Planning an Occasion - Simple Guide.

Planning an occasion should be an easy task! Whether it's a milestone - birthday or anniversary, get togethers or Weddings etc. Should not be as complicated as many would like to believe it is. A little advance planning can create your event magical and unforgettable.

If you are the do it yourself type of person here are the simple steps you should consider when planning your special day.

1.Budget

This is a process of creating a plan to spend your money - it should be money that you already have in cash not in pledges! The rule of thumb is to have a sit down months in advance with all the service providers and discuss your expectations. Those that have been referred are always the best or the ones that you have previously experienced their service.

The service providers are professionals who will ask you questions like the number in your guest list, the venue, availability of power, the date and timings etc and give you guidlines on what they think is preferred. They will then give you the cost and upon agreement, pay a deposit and sign a binding contract to seal the deal.
Tip: its always good not to bargain too much to avoid getting sub standard services!

One of the biggest mistakes that people make is to plan for money that they have been promised, it is always good to work with what is within your budget to avoid disappointments and shame. Weddings especially, in Africa are said to be a community affair that everyone from your family and friends make contributions but i say you should atleast be able to cater for 90% of the budget.

The service providers includes.

• Tent and Chair
• The Band
• The Transport team
• Security team
• The Public address
• Children entertainers

2.Venue

Once you have a general idea of the size of your occasion, a good venue should be the next thing that comes to your mind. A gorgeous venue is hard to find and special consideration should be given to the time of year. There is what we call low season (jan - march) May, July, September and this is when nothing much is happening - it is a great time to get good deals and budget services.
The rest of the months are high season, this time around business booms and every provider hopes to make a killing, so two things happens ÷

• prices normalize
• prices increase

This is where, when you even try to bargain, your service provider walks.!

A great venue should be booked in advance and paid for to avoid the last minute rush! This is a venue that has, (very important)

• a well maintained lawn
• spacious well equipped kitchen
• clean spacious ladies and gent rooms
• enough flow of water
• well secured
• electricity and a standy generator
• kids play area
• enough parking space
• accessible.

3.Invitations
Imagesource

For formal occasions going the paper way is always the best. It shows that you took time to think and put into consideration your invitees - you make them feel special in a way. Card invites should be sent way early in advance to give people an ample time to plan and RSVP. Best done like 2 - 3 months in advance.

A firm RSVP gives you a rough idea of the number of your attendees, this is good when planning with the caterer because many of them charge food per plate. It will also guide you into what number of equipment you need for the function.

You may also indicate whether or not you want gifts!

4.set-up
Seeking help is good and appointing someone to take care of the suppliers on your behalf is the best way to go. Insist on set up to be done atleast 3 days in advance, this way you will be able to see that what you discussed and saw is what you are being supplied. This is also advantageous to the suppliers because they are able correct some of the field mistakes.
Early set ups also ensures that the ground plan is well utilised, every supplier knows where exactly to set up, where electricity points are for the cables, the water points etc. Between them they can debrief and appoint a go to person when the need arise.

Other important factors to consider

• MC
  A good MC is charismatic, able to capture the crowds attention, able to tell mature jokes, well conversed with the occasion at hand and one who has taken time to identify with the attendees.

• programme of events
  Step by step guideline of how the event shall run, time should be clearly observed

• sitting arrangement
  There are those that prefer to mingle - it makes the event lively.

Planning an event should be a walk in the park, should be fun doing it. All it requires is abit of time to put everything together and in order other than that you could just hire a professional event planner to do that for you as you concentrate on other things!