Category: career

Although seeming to be an easier job than others may claim, event planners are very important. There are thousands of events every year that event planners are able to plan that run smoothly and successfully. These events can range from anything from weddings, birthdays, conventions, and more. Someone has to plan these events, and not everyone can. Event planners need to be punctual and organized to be able to coordinate successful events, no matter the size. Without event planners, companies may not be able to hold events they need and weddings would be too overwhelming for a couple to plan by themselves. If an event is unsuccessful and poorly planned, this can hurt the company or the reputation of the company as well. Event planners are there to ensure that everything runs smoothly and the events go as planned. It is also important for events to run smoothly because if not, it could hinder other events as well. For example, if an event is set to run from 11 am to 2pm, and the event is poorly planned, it is highly possible for that event to run over schedule, and the guests would be either leaving early without staying until the end of the event, or leaving later than expected. This can then cause problems within their own scheduling, becoming late to another meeting or event previously planned. This can hurt the host of the event as well because it is likely that the majority of guests will leave before the event is over, causing the attendance rate to drop by the end of the event. This can also affect the reputation of the host, shining them in a negative light that their events are poorly planned and have bad event planning skills. This is where the event planner comes in, saving the day. If this company or host of the event were to be planned by a skilled event planner, these problems would be less likely to arise. Additionally, event planners take the stress off of those who were originally in charge of the event. Event planners are there to be the organizers that you didn’t know you needed but you do. Successful events that are open to the public will enhance the company’s customer service and this can affect the company in a positive way. The little things that event planners do can help companies, couples, or even parents that want to throw their kids an elaborate birthday party. In conclusion, event planners are needed and should not be taken for granted.

No one is perfect: Literally no one is perfect, however, many event planners tend to be perfectionists. While it is okay to be a perfectionist, it is okay to accept that sometimes not everything will go as planned or will go well but it’s okay. It happens to everyone.

Learn from your mistakes: As an event planner, it is inevitable to make mistakes. However, this is a good thing. Every mistake made is a lesson learned on how to avoid that same mistake. Don’t be too upset when you make a mistake. The best you can do is take it and move on.

Success will come with experience: The more events you plan, the more experience you will obtain. The more experience you have, the more you will be able to gather what you’ve learned from past event and be able to apply it to future events to make them successful. It will take time and work, but everything does.

Learn to network: If you are able to build a network, it will be easier to get along with more people and it will be easier to find clients and events to plan. Also, this skill is good to learn for general every day life as well. What if you end up changing careers? At least you have a network built already.

Don’t expect to get along with everyone: You meet a lot of people as an event planner, but in the end your job is to do what you’re hired to do. Most likely you will find someone you don’t get along with, but if you need help, you can refer to my blog post about dealing with people here.

Learn how to adapt to situations without panicking: As an event planner it is important to stay composed in times of emergency. There will be times where an event doesn’t seem like it will go as planned, however don’t panic. It will be easier to find a solution if you stay calm in the situation and go over your options.

Don’t be afraid to try new things: Although it is important to learn from your mistakes, it is also important to be able to branch out and go out of your comfort zone if it means an event will be successful. Try new vendors or venues or try anything new. The result may surprise you.

Prepare for the worst/have backups: It is super important to have a backup plan for events. Not everything may be able to have backups, but just be sure to have the right chords if needed, and extra of anything that may possibly run out.

Be confident in yourself: You can’t run an event if you don’t think you can. However, if you have confidence and optimism, you are much more likely to be able to pull of whatever you’ve been trying to plan.

Don’t stress too much: This goes for everyone. Stress is unhealthy and can hinder your performance. Take breaks. Ask for help. Communicate what’s wrong. Just try to be as stress free as possible while still getting the job done.

Weddings are amazing. It’s the bringing together of two halves to make a whole. 2 soulmates finally having their day to officially confirm their lifelong love for each other. Because weddings are such a big day for the bride and the groom, planning a wedding can be stressful. There are many things that need to be taken into consideration when planning a wedding. And most importantly, you need to make the bride and groom happy. As a wedding planner, you need to take into account many things. Of these include the budget of the couple, the theme of the wedding, the color scheme, the venue, the food, the invitations, the wedding cake, and much more. In short, planning a wedding is a lot.

