Organising an event isn't easy and it can sometimes be overlooked. I remember when I told some of my friends and teachers at Secondary School that I had applied to do an Events Management degree they were all like "oh so you're just going to plan parties", "how can that be a real degree" etc. I think a little part of me thought it'd be a bit more plain sailing and fun to organise events but it definitely doesn't come without hard work!



I am luckily enough to have graduated university with a first class honours in Events Management and have since gone on to organise events in the Health Sector. I absolutely love my job and feel so grateful that I get to do it for a living. I get to meet new people, use my organisation skills and put on successful events for medical professionals in order to help them deliver the best possible care to their patients.

As you'll know, events come in all shapes and sizes and there are SO many different events to organise. In my career I've been involved in organising weddings, parties, conferences, exhibitions and even murder mysteries! No event is the same and each one takes careful planning too. Today I thought I'd share with you a few tips to help you create the best event possible, whatever the occasion!!

Create A Project Plan
I can't organise any event without a project plan. I live by them day in day out and they help me to keep on track with my event planning. Organisation is key with event planning so this is a really good way of remembering deadlines, allocating tasks and documenting everything you need.

Pick a Budget and Stick To It
Budgeting is key for events as you can sometimes get carried away with your spending, particularly with weddings etc. For work related events I'm given a set budget whereas for parties or weddings there is sometimes more of a leeway on costs. It's important to stick to your budget as closely as you can and try and cut costs by making deals with suppliers or try to do some DIY decor. At work, we often use the same venues over and over again so we try to bargain a deal with them in order to keep our costs low whilst giving them repeat business throughout the year!



Find The Right Venue
Finding a venue that is right for your event is key to making it a success. Venues obviously depend on the type of event you're throwing (i.e a conference venue can differ to a party venue), the number of delegates or guest you're expecting and the layout of the day (is there workshops involved? do you need a ceremony room and an evening room etc). I find the best ways to find venues is either online or through word of mouth. It's always so important to do a site visit too before committing so you know you've got the right venue that meets all your requirements.

Promote Your Event
You can't host your event without promoting it to people so this is a key part of the planning process. If you're organising a conference you might need to set up your event on an online event management booking system and then promote it on social media or by sending out targeted emails. If your event is a party or wedding then you may be looking to post personalised invites, in which case you'll need to factor this into your budget and plan ahead of time to ensure they go out in advance. It's always important to set a closing date for registrations or RSVP's so that you can send on any dietary or access requirements to your venue and finalise the numbers.



Assign Responsibilities And Create A Briefing
One of the most important parts of organising my events at work, is figuring out who needs to do what. On the day of your event, you always need an extra pair of hands and I find creating an event briefing works really well to provided detailed information to members within your team on what their roles are throughout the duration of the event. Every event is different so roles won't always be the same and sometimes a briefing isn't always necessary but it's a helpful way of making sure you cover all bases.

Always Have A Plan B, C, D and E
My final tip and the most vital one is having a backup plan. You can never predict when things may go wrong during events so you should always try and have a backup plan. I find that the key to covering up any issues is to not act like anything has gone wrong. Keep calm and think quickly on your feet and no one will ever know something went wrong!!



Organising events is stressful and can be really hard but by being organised and planning your time well, you'll be able to avoid missing anything and can eliminate any stress throughout the process. Enjoy planning your events, believe me, when you see the end product when everything comes together, it'll all be worth it!

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