What makes a party? The guests certainly, the food and drinks undoubtedly, the weather (sometimes)…however, perhaps one of the most crucial ingredients for a really good party (or wedding of course) is the venue.

Venue hire in London (and countrywide in fact) is now big business. There are literally thousands of venues or spaces available for hire in our capital city and beyond, from vaulted ballrooms in royal palaces, to small intimate restaurants or private dining rooms to iconic landmarks.

There is certainly no doubt that one of the most crucial ingredients for a really good party or wedding reception is the venue. The venue can create a cosy candlelit ambience for a dinner for eight, or jaw-dropping wow factor for a celebrity studded charity gala. Whether in a private house or garden in one of London's swankiest squares, on a sun soaked French beach, or at a famous and awe-inspiring national landmark, a party venue can make or break a party.

Lots of party venues have other uses. Museums and monuments often have a sideline in venue hire, and of course lots of London tourist attractions double up as great wedding venues too.

More often than not, the larger party venues have their own events teams who do all the party planning for you. These party planning teams will often try to work with a list of preferred suppliers – the florists, caterers, DJs, bands, and lighting & production companies that they feel do the best job of creating parties and events in their spaces. They will worry about the invites for you, and the goody bags. And some of the best catering companies for example, such as The Recipe, Moving Venue and Alison Price are all experienced in working in the country's biggest and best venues.

As for the process of finding the perfect party venue or wedding venue, the Internet has made that much easier. There are now a variety of event-led venue hiring websites and organisations, which allow you to browse through all the venues located in a city.

In London, popular event and party venues include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Madame Tussauds, The London Aquarium, Guildhall, Two Temple and Chelsea Hospital - the list is endless.

But sometimes an event calls for a really unusual venue hire, and of course London is ideal for this too as the city's scope is so enormous. How about a luxury super-yacht cruising the Thames for a beauty product launch, or for a Halloween party why not try the London dungeons? You can even hire a pod on the London Eye for a wedding if you like!

Again, good event caterers such as "rhubarb" (the official caterers on the Silver Fleet and at the London Eye) or Rocket can bring their skills to each and every one of these venues.

Companies such as London Launch can help you find and hire these party venues, in fact they split up their venue searches into useful sub sections such as hotels, restaurants and bars, away day venues, marquee venues, and boats, yachts and moving venues – don't forget you can party on an old routemaster bus too! All making the job of finding a party venue much easier.

Wherever you are looking to hold your party or event, and whatever that event might be - product launch, wedding or corporate gala dinner - once you've found the perfect party venue you are definitely halfway there!