Planning an event can be a large task, it is important to have a checklist so that important details do not get left out. The first thing you want to do is start gathering the data that you will need to make the proper planning. Start recording all the data on paper.
1. The first bit of information that you will need is how many guests you are expecting. You can get a more accurate result when you send out RSVP invitations, then you will get feedback from your invited guests whether they will be attending or not.
2. Will the event have food served? Will it be a sit down dinner or a buffet? Or will you have hor douvres ?
3. What kind of event’s will take place at the party? Games, Casino Night, Award presentations, Entertainment?
Once you have all of your data collected you can go more in detail in the planning process. Now that you have a Party Plan List, you might want to review it on a regular basis. As things begin to get done, check off things that no longer need your attention, or mark done what youâve done so far for any one thing on the list.
As the planner, you need to know how to communicate with all your vendors. That means you must have a working knowledge of catering, photography, lighting, tents, floral, contracts, and so forth and you also have to be aware of all the latest innovations in these industries too. A good planner is one who excels at his or her profession, understands that he or she is the team leader on any event.
The next step in planning your party will be the place. Depending on how many guests that you expect to be attending will be the determination of where the event will be held. Some ideas of common places that parties an events are held are Hotel ballrooms, resorts, or restaurants. For larger events of 100 plus guests try some non traditional venues such as Museums, Art Galleries, Aquariums, Universities, or Large Event Tents. A key thing to keep in mind is to always estimate up, it is much better to end up with too much space than not enough.
The next major item of the event planning agenda will be the food. One factor to consider for event planning is whether you need to hire a caterer. For small events, you could probably get away with most of the planning and cooking by yourself. However, for bigger sized events, caterers can provide invaluable assistance. Will it be a formal sit down dinner with servers. Will you have a buffet line that guests will go through, or will there just be hor douvres passed around. There are many things to consider when serving food at your party or event such as place settings, dishes, glasses and utensils, not to mention the cleanup afterwards.
The third major part of the event planning process is entertainment. There are many types of entertainment to consider including magicians, jugglers, hypnotists, fortune tellers to the traditional live bands or DJ’s. Which type of entertainment will best fit the type of event that you are planning for? When hiring entertainment it is important to ask for a demo tape or video before signing any contracts. And on the subject of contracts make sure nothing is left to question before signing any contracts.
Some questions that will help in the party planning process are:
· What is required from the event?
· What is known about the guests?
· Who is going to meet and greet?
· Who are the VIPâs and the âmust speak toâ guests?
· Who already knows who?
· Who is going to talk to whom?
· What signals and gestures will be used for âparkingâ guests?
· Who is going to introduce who to whom?
· What time are the various members of the team going to be there?
· What time do we expect the last guest will go home? 6 to 9 doesnât mean anything to guests having a wonderful time!
Good planning and preparation is the key to any successful event. However, ensuring that you have attended to every detail can be exhausting and it is very easy to overlook something which may adversely affect your event outcome. Planning an event can be stressful at the best of times if you are not organized, but when we are talking about large scale events, like a wedding or business conference, it can become overwhelming. It is therefore essential that you, as the event organizer, have planned all the steps needed before embarking upon action.
Hopefully this article has given you some ideas of things that you need to think about as a party/event planner. The last thing is enjoy the party when it comes, there will be things that go wrong and little details that might be left out, but as long as you don’t broadcast this to your guests they will never know. Do not stress about it, because it will be too late to do anything about it, so chalk it up to lessons learned from experience and go have fun and reap the benefits from all of your hard work.
Charles Hamel
http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/things-to-think-about-when-planning-for-a-party-or-special-event-88525.html
May 12th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Other Matron of honor says she is uncomfortable with planning wedding events with me?
