception will usually (though not always) take place in a space separate from the dinner itself. An acoustic soloist will do well in a small lobby, while a large, well-attended area might demand something more imposing.

Consider the following when researching musicians for the drink reception:

A solo musician (saxophonist, violinist, etc)
An acoustic vocalist
A harpist
A string quartet
A roaming acoustic act
A lounge pianist and/or singer

A talented musician can place a buzz in the air even when only a few guests have trickled in. As the room starts to fill up, the ambient music will add a sense of energy and make your event feel lively, even in a lull.

Exceptional Musicians For Hire

Hire the perfect live musician to make your event a success.

Find Musicians

A Devine Dining Experience

We call this type of event a gala dinner for a reason - the formal sit down meal is the main event, and you'll want it to go off without a hitch! Unless you have considerable experience feeding a crowd, it's probably wise to let the professionals handle the food preparation.

A great way to streamline this portion of the evening is to have their guests select their entrees in advance of the meal. If possible, have them make their selections when they RSVP. This will allow you to address any special dietary restrictions or other circumstances before they become an issue, and everyone will be happy!

It also means that you won't have to spend time or resources taking orders.

Your menu is another simple but elegant way to address your theme. A cultural theme will lend itself beautifully to a delicious, flavorful ethnic menu, for example. Speak with your caterer or venue about choosing dishware and stemware that supports your theme, too!

Dinner and a Performance

How does music help transition between the drinks reception and the dinner? It serves as a musical cue that it's time to move from one space and atmosphere to the next!

Your priority should be putting your guests at ease as they move from the small reception space to the larger event room. If you've assigned the seating, this might mean mingling with new people. They may well be feeling a great deal of anticipation as they await the big meal!

You should anticipate that dinner will be predominantly a social portion of the evening. Your guests will want to chat, eat, and relax. Choose music that won't compete with the desire to socialise.

For example, a large band with vocals might send the message to your guests that they're watching a performance. That can stop all socialisation and conversation in its tracks!

Instead, consider an instrumental ensemble or acoustic performer. You'll also want to take the size of the space into account. A more intimate dinner might demand a quieter performance, while a large hall might need more sound to fill the air!

Think about the following types of performers when you choose entertainment for the dinner portion of the evening:

A string quartet
A small jazz ensemble
A swing band
A classical pianist

Whatever you choose, make sure it is distinct from the music you choose for your drinks reception! Above all, you want to keep each portion of the evening feeling fresh and unique!

Addressing the Masses

While drinks are divine and dinner is grand, don't allow yourself to forget the reason why everyone has gathered! It may be to celebrate the employees of a corporation, raise funds for an organisation, give out awards for a job well done, or even gather around a guest of honour!

The lull between dinner and dessert is the perfect time to capture the attention of your guests and draw attention to your purpose. This is when you might pull your raffle tickets, hand out certificates, or give a rousing speech! You'll have the undivided attention of the room, so you should plan to make it count!

Here are some of our best tips on using this time to your advantage.

For Fundraising Dinners

The most traditional fundraising event at gala dinners is the humble raffle. One of our best gala dinner tips is to find a way to make this tried and true fundraiser a little more compelling!

Here are our favourite variations on the raffle, which will help you spice up this tried-and-true fundraising technique!

A 50/50 Raffle: The winner gets half the ticket sales
A reverse raffle: The last ticket called takes all
A door raffle: Guests buy many tickets and enter smaller raffles
A chocolate bar raffle: One guest finds a "golden ticket"
A silent auction: Guests compete to place the highest bid for big prizes

With any luck, generosity will be key to making a large sum for your chosen charity or organisation. Often, guests who win 50/50 raffles or reverse raffles will donate their winnings right back! If you get your prizes donated, even door raffles and silent auctions can raise a great deal of money without much fuss!

For Awards Dinners

Giving out awards at a gala dinner is an electric portion of the evening, full of excitement and anticipation! Everyone is secretly hoping that they'll be called up to receive a prize.

It also means a lot of shuffling and scuffling as guests get up and down to receive certificates and awards. We have a few tips to help streamline this portion of your night, so it flies instead of drags!

If you know the winners in advance, seat them closest to the podium
Make sure the announcer has an opportunity to practice pronouncing names
Offer false certificates and provide the real certificates later, so nothing precious gets lost or covered in dessert
Get the band in on the action and have them play during transitions

The biggest key to a successful awards ceremony is to keep everything moving at a steady clip! Once the winners are revealed, everyone will be eager to hit the dance floor! If it gets too late, guests may depart before the real fun has begun!

For Corporate Events or Balls

If fundraising or awards aren't the centrepiece of the evening, you don't need to spend as much time preparing for this segment of the night. Even so, it's an excellent opportunity to express appreciation for your guests or employees. Depending on the tone of the evening, you might want to use this time in a fun, creative way, such as:

Having guests vote on superlatives and announcing them to the crowd
Inviting a guest of honour to present a keynote address
Including an additional performance, such as a stand-up comedian
"Roast" a CEO or important guest
Present a short video or photo slideshow

Whatever you choose to do, guests will appreciate being acknowledged and included. If you ensure that everyone feels involved, the presentation will go off without a hitch!

Dancing the Night Away

After everyone has enjoyed their dinner and guests have won their raffles, and received their awards, it's time to dance! We could not possibly call ourselves authorities on how to plan a gala dinner if we skipped the evening dancing! This portion of the evening demands a major shift in tone, so it's time to bring in another set of musicians to shake things up on the dance floor!

At this point in the night, you don't have to worry about mingling or dinner conversation! The dancing is the entertainment, so feel free to go loud! This is the part of the night when you can bring in a DJ or larger band to get everyone up on their feet!

Again, you will need to keep your tone and theme in mind. =Consider the following options when you look into hiring the musical talent for your event's grand finale:

A party band
An electric string quartet
An edgy DJ
A period band
A swing music ensemble
A "postmodern jukebox" inspired ensemble

Whatever you choose, make sure it's a performance worthy of being the final event of your evening! Your guests will leave with this music echoing in their ears, and it will be what they take with them as they think about the event moving forward!

All in all, choose a thematically resonant group capable of giving your guests a good time! After a long evening of networking, fundraising, and mingling, everyone deserves this opportunity to cut loose on the dance floor! We hope that this gala dinner checklist can get you started setting a fabulous tone for your event!

Create a Night to Remember with Bands for Hire

There is nothing like the day after a perfect gala dinner when you sit down and appreciate all of your hard work. If you've done well, the feedback from your guests will be music to your ears! If you've used music to organise your evening, then you'll have the music itself to thank for that!

At Bands For Hire, we have a broad selection of live musicians and DJs who can set the tone for any event. From the formal reception to a wild night of dancing, our experienced bands will keep your guests entertained and eager to give! View our curated selection of evening entertainment ideas when you get to planning your next event!