When planning an event, whether you are a professional event coordinator or you’re planning for your own special occasion, there are no second chances. Getting it right the first time is you’re only shot at having that perfect outcome.

Let’s take a look at five of the most glaring Calgary party & event rentals planning mistakes that can lead to disaster but can also be avoided with a little forethought.

So Much to do and So Little Time

Make sure you have everything planned out for the day of your event so that the space can be set up according to your specifications. Leaving too little time to set up the room will spoil the magic as the guests arrive to see the help running around setting things up. Leave at least 15 minutes before guests show up so that any last second issues can be handled.

Live Client Walk through

Of course, you will email and discuss event details with your clients on the phone but that will not give a visual representation of what the event will look like. To do that, invite your clients to physically walk through the venue to review every moment of the event as though it were happening at that moment. Your clients will get a full understanding of pacing for the festivities.

Why Didn’t the Vendor Show Up?

An old adage states that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Don’t rely on your vendors to be there on time just because you booked them six months ago. They are likely serving multiple clients and have different people running various projects. That means you should take it upon yourself to confirm the booking through email at least 48 hours prior to your setup. Getting a confirmed response is always ideal.

What’s Your Contingency?

While not easy to plan for, sometimes things happen that are out of our control like poor weather or the venue is no longer in business. Have a plan at least two weeks prior to the engagement so that you can either continue on at a different location, including another venue, or you can cancel the event and have the time to contact your guests.

Make Sure You Have Enough Help

By the time event day comes, you will be too busy making sure everything goes according to plan to do much else. So having the proper help staff can go a long way to a smooth event. Hire enough help or ask for volunteers to keep everything running as it should. Otherwise, you will be scrambling to cover everything in multiple directions at once.

While we can’t always be on top of everything that might happen before or during an event, we can certainly take action to prevent the preventable with some planning and execution before the big day. After all, eliminating those common event planning mistakes is much easier to do than repairing the damage on the day of the event.