5 Non-Negotiables When Planning Your Event
There are so many different elements to consider when planning an event, from flowers to lighting to food to music, and so much more. Deciding what you can do yourself and when you need to hire professionals can be overwhelming. There are a few elements that are absolutely crucial to a successful event, that you truly don’t want to skip on. Here are 5 non-negotiable to dos when planning an event:
Hire a FULL SERVICE CATERER
It is crucial to hire a full service caterer! Full service caterers play a huge role in the success of your event. They will handle lots of details for you including moving tables/chairs, setting tables, serving food, clearing garbage, serving drinks, and so much more. There are many drop-off catering options out there, which may work well if you’re having a small get together. But if you are planning a production like a wedding, gala or corporate event, this option is extremely limited. Drop off catering is a very affordable option in comparison to a full service caterer, because it only includes the food and the delivery fee.
What is the value of a full-service caterer?
Staff: Your caterer will provide the amount of staff needed to execute your event. Staff is determined by your guest count and food service style. Staff not only serves your food and buses your tables, they also carry in tables and chairs, set tables with linens, plates, flatware and glassware, bar tend, and clear and take out garbage.
Menu: Your caterer will provide you and your guests with the best menu and dinner service style for your budget and guest count. They ensure that the food is served on time and served hot! They will either prepare food offsite and heat it at your venue or prepare it onsite if your venue has a kitchen they can use. They know exactly what is needed in order to ensure that everyone is happy!
Rentals: Your full service caterer will help coordinate the trickiest part of wedding planning- the rentals! Most caterers provide standard rentals which include white china, clear glassware and poly linens. They source these rentals from a 3rd party and will bill you for it so you don’t have to coordinate payment with another vendor. Rental coordination can be very tricky and stressful. If you don’t have a caterer handling these details, something as small as a simple serving spoon can be left out and leave you in a pinch during your event. When you rent items like linens directly and they are lost or damaged, you are on the hook for the cost at the end of the event! Don’t put yourself in that position. Hire a pro to handle it!
2. Hire a PROFESSIONAL DJ
Having a Spotify premium membership and a playlist sounds very tempting doesn’t it? Just play have your dad or bestie manage it on the day of your event, right? It all sounds so easy. Well, we’re here to tell you it’s not.
Why you should hire a professional DJ:
Equipment: Professional DJs will bring microphones, speakers (for the ceremony cocktail hour and reception), and a laptop with the music. If you don’t hire a professional, you will have to be responsible for this. That means sourcing it, pricing it, storing, setting it up and breaking it down. Perhaps your venue has a speaker system? Still hire a pro. Many in-house systems are not good.
Music flow: The guaranteed way to ruin the party portion of your event aka the dancing is to use a playlist instead of a pro. Your DJ will be managing the flow of the night. What are people vibing to? What songs should be faded in? What songs will get everyone on the dance floor? They know how to manage the party and guarantee that it’s successful.
They know more music than you do! They have DJ’d at hundreds - if not thousands - of events, and they have tons of music to choose from. They know what songs are hot and what songs are not.
They are not emotionally involved. If your dad is managing the music, guess what? He can’t enjoy himself fully. He will have to manage the music. And when he needs to leave to give a toast or talk to his friends or with you, who is managing the music? We can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen someone jump up and change the music, ruining the flow.
3. Hire a Florist
“Oh I’ll just go to Costco and order some flowers or to my local grocery store like Trader Joes the day before. I’ll make my own bouquet it sounds so fun! It won’t stress me out. Plus, I’ll save money.” Sound easy? It’s not. Will it save you money? No. It won’t.
The price of doing it yourself vs hiring a pro: We’ve done the research on past events we’ve been apart of when someone does the decor and flowers by themselves. Look at the pricing differences below and ask yourself: does it really save you money?
Cost of using a Professional Florist (Price reflects 100 person wedding):
Delivery & set up to Hotel & venue/pick up end of night: $75
Supplies & labor: $250
3 Bouquets: $75 each = $225
1 Bride’s bouquet: $125
4 Boutonnieres: $14 ea = $56
10 Centerpieces: $75 ea = $750
Total Cost: $1481
Payoff of using a Professional Florist:
Flowers are stored in cool environment in water to prevent wilting upon arrival.
Flowers are donated to a hospice by the florist for others to enjoy.
Supporting a small business owner.
Includes complimentary vases for bouquets to be re-purposed for the reception.
Includes complimentary votives, candle holders.
Beautifully designed and executed flowers.
