Whether it\u2019s a wedding, birthday party, school dance, work event, or another gathering, you\u2019ll likely be involved in planning a large-scale event at some point in your life. Event planning boosts organizational prowess, budgeting expertise, and other helpful life skills. Building those abilities now can make you an impressive job candidate and better equipped to handle the ups and downs of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Event planning requires careful budgeting and expense tracking. You\u2019ll likely be working with a set budget and, depending on who the event is for, be required to track and report all purchases to leadership (like school administration, a boss or manager, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tips to improve your budgeting when planning an event:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to event planning, consumer smarts is absolutely essential. You\u2019ll likely have a mountain of potential expenses\u2014everything from decorations to food to a venue. This is where the consumer skill of trade-offs<\/strong> is helpful. You likely can\u2019t afford the most expensive venue and a five-course meal and jaw-dropping decorations. So, consider what matters most. Can you sacrifice a lesser priority to get a nicer version of your top priority?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tips to utilize consumer smarts while event planning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As an event planner, you\u2019re tasked with keeping track of expenses and managing timelines, while coordinating with attendees and vendors, and handling day-of logistics. It\u2019s a big job! If you don\u2019t have organization skills before the event, you certainly will afterwards. And while you may not commonly face tasks where so much organization is required all at once, you\u2019ll certainly utilize these skills in school, everyday life, and your future career. Tips to improve your organization while event planning: Planning an event requires many decisions\u2014big and small. During the planning process, you\u2019ll need to step up and help make those decisions. You\u2019ll also need to guide others through your thinking and develop core leadership skills. Whether you\u2019re fully in charge of the event or simply on a sub-committee, you\u2019re still a leader. You\u2019re making choices that impact the larger scope. Tips to improve your leadership and decision-making while planning an event:<\/p>\n\n\n\n To build event planning skills, look for opportunities to plan an event now. Start with a birthday party, get involved with a local club, or volunteer for the Prom or another dance committee. As your skills grow, you can take on larger responsibilities and events, and translate all you\u2019ve learned to other endeavors, including entrepreneurship opportunities, personal budgeting choices, and more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planning an event is a great way to build your financial literacy skills and confidence. You\u2019ll be working on a large scale and with increased responsibility. This is your chance to improve yourself personally and professionally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Whether it\u2019s a wedding, birthday party, school dance, work event, or another gathering, you\u2019ll likely be involved in planning a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7349,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,23,1322],"tags":[207,1364,1363,408],"class_list":["post-7347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prom","category-prom-planning","category-promus","tag-event-planning","tag-financial-literacy","tag-life-skills","tag-prom-planning"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7347"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7347"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7350,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7347\/revisions\/7350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andersons.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Shop around for vendors and options to make sure you get the best deal, not just the one that popped up first on your internet search. Along the same lines, look at all your options. Don\u2019t be afraid to get creative! Can you rent equipment instead of purchasing it? Can you make decor instead of buying it?
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Advertised deals can be eye-catching and make you feel like you need to act quickly so that you don\u2019t lose out. But make sure to consider any deal carefully. Are you actually saving money on resources you\u2019ll need, or are you choosing it because it\u2019s on \u201csale\u201d or offered as a part of a bundle or other deal? Ask yourself: would I still buy this if it were full price?
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nEvent Planning Organization<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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You may choose to organize everything in a big binder, an online spreadsheet, or a dedicated planning platform. Regardless, as soon as you make a decision, track it using your chosen method. Don\u2019t wait until later or you risk forgetting or becoming overwhelmed with updates.
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Whether it\u2019s a spreadsheet that calculates your budget for you or a calendar service that manages vendor meetings, take advantage of technology and automation. That frees up your time for other responsibilities.
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nLeadership & Decision-Making<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Whether there\u2019s an actual team involved in planning the event, or you plan to lean on friends and family, support is key. Consider the strengths of those around you and let them help you deliver the best possible event. One way to do this is to divide your team into sub-committees and give everyone a specific aspect of the event to be in charge of. For example, you may have one sub-committee handle food and one handle decoration.
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Every decision you face will likely have pros and cons. For example, a fancier high-end venue may require you to raise ticket prices to cover the cost. What benefits does the venue give you? What negatives could it cause? Give each choice you make proper consideration, rather than rushing through to make a decision.
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You never want to be in a position where you\u2019ve assumed that something was done when it wasn\u2019t (or the other way around!). It\u2019s essential to hold regular meetings with your team and keep everyone up to date on the current status of various decisions. Along the same lines, make sure that deadlines and tasks are clearly communicated so that everyone knows what they need to take care of and when.
<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nPlan an Event<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n