By Audrey Isaac, 100Candles.com
When your business is running efficiently, your marketing and pricing are just right, and your team is top-notch – so, what’s next? What options do you have for increasing revenue and pushing your bottom line to the next level? It’s time to build profitable wholesale relationships.
Read More “Building Wholesale Relationships to Increase Your Bottom Line”
The number of applications and tools out in today’s market is staggering. All of them carry the intention to make things easier, but often are overlooked due to the amount of time it takes to incorporate them into your business. In fact, incorporating apps into your business is more important than ever. A 2015 study by The Knot revealed that 89% of couples used their smartphones for wedding planning. This included “researching and contacting wedding vendors, or creating and managing a wedding registry or personal wedding website.”
Read More “Apps Your Wedding Planning Business Needed Yesterday”
By Kevin Dennis, WeddingIQ
Having a strong network can bring value to your business in a multitude of ways – from bringing in new referrals to having someone who can help you out in a pinch, there’s no doubt that building strong relationships with creative partners can be a positive asset for your company.
Read More “The Key to Building and Nurturing Relationships with Creative Partners”
A top priority for business building is creating valuable content that attracts the right type of client. It’s easy to feel frustrated with the process of constantly creating new things for your current and potential clients to consume without feeling repetitive and bland. To help you get out of stuck, we’ve created a fun download that will jumpstart your creativity with “Top Ten” lists. Lists are a great way to convey information about trends, venues, and tips in a way that’s easy to read and share. Click the download below to get your free printable version.
Like what you see? Share your “Top Ten” on Facebook and tag us! We’d love to see your work.
Being an entrepreneur requires making decisions independently. That’s both the blessing and the curse of working with a small or non-existent team. The need for a community to reach out to for advice and input has been long standing, and thanks to Sean Low, there’s an answer.
Read More “The Power of the Collective: An Interview with BBC Founder Sean Low”
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Being a wedding planner means not only being there to support the couple, but the bridal party as well. Creating an emergency kit ahead of time is a great way to head off any incidents that could derail an otherwise perfect event.
Most wedding planners of some sort of kit that goes along with them to events, but for Joyce Barbour of Be Our Guest Event Services, an emergency kit is simply “invaluable.”
“When I took my course to become a wedding planner in one of our lessons it mentioned a good planner is always prepared with an emergency kit,” said Barbour. “I don’t think that we have had an event where at least one or more items in our kit have been needed.”
So what should you include when assembling a kit of your own? Here are a few suggestions:
To create an emergency kit of your own, assemble products in a clearly labeled, waterproof container and here’s an extra tip from Barbour: “Remember to always replace the items before your next event.”
Special thanks to Joyce Barbour of Be Our Guest Event Services for providing her valuable insight. You can learn more about Joyce and her planning services at www.beourguesteventservices.com
By Heather Jones, Wente Vineyards
Working multiple events on the same day can be an overwhelming concept to even the most experienced of event professionals. Ultimately, this scenario comes with a lot of moving pieces – there’s no way around that. Whether you run a venue, a planning company, or other large-scale event services company, taking on multiple events on the same day can be advantageous when it comes to the bottom line, but the effort nearly doubles to guarantee that each is treated with the same level of professionalism and detail.
At our property, we have several venues available for weddings and special events and we often find that we’ll have multiple celebrations onsite on one day. So, the question is – how do you manage the logistics of numerous events and ensure that each and every one goes off without a hitch?
Assign points of contact
Rather than trying to balance the changing needs of every event, designate a point of contact for every event so you have a single person in charge of each. This not only helps to ensure that your team is focused on meeting the clients’ individual preferences, but it also makes it easier for you to get concise status reports leading up to the event and on the event day itself.
Have a solid communication plan
While communication is key for any event, it is especially crucial when you are balancing several on one day. For each event, be sure to have a one-sheet with all relevant contact information, including but not limited to that of the client, your point of contact, your own, and the whole team of vendors. Keep a copy of each on hand for yourself, and disseminate it to everyone involved to ensure that anyone can be reached in case of emergency.
Schedule a team meeting
Staff meetings are an important step to guaranteeing that everyone is on the same page. Gather your team and walk through all of the logistics prior to the busy event day, covering everything from timelines for each event to where the guests will park and how to confirm they are guided to the right space.
Staying organized is the best way to ensure that each and every client is satisfied and provided with a unique experience. With these tips, you can be sure that your team will deliver only the best level of service to meet your company standards.
Heather Jones is the Catering Sales Director for Wente Vineyards, a family-owned property that is home to a winery and vineyards, a golf course, restaurant, and a handful of unique facilities for hosting weddings and special events.
By Fabrice Orlando, Cocoon Events Management Group
Being in the events industry means that you are always working as part of a larger team. No event can be successful with just one person running the show, so surrounding yourself with professionals you know and trust will get the job done at a high level will not only have the client smiling, but take away your stress too.
Let’s check out some of my best tips for putting together a great event team:
Getting the Key Players
Every event is run by different teams of people that specialize in different areas. First, there is the head planner/director that oversees the entire event from start to finish. The production team will be front and center on the day of the event, as they are responsible for the set-up of everything from décor to tables and chairs. The head of catering manages all things related to food and drink, while the logistics manager oversees the lighting techs, transportation coordinators, security guards, etc.
Before deciding to bring anyone on, we generally like to have them come in and do a test depending on what their expertise is – that way, we have a better idea of the kind of work they can do.
Communication
Like with most things, good communication is key. During an event, everyone is going to be spread out and busy making sure everything is running smoothly, so having a system in place that everyone knows and is comfortable with is going to help a lot. Everyone is different when it comes to how they like to communicate, so make sure you’ve decided on something well before event day to avoid surprises. For us, Skype and phone calls work best as we have found that communication through SMS or email can be easily forgotten or misunderstood.
At the Event
The day of the event is go time! Setup should have started at least 24 hours before start time (depending on the size and complexity of the event), and everyone should be in place and working to make sure everything is running like a well-oiled machine. Kick off the day with a team meeting that includes everyone to discuss final details, any last second changes that need to happen and to answer any questions. Don’t forget to give everyone a pep talk as well, and thank them for all of their hard work- it will set the tone for the entire day.
By following these suggestions, you’ll have no trouble find the dream team you’ve been looking for and putting on an event that will be unforgettable.
Fabrice Orlando is the CEO of Cocoon Events Management Group, a luxury event planning company based in Marrakech, Morocco that specializes in high-end weddings and special events worldwide.
