How to plan a company annual day, family day or office party in Bengaluru

A team meal at a restaurant is usually a set menu at a fixed price a head, and a private area can come with a minimum spend. None of the restaurants we looked at prints its group price, so ask two or three for the set menu a head with tax, and whether drinks are in it.

Doing it yourselves costs least. If a volunteer committee runs a Rajyotsava or Ugadi celebration, the only bill can be the food and its delivery.

A family day for 100 staff and 60 children aged 5 to 10 works out to about ₹2 lakh at the first resort and ₹3.6 lakh at the second, about ₹1,275 to ₹2,225 a head.

A family day on your own campus works out to about ₹700 to ₹1,075 a head for 160 people: a caterer's lunch and hi-tea, a rented bouncy castle, a game host and a hired PA. The castle and game-host prices are our rough estimate.

A hotel or a hall. A hotel usually sells the hall with its food: you pay by the plate, with a smallest number of plates. One hotel group's own page tells you to ask for one price for the hall, the food and the sound together. A hall that doesn't cook usually charges rent for the slot and lets your caterer in. No Bengaluru hall or hotel we looked at prints its rent or its smallest number of plates, so ask for both with the per-plate price, and whether an outside caterer or decorator may come in.

A resort charges one price a head for a welcome drink, lunch, hi-tea, games and the pool (question 1). A big group usually gets its price on a call, and weekends often cost more than weekdays. None of the three we found prints a company or weekend rate, so ask for both, with tax.

The buses are yours to book. No resort package we read includes them. A coach for the day is usually priced by the hours and the kilometres, with a minimum, so ask the bus firm for one price for the round trip with the driver's waiting time in it. From Whitefield or Manyata, leave time for the drive out and back on a weekend, and plan the day from when the buses arrive.

Booking the parts yourself

About ₹2.6 to ₹6.5 lakh

One planner

About ₹7.2 to ₹10.9 lakh

Food for 300 from the hall

The same food, from the venue

A PA, one stage unit and stage lights

A themed stage with an LED wall and sound, plus the same stage lights and DJ

A host and a DJ

A host, photo and video for 8 hours, and a one-camera live stream

You run the night; hall rent, photos and decor on top

250 welcome kits and two coordinators; venue rent on top

Get two or three planner quotes. Our figure rests on one Bengaluru planner's starting price for 150 to 500 people, which leaves out stage lights and a DJ. Its page lists lunch and dinner but also says the venue charges for food, so we count the food on top. Ask each planner what's in.

What the planner's money buys that you'd miss. Someone in charge of the evening: the run of show, the cues, who walks up when, and a person who answers if the sound fails. Book the parts yourself and that person is you. Ask the caterer who brings the buffet tables and the power, and the host who brings the sound (question 5).

A middle way: one firm for the stage and the sound. Mirakle Events does this, or one part alone. Its corporate decor starts at ₹30,000, an 8 by 8 ft LED wall is ₹9,000 more, and transport is charged at cost. Ask what a stage run for 300 costs.

What the extra pays for. Every part is there on both sides; the fuller party has a bigger version of each. The longer menu adds starters, a second dessert and live counters cooked in front of you. Stage lights and an LED wall make the stage look like an event in photos. The DJ's packages and the host's card don't say what the higher price adds, so ask. Food and the DJ make up the biggest share of the gap.

Who on mytribe works at the simpler level. Food: Bhandary's Kitchen's Classic Vegetarian menu is ₹400 a plate with staff, crockery and buffet tables in, plus 5% GST and transport; BookMyPartyFood's menus are ₹350 to ₹550 a plate on its own sheet for 30 guests. A host: Ruby Gracia's own card is ₹25,000 to ₹35,000 for 2 to 3 hours at an annual day or conference.

Who works at the fuller level. Stage, sound and an LED wall: Mirakle Events, whose corporate decor starts at ₹30,000 and whose 8 by 8 ft LED wall is ₹9,000. Food: Bhandary's Kitchen's Premium Vegetarian menu is ₹650, with two mocktails, a salad bar, four grill starters, three curries and two desserts; Smart Chef Catering cooks live counters on site, ask for the price. A host: Ruby Gracia's card is ₹30,000 to ₹45,000 for 3 to 4 hours; Raina Dsouza and Nicole Adams host company evenings, ask for the price. An act in place of part of the DJ: Akshay Singh's mentalism is ₹35,000 for 40 minutes.

