Event Planning
Event planning is a term used to refer to the various aspects involved in organising an event to ensure a successful outcome. A lot more goes into planning an event than many people consider and so this website has been designed to help you with many of these aspects.
There are lots of things to consider when planning an event, and a lot of these are often overlooked at the start of the process which can lead to problems later on. The main processes to consider are:
- Budget
- Date and Time
- Venue
- Permits
- Staff
- Transportation
- Parking
- Guests
- Invites
- Theme
- Security
- Liability and insurance
- Photography
- Accommodation
- Catering
- Entertainment
- Equipment
- Promotion
The first thing to consider is your budget as this will most likely affect all of the other aspects of the event. With your overall budget set you can proceed with allocating budget for areas such as catering and the venue.
Date and time is important as they will have to suit the needs of the event. Will it be a weekday or weekend event? Day or night? Will the guest be able to make the suggested time? By making sure you have considered all of these factors you will be able to find the most suitable dates to host the event.
It is also important to have alternative dates, in order to have the best chance of getting the venue you’re after. Popular venues will often book up months in advance and so the earlier you plan your event the better chance you will have of getting everything you need.
Some of the most common venues for events are hotels, conference centres, reception halls, nightclubs or outside venues.
When looking for a venue there are a lot of important things to consider – for more information take a look at our event venues page.
An often overlooked aspect of Event Planning is permits. Depending on the type of event you are hosting you may require a permit to do what you want to do. If you are planning on serving alcohol the venue must have an alcohol license.
It’s worth checking a lot of these things with the venue beforehand and making sure they are suitable hosts for your event. Have a look at our venue page for more information.
Depending on the size of the event, staff may be a necessity to help it run smoothly.
It’s worth listing what things need to be done and who will be responsible for them. Will there need to be bar staff? Are canapes being served? Will the event need a host?
While considering the amount of staff needed, you also need to consider how they will fit into the budget. Staffing costs can often be more expensive than anticipated so plan carefully.
When planning an event you need to think about how your guests going to get to the venue. If the venue is in a central location, such as a town centre, then transportation is probably not necessary. If, however, the event is at a more remote location it may be worthwhile considering putting on transportation for your guests. This is linked with the next point:
If the venue location is not easily accessible on by foot then most people will choose to drive. If this is the case then you will need to make sure you have ample parking facilities available.
Generally an event will be planned for a reason, whether it be a birthday, a wedding or a work function. This is usually one of the guiding factors when considering guests.
It’s generally best to clear up early on the rules surrounding guests at the event. Will it be invite only or are tickets going going to be publicly available? Is the guest list specific to a certain group e.g. work employees / family. Consider how these guidelines will be clarified with the guests. This can often be done on any tickets or promotional material that accompanies the event, for example you may wish to invite the ticket holder plus guest.
The amount of guests at the event should also be planned for as this can have a dramatic impact on a lot of the other factors. You may need to look at the budget to work out exactly how many guests you can cater for.
Don’t forget that a lot of venues will have limits on capacity and it’s worth checking beforehand.
How are you going to notify your guests of the event? If you are sending out invites make sure you get them out early enough to allow everyone time to respond and make arrangements.
If you have a theme in mind for your event, make sure it is conveyed properly from the start. Guests must be notified of any particular dress codes or themes ahead of the event giving them plenty of time to prepare. Give your theme plenty of thought beforehand and make sure it is compatible with the rest of your plans. Theme events will generally require a lot more work for both you as the planner and also your guests.
Depending on various factors, security may need to be considered for your event. If you want someone on the door to prevent uninvited guests coming in to your event security would be ideal. This may be less of an issue depending on the location of the venue, central locations are more likely to be subject to walk ins than remote locations.
Making sure you are covered in the event that something goes wrong is vital. Venues may offer insurance with the rental package but it’s important to know if you need cover, and what it entails.
For a lot of events, especially weddings, photographers are a necessity. Choosing a photographer is a whole subject in itself and should be given careful consideration. Have a look at the photographers portfolio and get a feel for their work. It’s important to be as comfortable as possible with the photographer to get the best results possible.
Quite often, if you are hosting an event for a large amount of people, you can arrange special deals with nearby hotels to get cheap accommodation. This is even more likely if your event is being hosted at a hotel. This allows guests who may be travelling from a distance to benefit from easy to arrange accommodation. Speak to your venue to see if they have any deals set up with nearby hotels.
Getting catering right can be quite tricky and so a lot of consideration should be put into it. For more information and ideas on this subject have a look at our catering page.
Another major point to consider is the event’s entertainment. This is often one of the highlights of the evening and its important to get right. For more information have a look at our Entertainment page.
There’s lots of different options when it comes to equipment. Audio visual equipment should meet your needs and requirements, speaking to a local A/V company should help you determine what you will need and costs.
Marquee hire is also a very popular option for many events, and come in all shapes and sizes to suit your needs.
So you’ve got this far. By now your event should be all planned out and ready to go. The only thing left to do is promote it. You can promote as much or as little as you want or need. Depending on the set up the event promotion may not even be necessary, but it’s always nice to build a bit of hype up around an event and get people talking. To get some ideas together visit our event promotion page.
