A valet parking service is when a parking attendant is hired to park and retrieve guests’ cars at an event for a nominal fee. The fee is usually paid for by the persons throwing the event and then guests can choose to give the actually parking attendants a tip or not. Usually, the valet is set up right in front of the venue so that they can be easily seen and guests can drive up and leave their keys with the valet who will then park the car and retrieve it when the guests are ready to leave. Valet is necessary at venues where parking is limited or difficult. You will want to consider paying for a valet service if:
- The parking is a long distance from the venue
- The parking situation is limited
- The venue only offers street parking
- The venue is in a questionable area depending on the time of your event
- Your guests are handicapped in any way
- You want an aura of glitz at your event
- The cost of valet is within your budget
- You want to impress your guests
- You want to make your event as simple as possible.
Often times, parking at an event can turn out to be the minor detail that frustrates and confuses your guests. No one wants to be late to an event because they can’t find a place to park, or better yet because they get lost trying to get to the venue because parking was so far away. Some venues will request that you do have valet parking because there isn’t anywhere to park. Valet services rope off certain areas of streets or parking lots in order to park cars. The cars are then watched carefully until the guest is ready to leave. When the guests first arrive, the valet will give them a ticket which corresponds to a number put on their keys. The valet will keep the keys until the guest is ready to leave, so the only thing the person has to do is hand the valet the ticket. Another unconsidered benefit of valet is to monitor the alcohol consumption of your guests. You can quickly offer cab rides home if inebriated guests are trying to retrieve their cars.
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