Going back five or ten years, outdoor receptions were primarily for weddings, according to Brian Lang, director of catering and convention services, Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, New Jersey. “The bride often chose an outdoor reception because she either envisioned a perfect all-white wedding in a garden or because an outdoor setting can be budget friendly,” Lang says.

But circumstances and times change, and outdoor business receptions are booming right now. The main purpose of any business reception is to encourage networking, and hosting the reception outdoors can help facilitate that. People tend to wander around a bit more and feel freer when outdoors, which encourages social interaction.

Typically, outdoor receptions are held on the first night of a gathering. “The tendency,” says Richard Mandy, director of convention services, The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia, “is for groups to be outside on the first night of their program. After all, they’ve spent the greater part of the day traveling and are tired. What better way to unwind than to get out in the fresh air and have a casual meal.”

Business clients are also moving away from the standard buffet line to food and beverage stations. Stations, a long-standing choice of many brides, have been embraced by business clientele as a perfect way to encourage people to mingle.

The current economic downturn affecting some business sectors is also curtailing the extravagant receptions of the recent past. For many, gone are the elaborate tents—some with built-in air conditioning systems— that prevailed when times were better. Now clients spend the majority of their meeting budgets on food and beverage—and much less on bells and whistles.

Two additional factors contributing to the growth of outdoor receptions are technology and the green movement. In the past decade, the exhibit industry has made great advances in the materials used for outdoor props and backdrops. Hence, there’s now basically nothing clients can’t have when it comes to outdoor décor.

And as the world goes green, so does the convention and meetings industry. Many clients are asking for advice on how to conduct greener meetings, and one of the suggestions catering directors give is to host an event outdoors in the daylight, thereby using less energy.

A key to delighting your meeting and convention clients with an outdoor reception is to use what makes your property unique. Following are examples of three properties doing just that.

BY THE SEA, BY THE SEA
The Hotel del Coronado, San Diego, knows their mainly East Coast business clientele are often drawn to the property because it sits on such a beautiful beach, famously captured in the movie Some Like It Hot.

Parrish Phillips, director of banquets, says, “If the weather is nice, groups definitely want to be outdoors, and for them we offer 56,000 square feet of outdoor space, excluding the beach. And, given our picturesque setting, we do a lot of beach themes.”

One of their most popular themes is the “Clambake on Coronado,” described by Phillips as “a luau theme, often with bands and lighting effects. Depending on a client’s budget, it can get pretty elaborate. For example, for a tiki hut atmosphere, we build 15-foot square bars and have two or three bartenders per hut serving drinks. For the food, we offer items like clams, lobster tail, grilled pork and chicken barbeque, and tilapia. We’ve gotten away from the long, straight chow line. Now we do action stations, each with a different food, attended by a chef.

“If our guests desire something special, we create it. We have one group that comes here every year for a week and takes over the entire hotel. Their special requests are snacks of Oreo cookies and hard-to-find candies, the kind that used to be sold at movie theaters—Jujubees, Good & Plenty, Mary Janes. But we do find them, every year going through hundreds of candy containers.”

CARRY ME BACK TO OLE VIRGINY
The Homestead “is the kind of property that doesn’t exist much in the world anymore,” says Richard Mandy, director of convention services. Famous for its mountain views, the Homestead offers the kind of unhurried, gracious service reminiscent of times past.

“When a group comes here, depending on the season, they typically do at least one event outside, usually on the first night when they want to unwind and experience nature. Our outdoor season begins on Memorial Day weekend, which is when our convention business starts in earnest, and ends in late October.

“Our primary draw here is the casino lawn, a massive area outside the back of the hotel with a grand brick staircase leading down to it. This area is flexible, and we can accommodate groups of up to 1,200, even seated. We have four main lawn areas in just that one location and, of course, there are those dramatic mountain views. Not much more is needed. In fact, the events often are kept simple in décor—some tiki torches or citronella candles and a threepiece musical ensemble or bluegrass band.

“Many groups are cutting back on the quantity of their reception offerings. For example, when times were better, the standard ratio of canapés per person was six to one, augmented with other food displays. But with more businesses now watching their bottom line, the ratio is three canapés to one. Many eliminate the canapés completely and just serve cheese and vegetable platters and dried snacks.

“When the group wants more substantive fare, we offer a “Taste of Virginia,” featuring the famous Virginia ham, along with chicken, fish, and beef. We don’t do a lot of other themes. Clearly, when most groups come here, they are not looking to do a Key West theme.”

NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Although the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson is clearly not in New York, it doesn’t have to be. This property offers not one but three sensational views of the New York skyline.

“We are fortunate,” Lang says, “in that two of our views come with an infrastructure that offers both indoor and outdoor space. This ability to flow from inside to outside is especially appealing to our older clientele, who prefer to come and go as their comfort level demands.”

The Hyatt’s three spaces are the pier, which it co-owns with Jersey City, and the two skyline views. The pier does not have an indoor space attached to it, so a decision is always made by midday—depending on the weather forecast— to set up the reception on the pier or inside the hotel. “Whenever we put on a dock event, we offer clients the use of a riverboat so attendees can cruise up and down the river. The pier is used a lot for business receptions. Even in the heat of a New Jersey/New York summer, there is always a cooling breeze off the river.”

Whereas some other properties’ clients are keeping receptions simpler, Brian Lang, director of catering and convention services, hasn’t noticed much of that. “Our area is home to a lot of large corporations, especially pharmaceutical companies, which still allow for the budgeting of extravagantly themed receptions, complete with tents and abundant food. For example, a recent themed event was ‘Carnival,’ and among the cornucopia of offerings were three kinds of ceviche, carved pork, and, of course, exotic drinks.”

Lang did share, though, that one client kept their reception costs fairly low-key with a “South Beach” theme. When asked what that was, he quipped, “Light fare and very heavy drinks.”

Pam Leigh is a frequent contributor to HOTEL F&B.