Behind every successful event there’s a lot of hard work and hundreds of well planned details. Organizing such an event in an ever-changing, fast-paced world can be challenging. Chances are if you’re reading this post, you’re either looking to organize an event for the first time or you aim to raise the bar for yourself to do even better! So, if you’d like a bit of guidance on how an event - big or small - comes together, you are at the right place. (I wanna mention that we will be mostly talking about social events and not corporate events!)

All social events, regardless of if they are big or small, have a couple «things» in common: they are for people, they have a reason, a date and a place. These are also the most determinant aspects for the organizer. Let’s look at each aspect individually:

PEOPLE

By deciding who our event is for is the first task to complete. It will determine the «mien» of the event. It could be for family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances tho most of the time it’s a mix from each “category”.
The second task is to “guesstimate” (an estimate based on a mixture of guesswork and calculation) how many people will be invited. That will largely affect our budget and influence many small and not so small details of the event.
We have to consider our guests’ age. Many events are organized for kids and their age determines if you have to count with parents attending too or maybe the event is a wedding/baptism where every age group is present. A good guess of how many kids will attend a reception after a wedding is essential in case you’ll need an entertainer or other form of pastime for them!
All the above plus our budget will also determine the type of the event: casual or formal and everything that goes with it from attire (PJs, smart casual, black tie, etc.) and entertainment (live band, DJ, playlist on phone) to the food that will be served (buffet, sit-down meal, finger food, cocktails etc).

Most social events are celebratory events. We are happy and our goal is to be happy with others that are happy for us! All around happiness! Yet at family events there’s always the dilemma of «have-to-invite» versus «want-to-invite» but if we plan on organizing a memorable event we need to look at the people themselves we’re inviting because in the end they will make the event remarkable!

REASON

One of the reasons we organize a social event is we want to celebrate a milestone of achievement. It might be a birthday, a wedding or a baptism, graduation, retirement or becoming a new parent
The other reason might be a religious occasion like Easter, Christmas,
Or other special occasions like celebrating New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, or Halloween
Last but not least there are the thematic events (not really a reason, more like an excuse to party!), like: summer/beach parties, carnival/masquerade parties, sport themed parties, etc. Of course these thematic events can be combined with a reason, as in a themed birthday party

These, and many more, are all reasons for us to get together, celebrate and have fun with friends, family.

DATE

Some occasions determine the date by definition; we can’t celebrate New Year’s Eve in March nor can we celebrate a bachelor after his wedding. Birthdays are a little more flexible but people tend to organize a birthday party close to the actual birth day. Other occasions happen at all times of the year (tho there are exceptions, mostly religious or personal/traditional restrictions).

Obviously the time of year (weather forecast) will effect the possible outcome of an event therefore we have to be aware of each seasons advantages and disadvantages, so we can plan accordingly. Also we need to know the date of our event well before it is “scheduled” to happen because of the time-consuming process of planning (how much in advance depends on all the aspects above).

PLACE

Whether the event takes place in our home/garden or a rented venue we need to be sure it is available, it can accommodate our guests and we have to make sure the place is safe and approachable for all attendees.

Availability is our first concern if we plan a bigger event like a wedding but even for a get together with friends at home we need to check the family calendar.
According to the size of our party the place has to be big enough (but not too big) for everybody to be comfortable and has to have enough amenities and staff to attend to our guests.
Also, when considering a venue for renting we have to keep in mind guests with special needs (a ramp for a wheelchair, fencing for pool for small kids not to have the opportunity to jump in, a changing table in the women’s toilet for mothers with babies etc.

So, these are the first things we need to tackle in order to start the fun part of the planning process. In the next installment of this series we’ll be discussing the vision for our party, the foundation all our needs and wishes will be standing on.

If you’d like to know more about each phase of the event planning process I suggest you start with the first segment of the series. (last Monday of every month I’ll be bringing you the next phase) and subscribe to our mailing list so you’ll never miss out on a blog post (and/or product launch in the future)!

Thank you for being here,

Your very own fairy,

Tünde - Nefeli

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