Event planning is such an exciting and amazing experience, but it could be an overwhelming if you are not organized. It’s important to use a planner or template when it comes to event planning. Does not matter what type of event you’re planning, whether small or big, it’s essential to have a well structured event planner at place to ensure everything is planned from budget to guest management.
An event planning template serves as a roadmap that helps you to stay organized and execute a successful events with no or less stress. Things can get out of control or overwhelmed but having a planner at place keeps you focused and helps you to overcome challenges by minimizing the stress. In this guide, we’ve provided some useful event planning templates and covered important information related to event planning.
Save Time & Reduce Stress by Using Event Planning Template?
An event planning template is a great tool specially for event planners and for all those who are looking to plan their event by themselves. Following are the some of the benefits of using an event planner,
- Time Saving: Utilization of the templates has made the process of event planning a lot easier and efficient. A lot of time is saved when you have a pre-designed template with you.
- Easy to Organize: It’s easy to organize an event once you have all tasks and details written in one place. Tracking becomes easier once you have everything is written in a planner.
- Less Stress: Organizing an event could be stressful because of work overload, but an event planner keeps you organized which reduces the stress.
- Improved Team Work: Team efficiency improves once there is a proper communication among team members and everyone is aware of their responsibilities.
Printable Event Planning Template
Here is a simple yet effective event planner template. Use this planner to host a successful event. Event planning is a complex task, but the use of a planner has made the process of event planning a lot easier, smooth, and efficient. If you are looking for steps to host a successful event then check out the guide below.
Step by Step Guide for Successful Event Planning
Here is a step by step guide to plan for an successful event:
Step 1: Start with an overview of Event
Firstly, make a summary of the event by writing down the name of event, date and time, venue/location, goal of the event, define the target audience.
It’s important to write down this information in order to have a clarity on the objective of event.
Step 2: Do the Budget Planning
Budget is the most important element of any event planning. Make sure to have a budge and break down your expenses as per different categories. There are different costs that are associated with an event such as cost of venue, catering, decoration, entertainment, promotions, etc.
It’s important to plan things as per the budget only. To stay within budget, make sure to keep a track of actual expenses vs the estimated costs.
Step 3: Set Timeline and Define Milestones
Make sure to have a timeline in order to stay organized. You may plan an event as per the following timeline:
- Initial planning (6-12 months before)
- Midway preparations (3-6 months before)
- Final arrangements (1-2 months before)
- Event day tasks
- Post-event follow-up
Step 4: Proper Communication with Team
Each team member should know what their responsibilities are and there should be clear communication between them. Problems happens many a times when team members are not clearly aware of their job and responsibilities.
Step 5: List down all Vendors and their contract
You must be working with different vendors i.e. caterers, photographers, Florists, Transportation services, etc. Make sure to list down all the vendors you’re working with and include the contract details and service agreements.
Step 6: Marketing or Promotion
If an event needs to be promoted then make sure to have a marketing plan in place. You can plan marketing on different channels such as social media, email invitations, posters, youtube ads, Partnerships or sponsorships, etc. Make sure to have a marketing budget for each channel and keep a track to not go over board.
Step 7: Make a Guest List
Make sure to have a guest list in place. Write down the names and contact information of guests on a sheet. You can plan a seating arrangement on the basis of guest list. You may choose to use online tools or softwares to simplify guest management.
Step 8: Be Ready for Unexpected Hiccups
An event is incomplete without challenges, so be ready to tackle them. Make sure to have contingency plan in place to prepare for the potential challenges that may occur such a bad weather, bad lighting, etc.
Step 9: Plan the Event Day
Event Day is the day when all your planning and efforts will come into play. Make sure to have an event day checklist to ensure everything runs smooth. Sort everything from venue setup to guest arrival to Emergency contacts, etc.
So this is a step by step guide to plan a successful event. We have kept it short and to the point. Hopefully, you will get ideas from it. Let us know in the comment section how do you like it or how well it works for you.
Final Words
Planning an event is not everyone’s cup of tea, it takes a lot of efforts to organize a successful event. An event planning template is your best tool to plan an event and to ensure everything takes place in a well structured manner. You can use an event planner for any event be it a small one or a big one. We’ve already some of the useful planners in this post, do check them out and download a suitable one for your use.
The use of the event planning templates has made the process of planning an event more smooth, organized, and stress free. Host a successful event by making a well structured event planner. Happy Planning!