At the beginning of my crafting journey, I was tried renting out paper flower backdrops for events. It was a great experience that taught me many valuable lessons from what to consider when you are trying to break into a new business to lessons learned to apply for your future projects. If you are a new crafter who is trying to get the word out about your services, make sure to read my 33_Practical Tips For A New Crafter. It will help you to NOT make the same mistakes I made.
Are you an event planner? What are your dos and don’ts? What advice did you find helpful when you started with your own business? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you. Here is my list of ten tips for event planning.
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- Be generous with prep time calculations. What I have learned is that no event is the same. No venue is the same. You never know what curve ball might be thrown your way on the day of the event. If you plan to give yourself 4 hours of prep time, go ahead and tack on an additional hour just in case.
- Bring EXTRA everything. If you are doing flowers, bring extra flowers. If you are doing balloons, bring extra balloons. Bring extra if you plan to build it onsite and bring extra even if you have prebuilt your setup at home.
- Be creative and prepare to wing it. I showed up to an event that was supposed to have a pipe and drape in place that I could use, which was there. What they didn’t tell me was that the pipe and drape were wider than my backdrop and there was no adjusting the width. Thankfully I had extra curtains and lights and I wrapped them around the columns to give it a posh look.
- Test your equipment beforehand. Even if you are using lights that worked for you well during your last event, test them at home to make sure they are working properly.
- Practice beforehand. If you are putting together a new centerpiece, a new way of displaying flowers, a new component to your centerpiece, anything, practice beforehand to make sure you understand the basics. One time I signed up to create table centerpieces with balloons. All was well until on the day of the event I blew up the balloons to only realize I didn’t get the right kind and the balloons weren’t floating/hovering above as I planned.
- Details matter. Be kind to yourself and use smart tactics to avoid putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. One of these tactics is not to put pressure on yourself by keeping everything in your head. Instead, write it or type it up. My trusted journal book is always with me no matter where I go. I also mastered “talking” the notes into my iPhone as I remember them, and organizing them later.
- Stay hydrated. To take care of others, you have to take care of yourself. I put “Hydrate” stickers everywhere to remember to take a sip of water.
- Bring snacks. Same as number #7 – In order to take care of others, you have to take care of yourself. My favorite snack is a sweet and salty nut bar. The sweet part gives you the energy you’ll need and the salt helps to limit certain types of breaks!
- Have business cards ready. Here is your opportunity to get potential new business. Ask the host if you can leave your cards on the table. You’ll be surprised to learn that depending on the event your hosts will be perfectly fine with it. You can also make yourself a “scan a code” stand to make it easy for the guests to get your information.
- Network, network, and network again! Working an event is a great opportunity to network. You know guests will be taking pictures and sharing them on different social media platforms. There will be event food caterers, photographers, etc. Connect, tag, take pictures together, invite to follow, and get that new lead for your next event!
Events and more
- Large Paper Flower Easy Tutorial – Bigger can be better
- Secrets of a Paper Florist – Secrets, Secrets and more Secrets
- Paper Flower Craft Tips & Tricks – Time Investment
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