Event planning, a task involving huge responsibilities. Among the hustle-bustle, you might forget something important that may hamper its proceedings. Make a 'to do' list and avoid stressful situations. Here are a few guidelines to make your efforts successful.
If you are a novice at event management, you may be getting nightmares about everything going wrong on the main day. This is quite normal because it is a hectic job, wherein an event planner is responsible for every detail surrounding it.
A poorly organized program or function can lead to chaos and ruin the show. To avoid chaotic results and to create a win-win situation, it is necessary to start planning months before the actual day. Maintaining a checklist from the time you start thinking and planning for the event would be a good way to get organized.
Planning it is not one man's job. Do not imagine yourself to be a superman or a superwoman, who can do everything on his own. You will surely need assistants and volunteers to control different areas. The planning should preferably start at least 6 months before, depending on the magnitude of the event.
Forming a Group
First and foremost, you should form a task group, according to the type of event to be organized. You should sit down with your team and make checklists about what each person has to do. Jot down the name of the event, its purpose, nature (formal or informal), and budget.
Talk about all the things that would be required, and assign each person a job or an area to handle.
Budgeting
This is a very important aspect. You must have a rough idea about how much money you would need to organize the whole event. One needs to talk to sponsors and well-wishers who would like to support the initiative.
Date and Venue
Chalk out the possible dates during which you can arrange it and the venues. Contact the owners to ask if the venue would be available for the dates, seating capacity of the location, and prices.
After minute evaluation, fix a date and venue that would come within your budget and expectations.
Marketing and Publicity Plan
The next step is to set marketing strategies to popularize the event. You will have to design and prepare posters, pamphlets, banners, etc.
You will have to recruit a designing team who will make these publicity materials colorful, lively, and attractive. Plan out where the banners and posters would be put. One can also publicize it through the Internet. You need to start publicizing at least a month before the actual day.
Special Guests and Entertainment
No event is complete without special guests and entertainment. If you are planning to bring in a celebrity or a renowned person, book the dates of the person well in advance.
Same goes for the entertainers. First, you need to plan what sort of entertainment you would need, and accordingly, contact the appropriate people to know about their availability and expenses.
After confirming with them, you should sign a contract with them to avoid them ditching you at the last moment.
Food Arrangements
Sometimes, catering services are available at the venue itself. If not, you would have to make arrangements with some caterers. However, before this, you have to decide the type of food you need to arrange, depending on the participants.
For instance, it can be vegetarian, continental, etc., anything that fits in your budget.
All these arrangements such as catering, venue, etc., should be done two weeks before the actual event. As this day nears, your job will be to double check with the venue owners, caterers, guests, and entertainers.
A week before, you should hold a meeting with your team to talk about minute details like decorations, lighting, gifts for the special guests, security, program scheduled, etc. One should also ensure that every person is aware of his or her duties for the D-day.
Make a separate checklist for the final day. On this day, reach the venue early and see to it that all arrangements like decoration, lighting, and other devices that would be needed are ready. Check whether the special guests, performers, and caterers have arrived. With proper planning, you will be able to start and end the event on time.
After the program, you must arrange a meeting with your team to thank them for their work and support. Discuss its happenings and ask for suggestions that could be incorporated to make future events even more fantastic and memorable.