I am a maid of honor in an August wedding in which there is also a matron of honor. I have been doing a lot of the planning with the bride, who told me that the other MOH doesn't show any interest in doing things. The bride had said that the other MOH seems to never have time or have any interest in doing things. I called the other MOH last week (she gave me her # when I asked for it) to talk about the bridal shower. She had previously told the bride that it is the mother of the brides duty to throw this event. The bride and I both agree that it is up to the MOH and other bridesmaid if they want to help. I talked to the the other MOH on the phone and gave 2 or 3 ideas/suggestions I had, which I had already gotten from the bride (food ideas). She gave some ideas as well. We agreed that we would get together along with the bride and mother of the bride. The bride called me earlier this week to say that the other MOH and mother of the bride agreed on Saturday, which was perfectly fine with me I told her. The other MOH called the bride and told her that since she doesn't really know me, she isn't comfortable with planning events with me. So now the bride said she is going to delegate duties for the shower (which she should not have to plan!) and the bachelorette party. This seems completely ridiculous to me!! I think the other MOH and I should do the planning and let the bride be stress free about these 2 events. This seems so childish. Besides, if I am delegated decorations and the other MOH doesn't like my ideas, she will just be upset anyways! What do I do here? I want to be able to plan events and special things for the bride with the other MOH, the bride obviously chose both of us for the position so we should do things together. But it seems to me that she wants to have me be the outside person. She lives right next door to the bride and I live about 30-40 minutes away. This enables her to help with the spur of the moment things and the quick trips to the craft store, as well as little things like picking out bridal shower invites with the bride. Plus since I don't really know the other bridesmaids and most of the groomsmen, I thought it would be nice to get to know someone else in the wedding party besides the bride. I just wanted us to be able to do things together for the bride and enjoy the whole MOH thing together. But, I feel like she resents the fact that the position is shared and this is why she is now acting this way. Any suggestions or opinions??
I don't want the bride to be so involved in planning the shower or bachelorette party! That is why I am asking for opinions! As the MOH it IS my duty to be involved with the other bridesmaids and MOH, this is what I am trying to do. How am I supposed to do that if the other MOH only wants to communicate through the bride? It is my job to help alleviate stress on the bride, not cause it! I feel that the other MOH is getting the bride involved in things she does not to to get involved in and thus adding to her enormous list of tasks!
May 13th, 2009 at 3:54 am
I don't know why the bride is so incredibly involved in the shower planning and bachelorette party planning.
As I see it, all the bridesmaids should have made a concerted effort from the get-go to get in touch with each other and forge some kind of working relationship. As MOH, I see it as one of your duties–to be the facilitator. My advice–stop trying to go through the bride to get this resolved and take some responsibility and reach out to everyone yourself and work it out amongst yourselves.
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May 13th, 2009 at 3:56 am
I feel like you are being too sensitive about this. Move on. Be thankful the bride is stepping in to help deal with the situation with the other MOH so you don't have to. Accept the weight of it isn't all on your shoulders anymore. Help when asked and show up.
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May 13th, 2009 at 3:58 am
she is being very childish. Depending on how confrontational of a person you are you could call her and express to her that while you don't know each other very well you would like to get to know her better and you are both participating and working on this wedding out of friendship and love for the bride, and that your personal feelings should not interfere since it isn't really about the two of you and your relationship. You can go on to say you'd like the shower and stag party to be surprises and you don't want the bride to have to worry about them at all. Thats the only thing i can think of to do besides just letting it go and carrying on with the plan as it is now. you could also talk to the bride about how to confront the other MOH on this so that she may open up a bit.
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:00 am
Yikes! What a situation. And just so you know, a bridal shower technically should not be hosted by the bride herself or any of the brides immediate family. Now practically speaking, this doesn't always work out because sometimes your sister or mom might have the best house to accommodate a party, so people don't really look down on it any more.
However, I really think you need to talk to the other MOH. In a non-confrontational kind of way, ask her about plans for the party, and that you really think the bride should not have to plan unless she wants to. Straight up ask her if she has a problem with you, but be subtle enough about it and add in the "because i really hoped this would be an opportunity to get to know you better since we both obviously mean so much to (the bride). But I kind of get the feeling like you don't like me or don't want my help."
