Event Planning Checklist and Guidelines

If you are a novice at event planning, you may be getting nightmares about everything going wrong on the main day of the event. This is quite normal because planning an event is a hectic job, wherein an event planner is responsible for every detail of the event. A poorly planned event can lead to chaos and ruin the show. To avoid chaotic situations and to have a smoothly running event, it is necessary to start planning months before the actual event. Maintaining a checklist from the time you start thinking and planning for the event would be a good way to get organized.

Planning an event is not a one man's job. Do not imagine yourself to be a superman or a superwoman, who can do everything on his own. You will surely need assistants and volunteers to control different areas of the event. The planning process should preferably start at least 6 months before, depending on the magnitude of the event.

Forming a group
First and foremost you should form a task group, according to the type of event to be organized. You should sit down with your team and make checklists about what each person has to do. Jot down the name of the event, its purpose, nature (formal or informal) and budget. Talk about all the things that would be required for such an event and assign each person a job or an area to handle.

Budgeting
Budgeting is a very important aspect of your event. You must have a rough idea about how much money you would need to organize the whole event. One needs to talk to sponsors and well wishers who would like to support the event.

Date and Venue
Chalk out the different possible dates during which you can have this event and also the venues that you would like the event to happen in. Contact the venue owners to ask whether the venue would be available for the dates you have selected, seating capacity of the location and also their prices. After minute evaluation, fix a date and venue that would come within your budget and expectations.

Marketing and Publicity Plan
The next step is to plan marketing strategies to popularize the event. You will have to design and prepare posters, pamphlets, banners, etc. You will have to recruit a designing team who will make these publicity materials colorful, lively and attractive. Plan out where the banners and postures would be put. One can also publicize an event through the Internet. You need to start publicizing at least a month before the actual event.

Special Guests and Entertainment
No event is complete without special guests and entertainment. If you are planning to bring in a celebrity or a renowned person, book the dates of the person well in advance. Same goes for the entertainers. First, you need to plan what sort of entertainment you would need and accordingly contact the appropriate people to know about their availability and expenses. After confirming with them, you should sign a contract with them, to avoid them ditching you at the last moment.

Food Arrangements
Sometimes, catering services are available at the venue itself. If not, you would have to make arrangements with some caterers. However, before this you have to decide on the type of food you need to have for the event, depending on the participants of the event. For instance, it can be vegetarian, continental, etc. anything that which fits in your budget.

All these arrangements, like catering, venue, etc. should be done two weeks before the actual event. As the day of the event nears, your job will be to double check with the venue owners, caterers, guests and entertainers. A week before the event, you should hold a meeting with your team, to talk about minute details like decorations, lighting, gifts for the special guests, security, program scheduled, etc. One should also ensure that every person is aware of his or her duties for the D-day.

Make a separate checklist for the final day. On the day of the main event, reach the venue early and see to it that all arrangements, like, decoration, lighting and other devices that would be needed during the event are ready. Check whether the special guests, performers and caterers have arrived. With proper planning, you will be able to start and end the event on time.

After the event, you must arrange a meeting with your team to thank them for their work and support. Discuss the whole event and ask for suggestions that could be incorporated to make future events even more fantastic and memorable.