Event Planning Basics: What You Need To Know

Planning an event can be difficult: there are so many jobs to take care of a lot has the potential to go wrong. Whether you’re planning a small charity ball or a huge public gala, there are strategies you should know in order to pull off a successful event.

You’ll find the simple things, such as making a list you can refer back to, will serve you and your event well. While planning can be complex, if you get the basics right then everything else will fall into place. To set you off on the right foot, we’ve compiled a helpful checklist of everything you need to consider when it comes to event planning.

Set clear event goal and objectives

Establishing your goals and objectives are the first steps you need to take. You need to think about why you are putting together this event and specifically:

• Is it fully accessible?
• What are you hoping to achieve from it?
• Are you raising awareness for a cause?
• Will you be collecting donations?
• Do you plan to showcase a new innovation?
• What message do you want people to take away from the event?

The more well-defined your goals are, the better chance you’ve got of making a success of the event.

Establish a budget

Your budget needs to cover everything so it’s important to know exactly how much you have available to spend and what you need to spend in order to achieve the goals and objectives. You can still deliver a good event on a limited budget, but it’s important to set and manage your expectations appropriately.

Put together a team

It’s much better if you don’t try to rely on one person to do absolutely everything. Start off by appointing an event manager, establish a timeframe for all the tasks to be completed and then encourage the event manager to delegate responsibility for tasks such as:

• Booking the entertainment (whether that comes in the form of motivational speakers or musicians, for example)
• Obtaining sponsorship
• Marketing and publicity
• Venue decoration

Assigning roles to different individuals will prevent tasks from being missed and create a good system of accountability.

Make it Accessible

As the event planner, you have an obligation to make sure the event is completely accessible to everyone. This should be considered throughout the whole planning process, does the venue have ramps? Can wheelchair users move around the venue comfortably? Does the menu cater to a variety of dietary needs? These are just a few of the questions that need to be covered to ensure your event is accessible to all.

Branding

Your event needs a clear identity and that comes with branding. This comes through in the logo you use, the design of the invitations and the colour scheme for the venue decoration. Effective branding sets the tone for the whole theme and content of your event.

Enjoy it

Last, but certainly not least, have fun. The little touches and extra effort that you’ve made will be appreciated and reflected in the comments of your guests. Take your time and, no matter how stressful it gets, focus on the end goal and the positive results you are aiming for.