Whether you are a professional planner or you got stuck with the task for your business, knowing how to plan a corporate event can be a tricky endeavor to ensure that you cover all of the details. From food, to location, to atmosphere and more, the perfect event takes planning and effort to come off seamlessly.
Start making appointments to view locations and meet other vendors. Discuss room rental costs and what is included in those fees. Determine what the hours are that you will have access to the room. If no one books it the night before, can you have access to get in and decorate or set up? Are they providing the service ware for the food, or do you need to bring in or rent your own linens, plates, napkins and silverware? Does the food have to come from that location, or can you bring in an outside caterer? If you can bring in your own caterer, start meeting with potential vendors to taste their food and determine their pricing. Determine if your venue requires you to bring in outside security for your event. This not only protects you from liability, but this can help keep outsiders from crashing your party. Look to hire a licensed bartender if your facility cannot provide one, and you choose to have alcohol at the event. Find out if the venue can provide decorations or if you have to supply your own. Some facilities have a wide variety of items that you can use such as candles, mirrors to set on the table, glass jars, etc. So if you can take advantage of anything being provided for free, you can save quite a bit on your budget.
