Selling Tickets
If you will be providing alcohol, you will need to sell tickets in advance.
Ticket Prices
The current standard price for a social ticket is $10. It's not a law - you can charge whatever you like, but $10 is what your potential guests will expect.
Printing Tickets
Your ticket should include the location, date and time of the social, as well as who it's for, and the price of the ticket. If your guests should be expecting anything out of the ordinary, consider putting additional information on the tickets themselves. If you will be having a door prize, don't forget to put unique numbers on the tickets. You can save money by having your social tickets printed on standard business cards, and numbering them by hand.
If some your guests won't have a chance to pick up their tickets before the social, you can have their names on a list at the door, but you cannot sell tickets at the door.
How Many?
Deciding how many tickets to print and sell is a delicate issue. Up to a quarter of your guests that purchase tickets may not come, but you don't want to push the hall past capacity.
One option is to get your sellers to carefully ask if the guest plans to attend - if not, have them ask your guest to gift the ticket to you. If you plan to go this route, have a card or "void" social ticket printed up, thanking them for their help.
Where and When to Print Tickets
Get them with the DJ
Book your DJ before you start printing tickets. Many DJ companies will have packages that include tickets and banners.
Do it Yourself
You can get your tickets printed at just about any printing outlet in the city. You can get good prices at major chains (like Staples). You can also take a look online for businesses like Vista print, which will print your tickets and have them mailed to you. If you order them online, consider shipping time and costs before you make your decision.
If you are computer savvy, you can always buy the paper and print them yourself. You can go with pre-perforated sheets, or print them on regular card stock and cut them up with a paper cutter.
You will want to print your tickets as far in advance as you can, as some companies will require a voided ticket before they will donate prizes.
Advertising
If your social is for a wedding or a family event, you cannot advertise it. If your social is a charitable event, you will need prior approval from the MLCC to advertise it. The Occasional Permits brochure from the MLCC has more information.
Selling Tickets - Lean on your Friends
To sell all of your social tickets you will need to lean on your friends and relatives. Find people you know who are committed to help.
Keep your sellers accountable for how many tickets they sell. Keep a master list of every one of your sellers, and how many tickets you have supplied to each. It's a good idea to check in periodically, even weekly, with your sellers to find out how many tickets are remaining. If a ticket goes unsold, you will lose the cost of the ticket, as well as all of the potential liquor and raffle profits.
The people that come to your social make up a large part of the experience. Let your sellers know to use some discretion about selling to their rowdier friends and coworkers.