Something to keep in mind when planning a wedding is that this day is the most memorable day of their lives for some clients. In order to make this day satisfactory (and hopefully better than the bride’s expectations), you need to take care of several factors. First, the venue. Helping your client choose the right venue is imperative because there is such a wide variety of places one can get married. Anywhere from the beach, to a church, to a hotel, or even at Disneyland, the location of the wedding is super important. Budgeting for the location is important as well because there are many things to pay for in a wedding. Additionally, once the venue is chosen, you must help the bride and groom agree on an approximate amount of guests to invite, as some venues are much larger than others. Along with having a guest list, sending out invitations are important as well. We want as many people invited to attend as possible, so sending wedding invitations well in advance is highly recommended. Next, you have to get the food. Allergies? Vegans? Lactose? It is important that there is something for every guest to eat. There should be vegetarian options and allergies of the guests should be known in advance as well. One giant factor in wedding planning is getting the cake. As it is one of the centerpieces of the entire event, you should be considerate of what the couple wants as well as how it fits into the decor and theme of the wedding. Speaking of the theme, it is your job to help the bride choose a color scheme she is comfortable with and looks well with the decorations. Hundreds of photos will presumably be taken at this event so it’s important that it looks pleasing to the eye. Taking all this into consideration, hopefully you have a better idea of how big weddings actually are, and how much responsibility you take on as a wedding planner.

Sometimes, you may experience an event with a lower turn out as expected. This may happen when you don’t promote your event as much as you should have. This has happened with myself as well. Whether it be the timing, the lack of promotion, or the uninteresting promotions, events can end up having a lower turnout than hoped for. However, in order to prevent this from happening, here are a few guidelines to ensure that your event attendance increases! First of all, try to start advertising for your event early! If an event ends up being advertised too close to the actual date of the event, it is possible that potential attendees already have plans for that day. The bigger the event, the earlier it should be advertised. If 100+ people are expected to attend, I suggest promoting the event at least a whole month in advance, if not more. Another tip is to advertise all over social media! If you are only advertising through print ads or though only one social media channel, you are not reaching the audience you have the potential to reach. In today’s society, people are constantly on social media. If the event is advertised on social media, it is likely that it will reach a wider audience than just flyers hung on bulletin boards. Thirdly, make your flyers interesting and eye catching! Add visuals that represent what the event is all about so people know what the advertisement is promoting. An interesting looking ad is more likely to catch the eye of the casual social media scroller. If the flyer catches the eye of one person, that person could promote the event to their peers and so on. Boring text advertisements will ultimately go unnoticed by the viewer. Another tip to advertise is to make event pages for the specific event. An event page tells the potential attendee what they can expect when they attend the event. Will there be food? Performances? Keynote Speakers? What kind of event is it? Do you need yo rsvp? Is it free? There are so many factors to events that should be stated in and event page. In conclusion, the main tips to promoting an event is to start advertising for it early, promote on several social media channels, make eye catching flyers, and be sure to inform attendees about the event by making event pages.

There are several reasons why certain event planners are successful, however having these personality traits could help a lot.

Reliable: Successful event planners need to be reliable. Clients are highly unlikely to hire an event planner that is known to be unreliable. This means you need to keep to your word to clients when you claim you are able to do something.

Responsible: Being responsible is a given. Event planners cannot be giving empty promises to clients. You are in charge of an event that is important to them so you can’t be the one who messes it up, especially since you are getting paid to do so.

Cooperative: In event planning, you’re always going to meet people you don’t agree with. Whether this be the client, the caterer, or the venue, an event planner should be able to cooperate with the people they’re working with. This makes the event planning process easier and it will be easier to find solutions to conflicts.

Likable: Many event planners have likable personalities. This is a huge factor to being a successful event planner. The more likable you are, the more likely clients will refer you to their friends and more potential clients. It’s important to be able to get along with people in this industry because communication is everything.

Sociable: It is also important for an event planner to be comfortable talking to people. I’m not saying that event planners necessarily need to be introverts, but it helps when event planners know how to talk to people comfortably because they interact with many types of people and personalities.

Honest: An event planner can’t be a liar. Although it may seem enticing to give false hope, it doesn’t help the client in the long run. If a venue can only hold 800 people, don’t tell the client that it can hold 1000 because it’s the only one in the budget. Event planners need to be able to be open and honest with their clients so they know what’s going on.

Persuasive: Event planners also tend to face issues where there’s disagreements with the client. However, a successful event planner will be able to persuade the client to change their idea if it is better for the event. Although the event planner helps the client, sometimes you know better than the client simply because you have more experience.

