When it comes to planning an event, it can be rough. You not only have to worry about all the details that are major, but you have to deal with all the little things. You may find that there are some reoccurring problems that you have when you plan events. Each problem that you run into should teach you some kind of lesson for the next event. The first thing that you should avoid when it comes to planning your next event is getting overwhelmed with details. If the event is getting bigger and bigger and you've seem to lost control over things, you need to get backup. It's hard to plan an event, especially if it is a very important event. You have to plan where you are going to have the event, the theme, the decorations, the food, the caters, the supplies, and the budget. You need to make sure that you stay within a budget, but get everything done. This is when you need an assistant or hire us :-). If you don't have an assistant you will have an emotional breakdown and it could ruin the event. Depending on your personality, the breakdown can be crucial. This is way you need an assistant. Don't get overwhelmed with things. When it comes to using an assistant you can leave them the minor things like fetching, fixing, decorating, and all the small details that you should never worry about. The second pitfall that you need to avoid is the bar and food. If you are going to have a catered dinner or event, you need to make sure that you have a written contact upon hiring. The contract needs to state the money, the food, and basically what you expect from the amount of money that you are paying. Even put the times when they need to show up in the contract or you may end up with irresponsible caters. You need to make sure that the food looks and taste good. You don't want to have people looking at you with disappointment. The third pitfall to avoid has to deal with contracts. Get a contract written for everything. It can be on a tablecloth, if you must. Just make sure that you have it in writing what you are paying them, why you are paying them, what you expect from them, and the day and times that they need to show up with the goods. If you don't, you will end up having someone come to you saying that they overbooked or they have increased the costs. The fourth pitfall to avoid is bankruptcy. Make sure that you set a budget for your event. The way to successfully set budget is to set a least and the most amounts. For example, you can pay at least $5,000 for the party, but you can go to $7,000. Then you aim for the average, so you would like to have a $6,000 party. If you set your budget like that you know exactly if you need to cut the corners or if you can expand somewhere on the party. You will also be more successful if you set yourself some limits. You'll be more likely to be under budget. The fifth and final pitfall to avoid, is relaxing too far in advance. A lot of people will plan an event so far ahead that they think that they can take it easy the day before or even the day of the party or event. You need to realize that when you find extra time to relax, make some phone calls. Make sure that everyone is on the same page so that when the day comes you don't run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. You can take the day of the event with an relaxed pace because you were on top of things the day before.
