I spent the winter 1000 miles from our cottage in northern Michigan which was being renovated. I had lots of help from breaktime, and lots of good advice.
I also had a great architect and great contractors. The cottage is finished, and it has exceeded all hopes and expectations.
So, here is the question…
I want to thank these people with a contractor’s party. I want to celebrate their skills and efforts and show my appreciation to the painters, counter installer, carpenters, plumbers, electricians, many of whom I have not met.
What should I feed them? Any wonderful ideas? Have you been to a party like this where they served something terrific? Have you ever wished someone would invite you over and serve you something? What?
Is dinner better than lunch or vice versa? I would like to invite spouses or partners- is that a good idea?
Thanks in advance for any ideas, and thanks, too, for all the breaktime help!
Replies
"I would like to invite spouses or partners- is that a good idea?"
Be clear if you are inviting spouses or partners. Last thing you need is someone bringing their spouse and their partner. LOL
Sounds like a great idea. Personally I'd be good with beer & hamburgers. but I am kind of simple.
Lots of folks promise this sort of thing to us at the framing stage. (I'm a framer). But what usually ends up happening is that the honeymoon ends somewhere around board/plaster and the party is long forgotten by the time they get their C/O. LOL.... good for you (and your GC!) for keeping the romance alive!
I'd say keep it casual. Builders and tradesmen in general are usually a pretty casual group. I'd say fire up the grill, stock the coolers, throw a radio in the backyard and call it an open house. Definitely invite spouses.... unless you want it to turn into animal house on ya. ;)
I'm thinking something along the lines of a Snoop Dogg video.
Strippers, chronic and 40's.
It's not too late, it's never too late.
LOL..... you're smoked dude.View Image
Roof party once upon a tyme, a young lady I knew climbed a ladder to the roof, then up the roof to the peak, and pee'd on the ridge under the light of a full moon glistening..................well, you get the picture.
Good times them days.[email protected]
Do it!!
Food can be anything, sammie makings , chips and dip ,burgers, etc.
These type parties are always promised , few come about.
Last 3 jobs I did all had them , one was a new winery where the drink of choice was the house made wine.
Contractors will love it.
Spouses or partners included, few really ever get to see the finished product that the mates bitched about.
"Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
Definately invite spouses and even kids. These guys go home and talk about work but their families never get to see how cool what they do all day really is. Food can be simple but barbeque pork is generally on most construction workers diet plan. Burgers and hot dogs is fine too.
DO NOT encourage people to drink a lot of beer, keep the drinking under control it only takes one drunk to ruin an entire party. (and one accident driving home to ruin a pile of lives. I'm not saying to have a dry party but have a way to shut a person down if they over indulge. I had a framers wife get lit and go off on what god awful paint colors a client had chosen for her beautiful new house. (and they were not really bad colors either.)
Understand that people will not all arrive at the same time so a sit down meal is not such a good idea. A Saturday afternoon garden party with house tours but most of the socializing on the deck is a good idea. If you have a killer home theater run a good kids movie (i.e. the Incredibles) that shows off the surround sound and keeps the kids from getting too bored.
If you have a bunch of photo's of the construction process put them in an album for folks to look at. Somehow the wives seem to get huge pleasure from pictures of their husbands working. And it makes it real to the kids that dad made this if there is a photo of dad and six other guys humping a giant granite counter top up the stairs.
Have fun.
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"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
I had a framers wife get lit and go off on what god awful paint colors a client had chosen
LOL...... I'm sure it wasn't funny at the time, but that's hilarious in hind-site. Frickin' framers...... View Image
Seriously, what a bunch of brutes.
Where ya at up there? Presque Isle by any chance?