5 Common Mistakes for Novice Party and Event Planners

There is quite a lot of pressure involved in planning a party or event, especially if you haven’t done so before. The complexity does vary depending on the type of event, but there are some standard planning tasks where mistakes are fairly common and may not be immediately obvious to you until they’re pointed out!

As expert event organisers, at Penniblack we know all too well how complex event and party planning can be, which is why we provide our service to take the burden (and stress) away from you!

Desk with tablet, paper, pen and mobile phone.
Person walking in the rain with Audrey Hepburn umbrella.

Not Risk Planning

Winston Churchill was right on when he said, He who fails to plan is planning to fail!. If your event or party is small scale, you may think that there is little to no need to assess risk. This is something you may regret! Spending some time assessing what could go wrong, provides an opportunity to put measure in place so that if the worst does happen, you are equipped to deal with it.

It could be something as small as an outdoor event with no shelter – what will you do if the weather turns bad or the sun is so strong. Shelter is important in any extreme weather conditions, and if your venue does not have the space to accommodate your guests inside you will need another option or risk sending them all home.

Short Timescales

No matter the size and scale, planning events takes time. Leaving everything to the last minute will not only cause a lot of undue stress and pressure, but it could also potentially increase costs and worst of all result in a poorly executed event.

If there is a lot riding on this, do consider setting your event date to allow for a realistic time frame with some extra time for contingency!

A small group of people meeting and making plans.

Low Resource

If you spend time in the early planning stages mapping out what needs to happen to bring your event to fruition, you can avoid the common mistake of not having enough budget or support at a later.

Invest the time early on to plan what it is involved, seek helpers to support both the planning and delivery of your event.

Unrealistic Budget

Again, this is something that needs to be one of your very first tasks. Spend time researching and getting quotes from a range of suppliers to help determine a realistic budget that includes emergencies and contingencies!

The last thing you want to do is scrimp on important aspects such as catering because you haven’t budgeted effectively. After all, in an ideal world what you want is happy guests.

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Poor Communication

Regardless of if your event is for external customers or just friends and family, if you fail in your own communications it could have a direct impact on the outcome of your event.

Common miscommunications which result in unhappy guests can include:

  • Failure to request dietary requirements.
  • Failure to provide effective logistical information such as directions, parking etc.
  • Failure to follow up on invitations and as a result over or under catering.
  • Failure to communicate effectively with suppliers resulting in delays or incorrect or missing items.