This is it, the Big Day that you spent so much time planning. Whether it’s a birthday party, a wedding, or a corporate event doesn’t matter. What matters is that this is a social gathering you’ve planned, one that was supposed to run smoothly and have people enjoying themselves. And yet, it’s unraveling at the seams and turning into a failure at an alarming rate.
Panicking and crying over it might seem extremely tempting right about now, but it’s definitely not going to make it all better. However, some things just might have the power to save your night.
But bear in mind that the majority of them must be set up during the planning stage as well. So, take your time to find out why events often fail and how to make sure your event doesn’t fail.
Catering Problems
Issues with the catering service can be many, from them not showing up to the food being outright bad. One also cannot argue the fact that issues with the catering are some of the hardest to fix, because you can’t really have a different caterer provide better food ASAP to make sure your event doesn’t fail.
Ordering pizzas might be a quick-fix solution for some situations, but it’s definitely not perfect. Therefore, prevention must be your main priority. Start with reading advice from Meg Hall, who is a chef and owner of Made by Meg. She recommends collaborating closely with the caterer and having them inspect the venue. This way, they will know exactly what they can count on in terms of space and equipment, so they’ll be prepared for any eventuality.
Remember you must never leave the caterer for last. Due to the importance of this service, you need to take your time running background checks, going through referrals, and tasting the menu. Only this can help you be 100% sure that the caterer you hire is indeed reliable.
Transportation Issues
Whether it’s the guests who are stuck in traffic due to a storm or one of the services that must have set up your venue, transportation issues can cause major disruption and delay. Unfortunately, there is very little you can do about this because the cause of the issue is far out of your control.
Harry Sheffield, who specializes in party furniture rental in NYC, recommends to think of this possibility during scheduling and plan to set up everything you can at least a day in advance. This way, you will at least have the basics in place for your guests, so they won’t all have to spend hours standing until a truck with the furniture arrives so you can make sure your event doesn’t fail.
For the event that caterers are late, prepare a small stock of drinks and snacks to “tide the guests over” until the issue can be fixed. And if it’s the guests who are stuck in the middle of the road somewhere, wait and double-check everything to ensure they can relax after the stressful ride.
Mind Murphy’s Law
As says Walter Akolo in his post for an event-planning blog, the majority of events fail because people simply ignore Murphy’s Law. In essence, this “law” states that everything that can possibly fail, will do so, and it will happen at the most inopportune moment. Therefore, you must always start planning your event with a risk assessment of sorts.
What can go wrong epically during it? If it’s an outdoor party, the weather might turn bad, if it’s a seminar, the speaker might not show up, if it’s some kind of big public event, no one might come. If it’s a fancy dinner party, maybe the food ends up bad or giving people food poisoning.
In order to make sure your event doesn’t fail, think negatively about every element of your party planning so you can prepare solutions for the problems before they become actual problems. This way, if Murphy’s law does strike, the blow won’t be devastating.
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