Planning an event is stressful, whether you’re an experienced event planner or doing it for the first time. That adrenaline, however, is paramount to the successful running of an event: it’s what you need to spin all those plates and execute the actual event. Read on for this simple and short guide to keeping your cool whilst embracing the pressure to help get your event off the ground.
Checklist and Timeline Planning
Before you do anything, make a checklist. This checklist can include everything from the vital (venue) to the seemingly trivial (napkins). Once you have your checklist, split it into things to buy and things to do. Then draw up a timeline of events, with deadlines for each item on the list. Refer back to this list on a daily basis to ensure that nothing has been left behind. Leave space to add new things into the list too. Budget at this point too, and try to factor in a 10% contingency overall.
Venue
The venue should be the first thing you book, especially if your event is a wedding, as you are often more limited on dates, season and days of the week.
Think carefully when picking a venue, as it needs to tick a lot of boxes. Check whether your venue has enough covered areas. Would you need a marquee too? If you need marquee hire in Kent or London, it’s worth organising this early on. Established firms such as http://www.2intents.co.uk provide marquee hire in Kent.
Staying Cool
Accept the adrenaline as part of the job and work with it; you need to feel a bit pressured to get the event actually off the ground, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also stay calm. Keep your cool by sticking to your checklist, the timeline and the budget. Hold regular meetings to ensure everything is going to plan.
Evaluate and Reflect
Take the time to listen to feedback from those that attended, as well as those that were part of the planning. Hold an evaluation meeting as soon as possible after the event and reflect on everything that’s said.
Staying cool in the face of event planning is essential, but never stay quite so cool that you miss vital things. Planning is key to successful event planning, as is evaluation.