At Events Hire, We like to plan ahead and want to share with you our top 10 tips for planning a great event!
Tip One: Book Early
It may sound obvious, but the more you have an image in your mind about the who, what and whens, the easier it is to get started. With venues, catering staff, performers and equipment regularly booked-up in a vibrant events market. The old adage, time is of the essence rings true. With over 22,000 marriages & civil partnerships registered in Ireland in 2015 cso.ie, you can imagine there’s a high demand for venues, hen parties, musicians etc. The moral of the story is plan very early, have your party sizes, budget, dates, services that your thinking about ready as early as you can.
Tip Two: Venue Research
No event planning list would be complete without choosing a venue that works for you. Increasingly, over 15% in fact, wedding ceremonies are moving away from hotels toward private venues or marquee style venues. In part, enabled by relaxed HSE rules on where couples can marry but also as a result of a desire to find more quirky and interesting venues then a typical hotel function room. Benefits in looking beyond the hotel approach also feature greater choice in decor, lighting and chairs. Essentially, with little more effort, you can have alot more style. So, research the venue option, you’ll be surprised at what you can find!
Tip Three: Event Style
Choosing a style for your event with so many options can be a challenge as well as fun. Whether it’s a classic all white theme or gold/bling theme or you favour darker palettes, there’s an art to matching it all. For instance, popular styles of chair include the classic limewash chiavari style with ivory seat pad and white sash or a gold banquet style chair with a red seat pad. You could also think about a pipe and drape backdrop to your seating area and crystal style centerpieces for you tables. Thinking about an event style early on can produce really impressive results on the day.
Tip Four: Handy Extras
If you decide that hosting your big occasion in a marquee or venue, then it’s time to think about all those little extras to add in. Things like roaming microphones, speakers, lighting, glassware and tableware. It’s good to talk to your supplier about these, well in advance. Usually they can show you uplighting options which can really transform a space. And for the ambitious who like to really jazz things up, dance floor favs’ such as smoke machines , LED dance floors and lasers can get you romance and disco effects with your style of music. These extras might be hard to find at a typical hotel venue and can make all the difference.
Tip Five: Costing
There are few interesting articles about what to expect with costs, weddingsonline survey of 2017 puts average costs for weddings in the region of €24,000 in the Republic and £28,000 in the North. Venue costs come in around 11k while honeymoons average 5k followed by the band at around 2k and wedding dress. 60% of couples use their own savings for weddings while the rest get help from parents or take out loans. My recommendation is that it’s hard to avoid hotel venue costs as there generally very fixed. But if your willing to engage with a good planner, then saving on hosting an event a non-hotel venue where suppliers can be sourced for food, furniture and drink can be a real saver.