When you plan a party or event of any kind, you want it to be a success. Event planning is an art and a science involving creativity, focus, and attention to detail. It’s going to be a big help if you use an event planning checklist and create an event timeline so you can monitor and track your progress. Many things can go wrong when planning a party, so it is vital to follow everything because many of the succeeding steps are dependent on the previous ones.
Parties are all about gathering people and having fun, which should guide you throughout the planning process. Once you have the steps down pat, you’ll have an easier time making decisions in your future event planning activities to make the party memorable. Keep in mind that event planning is tedious and time-consuming. You must love doing it to ensure success. Otherwise, you can look for professional help, such as the experts from www.houseofpartyplanning.com.
Steps for event planning
It might sound ironic, but the very first step in event planning is to create a plan. A plan is critical in event planning; otherwise, there will be chaos, and you might not meet the goals of the party or event. You use the plan as your guide to moving from the first stage until the last stage of the planning process, guaranteeing your success. Understanding the phases of event planning will help you prevent disorganization. Here are the steps.
1. Research stage and setting of goals
For some events, you may need to conduct some research. The research process could include interviews with the client or the person responsible for hosting or managing the event. What you need to determine are the goals of the client for mounting the event. For example, they may be hosting a symposium, networking with different professionals, training, or fundraising.
It will be more efficient to be ready with a list of questions because aside from the goals, you should know their budget, the date of the event, and the expected number of guests. Document the objectives and goals as they will be the foundation for the next steps of the planning process.
2. Designing the event
The design of the event is the master plan. This step includes finding the appropriate venue to accommodate the number of guests and the event’s theme and purpose. Next, you will need to draw up a schedule to accomplish all the details. Another thing is to build a team that will work on the details of the event. In the plan, you start with the things you can accomplish earlier and those components that will take longer to settle.
Event planning needs several people to whom you can delegate different tasks. Layout all the event details in this step, and everything must come together to fulfill the master plan. You will assign the leaders to handle the venue, the caterers, entertainment, decoration, artwork, light and sound, handouts, event staffing, and more. Each component will have a list of details, which is what makes planning an event so time-consuming. Each part entails finding the suppliers, talking to vendors, negotiating, and signing contracts.
3. Branding the event
You can brand the event at this stage. The branding here means giving the event a name, which is vital to know what to expect. When your event has clear objectives and goals, it is easier to create a brand for it. Your research and event design will help you create a brand design, make the event unique, and pique guests’ interests.
You can use the brand design for the promotional materials, which the client can use for their posts in their social media accounts, email marketing, posters, and invitations. Branding the event will be of great help when the client wants to publicize it. Moreover, having a brand helps make it easier to notice the event and make people wanting to attend the event remember it. Branding could be a logo, a tagline, or a name.
4. Coordination
The team leaders are working on their tasks, which at this stage, should be nearing completion. While you and the event planning team members have regular coordination meetings, you should also schedule more extensive coordination meetings to ensure that the event planning is on course. At this stage, many of the components of the event planning should be accomplished. While there will be fewer things to attend to, it is still vital to coordinate with key persons and suppliers to ensure everyone is on the same page. In addition, you should keep the client up to date.
The plan is coming together at this stage. But this is the most serious stage where you check all the details. This stage involves checking and double-checking all aspects.
You can schedule a coordination meeting a week before the event and another one, a day before the event, to ensure that every team member understands what is expected of them.
You can come up with a tentative schedule for the team members and event staff. Everyone involved in managing the event should know their duties. They should also know the persons to contact if there are problems or technical issues. As always, you should have a contingency or backup plan.
5. Evaluation
Evaluation is the last step in event planning. Not many event planners or event planning firms do an evaluation. However, it is a good practice, especially if you are new to event planning. It is also valuable for collecting positive feedback, which can go into building your reputation.
You can request feedback from your client or hand out survey forms to attendees after seeking the approval of the event host. Aside from getting feedback from attendees and clients, you should also conduct an in-house review.
Check your team’s objectives and goals and the client’s and discuss if you met each one. You can also identify the weak points that need boosting and which areas where your team is stronger. Only by looking at every aspect objectively will you build a better group and improve your planning skills. You should understand that in event planning, you should be flexible, know how to think on your feet and have the ability to adapt to certain situations.
Rhydian Choi 
Nicola Holder