If you’ve ever tried your hand at hosting an event, you know there’s a lot that goes into event planning. When guests walk in through the door, they marvel at all of the activities and décor. All they see is the finished product – what’s before them. But little do the guests or attendees know all of the tiny, miniscule details it took to put such an event together, or the tireless hours and blood and sweat it took to make this event such a success.
Because guests only see the final product of all your hard work, it’s imperative that you get all of the most important details right. Forgetting one key piece of an event during the planning period can be big trouble the day of the event. Although creativity is a huge part of making an event a success, getting all the little details are what creates the perfect event. To ensure you don’t forget an important detail that could make or break your event, here are 5 tips on how to hold a successful high-end event.
Create a Day of Show Schedule
As an event planner and manager, schedules are everything. With events, deadlines are crucial, and this applies to the day of the event. A Day of Show Schedule allots a certain amount of time for every task at an exact period of the day for a certain job.
For example, if the events begins at 7 PM, then guests may begin to start showing up at 6:30. This means that the event must be set up by 6 PM, because it’s unprofessional to not have the event ready when your guests begin to arrive. If you think it will take about two hours to set up for the event, then you should set aside 3 hours for this part of the process. Things can always go awry, and sometimes you might not always have all the hands on deck that you originally thought you would. Which means that on your Day of Show Schedule, there should be a task for setting up from 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM.
Tasks are required activities that need to take place in order to complete a goal. Each task for the event should have a time allotted to it, and the time of day should also be specified. Remember to always add extra time in case one tasks goes over the time that was given to it. It’s better to finish early then to have not enough time to finish.
Create Roles and Time Shifts
Once you’ve created all of the tasks needed to be completed and organized them throughout the day, it’s time to create roles and time shifts! Some tasks will require only two people to get the job done, while other jobs may require up to ten people to get it completed.
It’s important to know how many roles will be needed to execute the event, in order to hire or acquire the right number of volunteers for the event. Volunteers often work in shifts and don’t’ stay of the whole duration of the event, so it’s important to make sure that when one volunteer leaves, another is there to take their place. Productivity goes down when there are too many people available to do the job, because people often feel less productive when they are less involved, or feel they aren’t needed to get the job done.
Order All Event Materials Two Weeks in Advance
There’s nothing worse then getting a message that the items your ordered for your event aren’t arriving until the day AFTER the event. What are you going do with items that arrive AFTER the event??? Items can get delayed, and you might even end up receiving the wrong items. As an event planner, it’s always important to remember that anything can go wrong, but that you need to be prepared when these kinds of events happen. Ordering your items at least two weeks prior gives you time to order any more items you may have forgotten, or replace any items that weren’t up to par with what you need for your event.
Hire Vendors and Rentals Before They’re Booked
The best vendors and rentals always gest booked early, so do your research on what kind of activities you’d like to have at your event at least two months in advance. Something many event planners forget is a dumpster! Don’t assume that your venue location is going to have a dumpster ready to take all your trash. Check ahead with your venue to see what kind of amenities they offer for your event, and if a dumpster is not one of those things, it’s important to get a dumpster rental. Events produce a ton of trash. If you’ve ever been to a food or music festival, you’ve been witness to the tons and tons of waste that are left behind by guests. It’s important to find a nearby, reliable dumpster rental company such as Captain Hook Austin Dumpster Rental who will bring a dumpster to your event for junk removal. They can help you determine what kind of dumpster and what size dumpster you will need for the event.
Send Important Information to Vendors and Volunteers
One of the easiest ways an event can go wrong or can cause the event to come to a halt is the wrong information, and in some cases, no information. The great thing about a Day of Show Schedule is that it shows when everything is going to happen, where it’s going to happen, and who is needed during those times. A Day of Show Schedule should also include a map with the location of all-important areas. This makes it easy for vendors and volunteers to know where to go. Providing as much information to your vendors and volunteers is important because there can only be so many people in charge, who know the answers to all the questions.