This is a blog about the things you must avoid when hiring a party planning company for any event.
You might think it’s difficult to find a good party planner, but in fact it’s easy. You just have to avoid these top five mistakes.
1. The first thing you should avoid when hiring a party planning company is bad communication. Bad communication can come from any number of sources in the process: leading on questions, making promises you can’t keep, not communicating your needs clearly, etc. If you’re not clear about what you want and how it will be delivered, there’s no point even asking the question of “can I hire them.”
2. Another thing to avoid is poor organization. In other words, if your event has several parts that need to be organized, don’t hire a single-person firm. If you plan on having several different parts, each with their own scheduling and coordination issues, then it may make more sense to hire more people for some of the parts and less for others (such as for entertainment or for certain guest-of-honor activities) than to hire one person who is going to need to coordinate everything.
3. Another mistake is relying on technology to solve problems that aren’t technologically solvable; in
In hiring a party planning company, there are 5 things you should avoid.
1. The company should have a reputation of providing the best quality and value to all clients
It is not just about making a booking. It is about the whole relationship you have with the company and how that affects your event. There are five things you must ask yourself when hiring a party planning company.
1: How long have they been in business?
2: What are their rates?
3: Do they ask for gratuities on top of the fee?
4: Do they give discounts if you book more than one event?
5: What guarantees do they offer?
The best way to avoid these is to be very careful about what you want. Don’t hire a party planning company for benefits and committees, for example. If you really need food, hire a caterer. If you really need music, hire an iPod. You do not need a party planning company to provide either of those things–and if you need a party planning company, it is almost certainly because you don’t have time to plan your own.
But if you’re going to hire a party planning company anyway, here are five things that are guaranteed to cause problems:
1. The event will take longer than planned–and possibly much longer than expected.
2. The event will be less fun than planned–possibly much less fun than expected.
3. You’ll have no idea how much food or music was provided or how it was provided or what it cost or who paid for it all.
4. There will be no bill at the end of the day–or if there is one, you won’t be able to pay it (especially if you’ve already used up all your cash reserves)
5. You’re not allowed access to the records on paper or in storage–or perhaps even on computer disk (if they’re files on
5 ways to avoid hiring an event planner or caterer or florist or any other service provider who you know nothing about.
1. Hire someone who has already done it: Yes, I know it’s tempting to hire a friend with a proven track record, but the odds are not in your favor. You’re better off hiring someone who has done it before and is ready to help you avoid mistakes and make a quality product.
2. Ask for references: If you ask for references, you’ll probably get what you want. But keep in mind that a reference is someone who has had a good experience with your friend. They’re likely to be happy to recommend their friend and may not give you a fair, objective view of the results.
3. Do your homework: Before you hire any service provider, do some research yourself. Check out references, check out reviews on Yelp and Google, check out the company’s website and social media presence: all of these things are ways to judge whether the service provider is trustworthy and reliable or a crook trying to take advantage of you by using fake reviews.
Party planning can be a pretty big operation. It’s not just deciding what kind of cake to bake, or if you’ll have a band or a DJ, or how you’re going to decorate the venue. There are lots of little things that you could spend hours looking up on the internet and still not find out the answer to.
Here are some things that are easy to overlook but much more important than you think:
1. Your budget. This is probably the most important thing when it comes to a party. It’s not always clear what is in your budget, and it’s really hard to get it right if you don’t know where your money is going anyway. Most people I talk to don’t even know what their budget covers; they assume it includes everything, but it doesn’t.
2. Your venue. Your venue will cost you either nothing or a lot of money, depending on its size and location, so you’d better make sure you can afford it before hiring someone to help you plan your party there. Make sure there is enough room for everyone; if there isn’t, it might be worth renting another venue just for your party – this would work out cheaper in the long run than hiring someone afterwards if they have to cancel because the
The first time I tried to plan a birthday party for my daughter, I was all excited. The idea of having complete control over the event appealed to me. I couldn’t wait to get started.
I called my son’s preschool and found out when their party would be held. The day before, I bought balloons and invitations at Target. I also purchased a “fairy wand” (a plastic club with a straw) so that my 8-year-old daughter could pretend she was a fairy.
The next morning, at 7:30 a.m., we were already at the preschool picking up the daycare staff and the children. Then we went over to the church where they were holding the party and picked up some of the other children there. We drove back home and spent another two hours getting everything set up in our living room (we don’t have much furniture). At 11:30 a.m., I went outside to check on our sprinklers, which had been accidentally turned off by my husband earlier that morning, so I had nothing else to do but watch TV until it was time for our guests to arrive.
The guests began arriving at noon, and four hours later, after eating lunch and playing games with all of the children (including