Professional event planners share advice on how to throw a successful party
By Jessica Loughery
AT a time when almost everyone is trying to cut costs, “do-it-yourself” party planning may be a smart way to go. There’s the food, music, photography, flowers, invitations, party favors and on and on, but three local professional planners point to more general and perhaps more crucial rules of the road.
First and foremost, know your budget. “Everything has a budget and even when somebody says there’s no budget, there’s always a budget,” says Rachael Holland of Rachael Holland Special Events in Hamilton Square. Ms. Holland has experience planning a variety of parties, both social and professional.
With a budget in mind, start contacting vendors. A successful party depends on an array of reliable and quality services. Indeed, finding the best vendors may pose a problem for one-time planners without a pre-established network. Only by developing relationships with a multitude of vendors can planners be sure to book the right services for any given gathering.
”We check things out for ourselves. We don’t take things for granted,” says Gloria Cirulli, who co-owns Priceless Events in Kendall Park with Marcy Gitterman. The event planning company often works with nonprofits but, like Ms. Holland, will organize any event type.
”We have a top choice (for each service) but if he’s not available then we need to have backups,” says Ms. Cirulli. “You kind of build up a Rolodex of at least a few good vendors.”
Ms. Holland says she meets most vendors at industry events. However, both she and Ms. Cirulli are constantly on the lookout at events they attend socially. Ms. Holland says she often asks photographers, DJs and caterers for their business cards.
Additionally, both say they often meet vendors through clients. “They’ll have a lot of the vendors already booked and I will, through that relationship, decide that’s a good one or that’s not a good one,” Ms. Holland says.
”I do have ones that I go back to over and over that I love and use a lot because of the work that we’ve done together,” she says. “But I’m always open for new ones and I’m constantly looking.”
Pre-established relationships with vendors become particularly important when party-throwers have specific conditions for settings and surroundings. One example is sustainability. Paul Cook of the corporate event planning company Branch Event Concepts in Stockton repeatedly recommends the Westin of Philadelphia to clients who prioritize being environmentally friendly. He says the Westin uses low-energy lighting, filtered water, local horticulturists for flowers and food from local farms.
Another often overlooked but dramatically important issue to cover when planning an event is what specifically will be taken care of by the venue. Mr. Cook says it’s useful to book a place like a hotel that has staff members who are devoted to events and will thereby provide more than one service.
Unique venues can be trickier. Ms. Holland recalls a wedding she attended that was housed in a building at a zoo. The couple had simply rented the space, with no services attached. So, there was nobody there to receive the caterer or ice delivery. In a situation like this, it helps to have a designated contact person like an event planner on hand. Otherwise, the event can be “more stressful than it should be” for the host, Ms. Holland says.
Overall, it’s important to anticipate what might go wrong with your event. “There are always things that can go wrong and be very prepared for that,” Ms. Cirulli says.
”When we do a corporate event, we do communications, online registration, meeting planning, food and beverages — a whole different gamut of detail,” says Mr. Cook. “A lot more things can go wrong.”
To avoid disasters, minor or major, Mr. Cook recommends total organization. “You need documentation of every single thing you do,” he says.
”There’s no detail that’s too small to pay attention to,” says Ms. Cirulli. “These little details are what pull the entire event together.”
Ms. Holland says she plans out every part of the events she organizes. On a minute by minute basis, she knows exactly what will happen, when and how, and who’s in charge of making it happen.
Additionally, “contingency planning is huge,” she says. “You have to contingency plan for everything.”
All of this goes to show that planning a party is certainly not the simplest of tasks.
”It is extremely time consuming; every phone call needs to be followed up with one or two more phone calls,” says Ms. Cirulli. “Especially for a nonprofit, you’re trying to work with a moderate budget because you want funds to go to the nonprofit. We’re always looking for best possible deals with the best possible quality.”
”I would say it’s a part- to full-time job to plan something like this,” Ms. Holland says. “Most businesses get that and they have somebody on staff or they contract out.
”It is a huge time commitment and there is a ton of little bits and details that you should think about,” she adds. “A lot of people get into it and they call (a planner) at the last minute in the throes of it. They don’t realize they need (a planner) until they’re so overwhelmed.”
The result is a stressed-out host unable to enjoy her own event. Thus, in the end, dialing up a professional party planner, who comes with a long list of industry contacts and cache of prior experience, might be the best and most important call you make.
And, “Most planners will tell you they will help on any level: the whole thing, day of, or they’ll come in and look at the checklist,” Ms. Holland says.
So before you consider daisies or roses, a band or DJ, and chicken or fish, consider your schedule and your budget, and don’t be afraid to ask for a little help.
For more information on Branch Event Concepts, call 800-987-3362 or visit branchevents.com. For more information on Rachael Holland Special Events call 609-689-1023 or visit www.eventsbyrachel.com. For more information on Priceless Events, call 732-343-0736 or visit pricelessevents.org/index-old1.htm

