Event Planning Process: From the Beginning to the End

Events are a critical part of any organisation’s marketing and communication mix. They can help you build relationships with customers, partners, and employees, generate leads, and create brand awareness.

But planning a successful event isn’t easy. Even having event planning steps, from the initial planning stages to the final execution, there are many things to consider. This article will walk you through everything you need to know to plan a successful event.

What is an Event, and Why is it Important?

An event is defined as “a happening or occurrence, especially one of some importance.” Events are important because they allow organisations to interact with their customers, partners, and employees more personally than traditional marketing or communication tools.

It’s also a great way to get your brand in front of new people, recruit potential employees, and build long-lasting customer relationships.

The Costs Involved in Hosting Events

Events can be pretty expensive for an organisation because many aspects need to be considered when planning one.

Here are just some of the costs involved:

• venue rentals
• catering
• entertainment
• promotion
• photography/videography/media coverage
• audio/visual equipment rental
• room setup
• printing materials
• giveaways

Because of all these expenses associated with hosting an event, it’s essential to plan and conduct thorough research before deciding on the type of event you’re going to host.

How to Select a Venue for Your Next Event

There are a few things you need to consider when selecting a venue for your next event:

• The size of the venue.
• The type of event.
• The location.
• The budget.

It’s crucial to find a venue that’s the right size for your event. If it’s too small, you’ll have to overcrowd the space, and it will be uncomfortable for guests. If it’s too large, you’ll be wasting money on space you’re not using.

The type of event is also necessary to consider when selecting a venue. If you’re hosting a corporate event, you’ll want to choose a venue that offers meeting facilities and has ample space for attendees to move around.

If it’s a casual social event, you may be able to hold it in a more public space. One last thing to think about is the location of the venue. It should be easily accessible for guests and not too far away from your office or home.

What Makes a Great Catering?

A great catering company will serve delicious, visually appealing food and provide nonstop service throughout the event. There are no long periods where attendees go without eating or drinking. Most importantly – execute flawless logistics before, during, and after your event.

Logistics are vital because they often separate an average catering experience from an exceptional one. You want to choose a caterer that takes care of everything on-site, so you don’t have to worry about anything. That includes setting up the food, cleaning up after the event, and disposing of any waste.

Event Planning Steps

Considering the purpose and significance of an event, it is necessary to follow a process from the beginning to the end. However, before starting anything else, it is essential to have excellent event planning steps to identify and define what will be needed for this event. The following information should be closely considered:

• The type of event (i.e., formal wedding, business convention).
• Guests or participants attending (i.e., How many?).
• Venue (and where, as well as what time will it take place?).
• Objectives (What are we trying to achieve? What do we want our guests/participants to walk away with?).
• Budget (What can we spend? This will determine what can/cannot be done).
• Time (What is the date, and when do we need to plan everything?).
• Mandatories (Is there anything that must be included to make this event successful?)

The answers to these questions will establish specific goals. These answers are needed for developing a plan that works with the participants, objectives, time frame, etc., while still staying within budget.

Once this has been established, figuring out who will attend becomes easier. This information enables you to allocate tasks, especially if the number of people involved directly relates to how many servers may be needed throughout an event.

It also determines what type of food service should be offered during an event and whether there should be a bar. These little things can make or break an event.

After that has been established, it becomes easier to figure out the event’s purpose. What is its main goal? Is it launching new products at a business convention? Is it a wedding for two people who love each other very much?

Whatever the case may be, you will need to follow specific steps to get from the beginning until the end of your event on time and within budget.

The first thing that needs to happen is deciding what environment you want your guests/participants to have while attending this gathering. If possible, find pictures on the internet that show an example of what you want your event to look like.

If you are having a formal wedding, find pictures of different rooms that could be used for the occasion. This will help guide people in doing their jobs well and paint an accurate picture within your participants’ minds.

The next step is to consider all possibilities before finalising any decisions. What kind of food do you want? The average price per plate at weddings is $25 – $50.

Food tastes better if it has been prepared, especially for the event, so catering or having something catered by a restaurant may be your best option here (a lot more goes into this than just finding someone who can cook). Overall, whatever kind of environment tries to set should be considered affordable without sacrificing quality.

After the objectives for the event have been set, it becomes much easier to plan out the sequence of events that will happen on that day(s). This also means figuring out what can and cannot be done and who is responsible for each task.

Having a timeline is extremely important, so everyone knows when they are expected to finish their assigned tasks. An excellent way to create this timeline is using Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.

One of the most critical aspects of event planning is ensuring everything goes off without a hitch. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control (e.g., weather), but having a solid plan in place will help in minimising the damage in a worst-case scenario.

Anticipate everything that could go wrong and consider how to correct this problem.

Conclusion

Planning a successful event can be a daunting task, but if you follow these steps and enlist the help of a few trusted professionals, you’re sure to have a memorable event that your guests will talk about for years to come.