Why caterers' quotes differ for the same lunch. For a 12 to 15 dish veg buffet for 100, one caterer's own page says ₹450 to ₹650 a plate, and 10 to 15% more at 50. Another's four package menus for 100 work out to about ₹250 to ₹460 a head, without saying how many dishes each has. Part of the gap is cooking (ghee or oil, how much paneer, basmati or regular rice) and how many people serve. Part is what's inside the price: Bhandary's Kitchen puts staff, crockery and buffet tables in its ₹400, while others add them later. Ask each caterer for one total with staff, transport and GST, and compare those.

For 300 or more, a caterer usually wants the number fixed a few days ahead and runs a second serving line (question 6). Ask each one whether it takes your number and how many days' notice it needs.

Lock a headcount you're sure of. Where a caterer bills the locked number, fewer guests don't lower the bill. One caterer's price page also expects a minimum charge under 50 guests, and 10 to 15% over its base rate at 50.

Ask a planner for an itemised quote. One total for "the event" can't be compared with another quote, and you can't explain it to whoever signs off. Ask for the stage, the LED wall, sound, lights, the host, photo and video, and the food on separate lines, with GST shown on each.

Count the crew's food. Ask whether the caterer's headcount includes the host, the band and the crew, or whether you add plates for them.

1. Two to four hours before

   The caterer and the crew set up. One caterer here needs about 2 hours for a buffet, and a stage takes longer, so ask the venue what time you get the hall.

2. An hour before

   The host's sound check, and a run through how every name on the awards list is said. Ask your host to come an hour early for it.

3. The first hour

   A welcome, one short speech and the awards, while people are fresh. Give the host the winners' list in order the day before.

4. Then one act

   The acts here run 30 minutes to an hour.

5. Dinner, on time

   One buffet line serves about 150 to 200 people an hour, so plan on about two lines for 300, by our sum.

6. 10 pm

   Outdoors, the speakers go off. In a closed hall the music can go on until the hall's own closing time.

Plan a family day around lunch and the children. Games before lunch, a show after, and something for the children to do all day, such as a craft table, so parents can sit down.

A longer evening costs more. Ruby Gracia charges ₹40,000 to ₹50,000 and up for 4 hours or more.

If finance needs a GST bill for every rupee, ask before you book. Mirakle Events, Bhandary's Kitchen and Nicole Adams give one; Ruby Gracia and Akshay Singh give a plain bill (question 9).

Ask the resort for the price with tax in writing. One resort's page says both "+ 12% GST" and "includes applicable taxes".

Tell the vendor what finance needs. Ask your finance team what a new vendor has to send to be set up, and whether they deduct TDS when they pay, and tell the vendor the week you book, so nobody is surprised by a short payment.

The ₹75,000 a day is flat, whatever the size of the party. For 100 people at the bar, that's ₹750 a head before a single drink, by our sum. Ask a venue with its own bar for its drinks price a head, and compare.

• Apply as commercial. A corporate event is reported to count as commercial. A non-commercial licence used for one is reported to draw a penalty of three times the commercial fee, ₹2.25 lakh.
• Don't leave it late. A licence applied for within 24 hours is reported at ₹1.5 lakh. It can be issued online.
• Older guides are out of date. Pages that say ₹5,000 to ₹10,000 a day are from before the May 2026 change.
• Closing time. Reports on when Bengaluru bars must close disagree, so ask the venue what time the bar shuts.

How early to book. A Bengaluru planner advises 8 to 12 weeks ahead for October to January, and 4 to 6 weeks for January to June. A hotel on MG Road suggests 2 to 4 weeks for a private dinner for 50 or more.

The people need less notice. Mirakle Events and Raina Dsouza can take a day's notice if they're free, and Badhsha the Mentalist 4 days.

If your PO takes 30 days, say so in your first message, and ask for the advance and the balance as two invoices, so finance can pay the first before the event.