Cost of DIY decor/fake & fresh flowers (for a 100 person wedding):
Price of delivery to venue and hotel: $75
PLUS - Uhaul/Ubers/gas, or delivery costs from store. (Another downside: Flowers are wilting by the time they get to your venue because it’s 80 degrees outside, and you didn’t have a pro to keep the flowers cool in transit.)
Pick up from venue end of night: $75
PLUS - Time spent finding and coordinating with a friend to do this, paying for Uhaul/Ubers/gas
Supply trip #1 to Michael’s: $200
PLUS - Time shopping for wire cutters, floral tape, pins, ribbons, looking up Pinterest DIY tutorials
Supply trip #2 to Michael’s: $300
PLUS - Time shopping for fake flowers and greenery, looking up Pinterest DIY tutorials, trial and error tests, having friends over for craft nights to make the flowers throughout the year.
Supply trip 3 to Costco or grocery store for fresh flowers: $700
PLUS -
Price of fresh flowers, cutting shears, flower tape, pins, ribbon, vases.
Time spent shopping for vases and researching what size and height vases you need for the kind of flowers you want to display.
Time spent researching what flowers are in season and what flowers look good with other flowers.
Coordinating flowers and delivery.
Tutorials on YouTube of how to build bouquets and boutonnieres.
Finding a place to store flowers overnight or pick up flowers on the day of wedding.
Time spent cutting flowers.
Time spent placing flowers in vases.
Time spent coordinating a group of people to execute this project on the day before or day of the wedding.
Price of tea light candles, pillar candles, candle holders & delivery: $200
PLUS - The time it takes to do the math and figure out how many candles you need for each table including your head table, bar, dessert table, and gift table.
PLUS - The time it takes to shop for the kind of candles you need and what size holder you need for them.
Total Cost: $1550
PLUS the cost of doing it yourself: You spent over 40 hours of your time on top of your 40 hour a week job trying to figure out how to do this yourself. You weren’t present with friends or family the day before your wedding, because you were making all of the bouts and bouquets.
Payoff of DIY Flowers:
Thinking you’ve “saved money” until you count up your receipts (if you even saved them).
4. Hire a Photographer
“I’ll just have a friend do it, it will save me lots of money!” Bad news folks, even if your friend is a good photographer, have they ever shot a wedding? Do they have the right equipment for natural lighting and indoor lighting? Do they know how to manage a large wedding party?
Why you should hire a pro:
Your friend who loves you, who might even be a wedding photographer really, really, doesn’t want to shoot your wedding. They want to be your friend. They want to be a guest. They also don’t want to be put into a position where they feel like they need to give you a discount. Just because you’re friends, doesn’t mean they should give you a discount. Would they ask you to give them a discount for your job?
Professionals know what kind of equipment is necessary depending on the space they’re in! Some venues have no natural lights and extremely high ceilings. A professional photographer will know to use external lighting for this and not the flash on their camera!
You are spending money and time on your wedding. Invest in a professional photographer. Prioritize this investment at the top of your budget. The only thing you’re going to have left after your wedding are your memories, your guestbook and your photos. We can’t tell you how many times couples who haven’t gone with someone we’ve recommended or chose a “discount” photographer have totally regretted it later. Don’t do this to yourself!
Professional photographers take beautiful photos but, even more importantly, they deliver them to you in a timely fashion, beautifully edited. You could wait up to a year or never even receive your photos with an amateur. Or worse, you could receive them and they are edited so poorly you wonder why they even bothered!
Pros know how to wrangle humans, and they know how to be assertive but kind. A wedding photographer is not only expected to take great photos, they need to know how to build a timeline for a wedding day and stick to it! They need to be able to charm your parents and, at the same time, keep cool and level headed when your drunk uncle keeps walking away during family photos. Leave this job to someone who knows how to handle this delicate situation.
Pros have 2nd shooters and even lighting assistants! Your photographer is a creative genius and has a team to help support them on your day, so they can create the fiercest photos ever!
5. Hire a Planner!
“Hiring a planner is a luxury item I can’t afford it.” Having a wedding is a luxury. It costs $60 to get a marriage license in Illinois. If you are having a wedding and you’ve never planned an event before, wouldn’t you want a professional to help guide you through the process?
Fierce Productions is passionate about developing creative partnerships with our clients. You can always trust us to give you advice that is best for you and your pocketbook, because when our clients win..we win. Want to learn more about how you can work with us? Don’t hesitate to book a complimentary consultation so you can get to know us, and we can learn about you and your vision. Let’s plan an unforgettable event together!