Knowledge is power and planning ahead will help you minimise the stress on the day, leaving you free to deal with anything that pops up unexpectedly during the event.

First, you’ll need an idea and a location to hold the event. Once you’ve got those, you’re ready to get down to the nitty gritty. Here are six steps you will need to take or consider to get started.

Timeline

Mark out your timeline. How many months, weeks, days do you have until the event? Write out each important task and then set yourself deadlines for each of them so that it all gets done before the event rolls around. This keeps you on track with your planning, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. 

Budget

This is arguably one of the most important things to do. The last thing you want is to make a loss on your event and have to find hundreds, if not thousands to pay off your suppliers at the end of it. Listing everything you will need to pay out for beforehand and looking at where your income is coming from (tickets, funding, sponsorship etc) will give you a rough idea on what you can afford (and what you can’t).

Licences

Depending on where your event is being held and what type of entertainment you have, you may be required to get some licences. Don’t skip this step. Contact your local authority to discuss your event and see what licences you will need to apply for. This may be a premises licence (if your venue doesn’t already have one), TEN’s (Temporary Events Notice), market licence etc. It’s better to be safe than have your event shut down halfway through it. You will also need to notify the Safety Advisory Group of your event.

Hired Equipment and Services

As an event planner, it’s your job to bring everything together at one location on a specific day so that your guests can have a great time. You’ll need to consider security, toilet facilities, food and drink vendors, entertainers, staging, sound, lighting and power. How will be people be getting there, do you need to have a managed car park by stewards. 

All of these things will need to be hired in to ensure the event runs as smoothly as possible. It’s important to get not only companies that fit in your budget, but that also have the knowledge and experience to run a safe operation. Checking your traders and contractors’ health and safety certificates and procedures is important as the liability of the event is yours. The last thing you want is for costly disasters to happen because you haven’t hired reputable contractors and equipment.