So you have an event coming up. You’re responsible for it. And you’re debating whether you should plan it yourself or enlist the help of a professional event planning and production company. Though it may seem like a decision worth taking your time over, it is actually quite simple. Using an event planner is far better than tackling the task alone. Here is why.
Event planners are great value for money
Some event planners might come with a hefty price tag, but despite this, hiring them could still end up as a cheaper option.
Event planners are skilled in negotiating with vendors. That’s one of their main areas of expertise. So the overall price tag for your event will likely end up lower when you shell out for an event planner because you will be saving money on food, venues and entertainment.
Aside from better negotiating skills based on their knowledge of the industry, some event planners will have built up relationships with vendors over their careers, often opening up doors to discounts that you would never have been able to secure alone, even if you have the negotiating skills of a UN Ambassador.
Smart Live, for example, are an events company with offices in Manchester and London who have a working relationship with celebrities like former England captain Martin Johnson, meaning he’s frequently involved in some of their more specialist events.
On the venue side of things, events company Zibrant boasts an “extensive venue network” that it draws on directly to offer clients reduced costs.
Another advantage is that event planners are far less likely to make mistakes than those without experience, which means there will be none of the expenses often associated with damage control for you to deal with.
Event planners bring specialist expertise
Even if you have planned events yourself before, sometimes it makes sense to hire an event planner who has specific expertise in an area which you are unfamiliar with.
Many event planners have specialist knowledge in the more niche areas of the field. Take Snapdragon, for example. As shown on Channel 4’s The Job Interview, this events group have extensive knowledge of planning luxury events and parties, making them the ones to turn to if your event needs to be particularly classy.
Dazzle & Fizz, on the other hand, have made a name for themselves in planning children’s events, placing emphasis on creative and imaginative productions to inspire a child’s imagination.
Event planners will save you stress
If you think event planning seems like it might be stressful, your intuitions are correct. Organising an event is one of the most stressful tasks someone can undertake. A recent survey from CareerCast found Event Co-ordinator to be the fifth most stressful job of the year, coming just after such stress-inducing occupations as Soldier, Firefighter, Police Officer and Pilot.
Event planning, then, is statistically a stressful undertaking. There are ways to relieve the stress of the job, but the least stressful option of all is to take a step back and hire someone who plans events for a living so you don’t have to.
Event planners will save you time
Taking on an event planning task yourself means committing to hours and hours of phone calls, emails, meetings, discussions and decisions. This will do more than just stress you out; it will also take up much of your time, leaving you with reduced availability during the whole build up to the event.
Hiring an event planner to do the most time consuming aspects of the work for you will free you up to do your day job, or even to promote the upcoming event through outreach and networking—all while you have faith that your event is being planned out, as opposed to a sinking feeling that you will not have finalised the details by the time the event gets started.
Event planners can happily dedicate far more time to planning an event than you can, so why not step aside and let them do what they do best.
