Tell me if this sounds familiar – you sit down to make some progress on your event planning tasks. To begin you consult one of the many checklists you’ve found on Pinterest – which is frustrating in its own right because they all have different timeline for tackling each of the tasks – but it stops there.

It’s just a check list – a simply do this, without any of the event planning strategy or how to behind it.

 

Has this every happened to you? If yes, did it frustrate you?

Did it leave you wondering okay I know what to do but not how?

 

I am raising my hand for you – because as a team we felt like we could do more to fill this critical gap. And while the pandemic has been one of the hardest experiences to date – we’ve used this space and time to create, refine and improve. So over the past 16 months – we gone from an idea to making it happen. And friends, we are doing something big – something that we hope will change the way couples – like you – experience planning a wedding.

And it’s coming on August 5th…but until then we thought we are sharing some event planning strategy you can implement today. So let’s dive in.

Event Planning Is So Much More Than A Checklist of To Do’s

Event planning is so much more than checklists. It’s about strategy. It’s about organization. It’s about project management.

It’s about a succinct series of methodical steps laid out like a roadmap. A roadmap that takes you from engaged to married – without all the guessing, googling, confusion, and frustration.

Event planning strategy, however, goes one step further – by explaining and empowering you with elements that can streamline every decision so that each leads naturally to the next. Peeling back the guesswork – you are left with a step by step framework to guide and empower you.

Event Planning Strategy

So lets start with this strategy piece – because event planning strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. Or frustrating. Or stressful (at least we can try to alleviate as much stress as we can!). And it doesn’t need to be hard to implement or mysterious either. Today we are sharing with you our top three overarching event planning strategies – ones that can be helpful at various points in the planning experience. And if implemented early on and then carried throughout the experience – while peppering in some additional guidance and later phased specific strategies – you can truly have beautiful event planning experience.

Start With A Solid Foundation

If you are recently engaged – this is where we recommend getting started because how you start and establish your event planning approach impacts every decision down the road. You can also jump in and edit these at any point in the process but having a solid foundation prevents downstream frustration, uncertainty, excess spending, time, and most importantly mistakes.

So what should you include in your in building your foundation? We’ve included our top 6 key aspects to building a solid event planning foundation – one of the best strategies for a truly successful and stress-free planning experience.

1. A well defined organization system 
2. A comprehensive budget
3. A well defined and refined guest list
4. Priorities
5. A game plan for how to tackle the to dos
6. A trusty worthy resource to consult for information

If you nail these, the decisions that extend from the start of your planning promise to create an event that aligns with your vision, stays on budget, and

Plan Ahead So You Can Stay Ahead

Event planning checklists have a tendency to be bottom heavy when it comes to tasks. And while there certainly are many small things to do towards the end of the planning process, pacing yourself and finding a resource that helps you stay a few steps ahead – is one powerful method to alleviate stress and overwhelm.

Here is an example:

Our team typically recommends considering sending save the dates around the 1 year mark. In anticipation of this milestone – here are some tasks that should be planned and completed in advance:

1. a website with general event details and hotel blocking information
2. a refined and defined guest list
3. engagement pictures
4. early thoughts about stationary to align with the introduction of your event with the overall downstream design

Anticipating major milestones and then identifying the important elements that will be essential for reaching that point is another powerful event planning strategy. Planning ahead so you can truly stay ahead eliminates the hurry and make a decisions approach and gives you space and time to research, make decisions, and confidently move forward with regret.

Theres Research And Then There is Wedding Research

This is a tricky one but if you get it right you’ll be golden. Wedding based research can feel incredibly overwhelming – especially when you are investing significant amounts of money and time. But this is exactly what it’s important to use a different approach when it comes to your research – because you want to spend your time and money wisely. So where do you start?

With guides. And not just any guides – but important decisions you’ve made during the foundational phase. So what are these guides? Here are some of the ones we recommend using to evaluate the research you will do:

• Budget
• Overarching Style
• Inclusions
• Compromises
• Reviews
• Recommendations

These guides help you narrow your focus. They eliminate wrong options, and help identify slam dunk options. And the do so in both subjective and objective ways – often making clear the exact decision without all the back and forth uncertainty.

So there you have it friends our top three overarching event planning strategies – a solid foundation, using guides to make wedding research decisions crystal clear, and planning ahead so you can stay ahead.

Want more? Join our private facebook group for weekly tips, tricks, and guidance to help make your event planning streamlined! And this week we are going Live to expand on one of these area – as voted on by our community this week!

Looking for more strategic posts: here is one full of important considerations that are often left to the very end.

Image Credits:

Photography | @briannawilburphoto
Creative Direction & Styling | @yoursweetestdayevents
Venue | @excelsiorlancaster
Florals | @petalswithstyle
HMU | @unfadingbeautybykristen
Rentals | @whitegloverentals
Gown | @clairepettibone
Shoes | @bellabelleshoes
Groom Attire | @theblacktux
Custom Paper & Calligraphy | @ciarraclaire
Linen | @latavolalinen
Styling Ribbon | @eastcoasttrimming
Styling Artifacts | @yoursweetestdayevents
Seating Chart Lettering | @lineandletterdesigns
Cake | @flourettasweet
Custom Illustration | @samanthaspanglerillustrations