Event Planning Service ? Pitfalls to Avoid While Choosing

Posted by tedmark on June 28th, 2014

Whether you operate within the huge corporate world or are ensconced within the comfort zone of friends and relatives, events form an inevitable part of life. On a personal scale, it could be an important milestone like a birthday or anniversary and in case of corporate it could take the shape of conference, large-scale board meeting or a seminar. Irrespective of the type, planning is inherent to its execution and since time is a scarce commodity nowadays, the next best option entails hiring an event planning company. But something that you would need to clarify at the outset is whether or not they are inclusive of catering rentals.

A point that you need to understand at the outset is that every event, irrespective of whom it is managed by, needs time for being planned meticulously. There are several aspects associated with it beginning from theme and décor to furniture rentals and catering rentals wherein each would need to be tied up by the person who is in charge of the organization. If the nature of the event so demands arrangements will have to be made for music, dancing and entertainment too, meaning a DJ, magicians, stage performers and so on. Tying up all of this takes time on part of the event planning service and this should be borne in mind at the time of outsourcing.

Having decided that outsourcing is the best option and the time aspect is looked after too, the next step for you entails giving a realistic shape to what you have in mind. Event planning services are undoubtedly experienced in organizing the nitty-gritty but even before they start, the onus is on you to brief them on what is expected of them. For this you need to be clear in your mind as regards how the outcome should be in terms of objectives. At your first meeting, you would also need to clarify whether they would be providing catering rentals and other services from their list of contacts or is it your responsibility?

Budget is obviously an important concern while hiring an event planning firm and needs to be treated on a priority right from the beginning. Comparison shopping courtesy of the Internet is one of the ways by which you will be able to make out all the offers made by the various firms vis-à-vis the charges levied by them. In such a scenario, a common pitfall for clients is to incline towards one which is lowest priced and this logic is often applied in case of catering rentals too. However, tempting though it might be, this should be avoided since cheapest is not always the best especially when it comes to quality and class.

Another yardstick that helps in determining the veracity of the event planning firm or catering rentals in question is the number of reviews and testimonials that it has earned from its clients during its years of operation. If possible you could get in touch with some of its previous clients and question them directly about the manner in which the particular event was handled and charges that had been levied for the service. But a word of caution pertaining to too much of anything being suspicious holds true in this case too, meaning companies with sugar-coated reviews should be avoided.  

While the decision to outsource to an event planning firm is sensible, it should be further backed by knowledge of pitfalls that could possible spoil everything. Amongst other things, the client must also confirm whether the package deal is inclusive of catering rentals or will they cost extra.