You need to be able to smooth things out and make it easier for your bride than her have more work, and part of that is not only contributing but finding a way to work with difficult personalities. Talk to the other bridesmaids too. Maybe you could host a small informal get together at your house, like hey everyone come over for tea and cookies and lets talk wedding! that could provide the ice breaker you guys need. I don't know if that particularly will work for your situation, but get creative and "make it work!"
Good Luck!
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:02 am
if the other moh is going to be weird about it then it's not worth fighting over – you've obviously tried to be civil and work with her and she keeps going to the bride to complain
how about one of you plans the shower and the other the bachelorette party
this way you don't have to agree with the other moh on anything… and the bride doesn't have to have anything to do with either
you'll end up with the same amount of work if you each plan one party or each plan half of 2
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:04 am
It sounds like this team needs a leader. You should get the #s for the other bride's maids and delegate some of the responsibilities for the shower. Make a list of things that need to be done, call the other MOH, be friendly and yet business like, explain what you would like done and that you are going to call the others in on the whole thing and would like to delegate.
Next, arrange a meeting time at your home for all bride's maids and MOH's to discuss arrangements and assign duties. Ask for others' input and discuss any objections anyone may have. Give everyone the chance to participate, keep it light, and if someone doesn't want to participate don't fight it, move on without them. Remember this is supposed to be fun.
PS. The bride and her immediate family are absolutely not supposed to be involved in planning the shower. It is a big no no in the etiquette department because it makes them look like they are soliciting for additional gifts besides the ones they are getting for the wedding. Y'all need to do the shower without the bride and her mother's involvement so all the little old ladies don't gossip about it behind their backs.
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:06 am
Thats an odd situation.
You and the other MOH should be working together but the other seems as if she wants to work alone. If i was you i would talk to the MOH and say that you dont have to work together ( since she doesnt want to ) but if you both can call each other and inform each other of the details so that you both agree and thats it. Hell I wish I had a friend like you lol. but keep doing what your doing, you seem to be doing a great job. Just be prepared and have a back up plan just incase the other MOH doesnt come through for something or backs out.
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:08 am
If she does not want to offer time or effort to plan, then ask her for money. When she accepted the duties of a matron of honor, she accepted the cost as well. Just do the work yourself, along with the more cooperative BMs, and possibly the MOB, and tell her that you need her to split the cost with you. If she can't give her time, then she needs to give money.
Also, perhaps you can enlist the help of other friends and family as well. Keep it small, maybe do it at a restaurant or a church or someone's house. The important thing is the bride getting gifts!!
I just got married a month ago. My original MOH ended up backing out, saying she just wanted to be a guest and not help. So, my new MOH lived 45 minutes away, and pretty much did everything herself. I didn't have to worry about a thing! Don't be discouraged by the other b*tch. Your heart is in the right place. Just do what you got to do! TAKE CHARGE!!! That's what my new MOH did, and it saved my life!!!
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:10 am
I think you have at best a clueless bride. Two maids/matrons of honour? Being involved with planning the shower? I would not rely on her to help you, because she doesn't seem to be able to help herself.
You may wish to bow out, since this is becoming a "too many cooks" situation. Whatever you do will be not enough; whatever goes wrong will be your fault. Let them handle it themselves. If you don't feel you can handle that, do what you want – but keep in mind that you will likely be blamed for every problem and your friendship with the bride may suffer.
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:12 am
If the other MOH doesn't want to do any of the heavy lifting, then don't involve her. It may really be a matter that she simply doesn't know what to do and would blow it if given duties.
Instead, try to involve the other bridesmaids.
If the other MOH gets upset at the events planned, simply say, "Hey, I didn't see you in any of the meetings!"
As for you, delegate when possible. Life has enough stress as it is. You want to *add* more stress?! Puhleaaaaze!
Good luck to you.
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:14 am
I agree with you but there is really nothing you can do. The bride is obviously aware of the situation and she made her decisions. I would do what is delegated to you and let her know you are there to help with anything she needs and leave it at that. You are being a good and generous friend but sometimes you can't influence other people to do the right thing.
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May 13th, 2009 at 4:16 am
why not have some fun and plann a party
http://bacheloretteplanners.com/
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http://bacheloretteplanners.com/