Calm: Under stressful situations an event planner should stay calm and collected. If the event planner panics, then the client will end up panicking as well. Successful event planners tend to stay calm under a stressful situation and that may help find a solution rather than panicking.

Open minded: Open mindedness is simply a personality trait every one should have. However, in the case of being an event planner, it is especially important. In addition to being persuasive, an event planner needs to be open-minded as well because sometimes, the client is right.

Resourceful: Event planners should be as efficient as possible. Being efficient means being resourceful. If a problem arises, an event planner should be able to use their resources to find a solution.

What makes event planning so exciting? Everything. All the work you put into a project will go into an event that people will remember for years. If you really think about it, when you’re an event planner, you’re a memory maker. Whether big or small, every event planned has a purpose. People have strategically planned out every single event you’ve been to. You may remember these events for multiple reasons, some of which may not be good reasons. As an event planner, it is your responsibility to ensure that whatever event you’re planning runs smoothly and that those attending the event enjoy it or accomplish whatever they needed to do. Your goal is to not plan events people will regret going to. Although being an event planner can be stressful at times, the payoff after completing a successful event is priceless. Not only do you get a sense of pride when you complete an event, you also learn valuable life skills in the process. As you interact with different clients with different needs, you start to understand people more and you can develop interpersonal skills, which can benefit you throughout your career and life. Additionally, event planners develop problem solving skills. Often times before an event, a last minute problem can occur that will affect all those attending said event. As an event planner it is your job to think of a time efficient solution so the problem can be resolved. This can push you to think outside the box to solve unexpected complications. However, being an event planner also allows you to expand your creativity. In certain cases, event planners may be asked to choose themes or color layouts for a particular occasion. This lets the event planner to explore their creative side and delve into new ideas that can be made into reality. The more experience an event planner gets, the more they meet new people and are able to network with others. As an event planner there are endless opportunities to meet new people and experience new things. There are many reasons why event planning is such an exciting job. Every client is different and every event is different so you never know what exactly to expect. Being an event planner can be fun as well because you get to attend and experience the event whether it be behind the scenes or in the front row. Event planning is fun, exciting, and you learn many life lessons along the way, but on top of all that, you get paid to do it.

Event planning can be stressful however, if you have these skills it may be easier to handle situations.

Time Management: Time management is an imperative skill needed to be an event planner. As an event planner, you need to schedule appointments, book venues, and more. If you are unable to manage your time wisely it will only result in a failure to complete the tasks that were needed to be done, and stress will build.

Organization: An event planner needs to be well organized. Not only does this help the event planner his/herself, it also helps everyone involved. It is important to stay on the same page so that the event runs smoothly. Good organization is needed so no one is confused about anything the day of the event.

Problem Solving: Problem solving skills are very important when it comes to event planning. In certain cases, a problem can arise just hours before an event and an event planner needs to be prepared for everything. Problems can range from being technical, weather related, or a disagreement, however, an event planner needs to be quick on their feet to make sure the problem is resolved.

Detail Oriented: Details should always be looked at when it comes to events. Making sure every detail is taken care of is one of the responsibilities of an event planner. Although some details may be easy to miss, an event planner should always be aware of all the details of an event so if anything happens she/he will know what to do.

Decisiveness: Decisiveness is also a skill that is needed to be a good event planner. If you change your mind all the time, the event planning will not be as efficient and it can get really confusing. An event planner needs to make decisions and be able to choose effectively.

Good Communication: As an event planner, you will have to talk to many people. Making sure you’re on the same page as the client is imperative. Being on the same page ensures that everyone is in agreement and that everyone knows the schedule of the event without confusion or conflicts.

Adaptability: Adaptability is a skill that all event planners should have. Sometimes an event planner will have a vision set in mind for a particular event however the client may have a different vision. The event planner must accommodate to the client’s desires over their own even if they think they have better ideas than the client.

Ability to work in a set time frame: When you organize an event, you are working against the clock. There is a set amount of time that you have allocated to organizing the event. Event planners need to be able to work under pressure when there is not a lot of time left before the event because last minute problems can occur.

Creativity: Creativity is a skill that all event planners should have. Event planners should have new ideas all the time depending on the client. Thinking outside of the box to create memorable events is something event planners should be able to do because new ideas are what makes the event unique.

Efficiency: There are many factors that go into planning events so an event planner needs to be able to work efficiently so that all of those factors are taken care of. Since there is a time limit, event planners should be able to efficiently solve problems and resolve conflicts in a timely manner.