Insider Budgeting Tips From Top Event Planners in the Industry

If you're planning a major event like a wedding, conference, or family reunion, you need all the help that you can get. Thankfully, we've gathered the best of the best in advice from expert event planners in the industry to help you plan a memorable event with as little stress as possible.

Step 1: Separate Expenses and Income

Before you can book the first vendor for your event, you need to know how much cash you're working with. Pro event planners reveal that the best way to create an initial budget is by separating expenses and income on a spreadsheet.

For example, expenses for a conference or business meeting may include:

• Venue rental
• Marketing
• Guest speaker fees/accommodation
• Catering
• Staff
• Administration

Income for a business conference may include:

• Tickets
• Sponsorships
• Company budget

Understanding where money is coming in and going out will help you to make wise decisions when booking vendors. You can also use this information to help you effectively cut costs in rentals and vendor bookings to keep the overall budget for a conference affordable.

Step 2: Pay Attention to Detail

Expert event planners reveal that an event budget will only be successful when you pay meticulous attention to detail. If not, extra costs and expenses can easily creep up on you that were unanticipated to eat away at your overall budget.

Set aside time to account for and consider the cost of unforeseen details for an event, like table and chair rentals, Austin car service for guest speakers, security guard hire, cleanup fees, and much more. If possible, communicate with the owner of a venue to find out about any additional charges that may apply to rentals for setup, waitstaff, security, cleanup, and more.

Step 3: Ask for Discounts

Even though you may have to humble yourself to ask for a price discount, most vendors are willing to comply. In order to keep your business, a vendor may be willing to discount the rental charges for a venue, throw in extra waitstaff in a catering package, or provide freebies with equipment rentals, like extra speakers and microphone stands.

This is yet another case of where the squeaky wheel will get the grease. If you don't take the time to ask and make your needs known, you won't be able to take advantage of potential specials or discounts that may be available.

When booking any vendor for a special event, do your research in advance to find the best advertised rates. If you have your heart set on a certain hotel for a family reunion, check out the rates of competing hotels in the area. You can then inform the hotel that you have found a better booking rate nearby to see if they're willing to price match.

The good news is that you can plan an important event on a budget when you stick to the guidelines listed above. By categorizing your expenses, paying attention to detail, and requesting discounts, you can throw a high-dollar event on a dime.