Party Planner - create memorable events
Are you quick on your feet? Able to improvise when something is going wrong? Love to play host to dozens of your friends and family? Being a professional party planner may be just the thing for you! Party planners can handle everything from the most basic of children’s birthday parties to the most spectacular high-end wedding. Busy people are only getting busier, so they are now turning to professionals to manage the stresses that can accompany planning a major event.
You’ll need a little creativity and a lot of organizational skills for this job. You will create an address book of all your top vendors and will need to be able to clearly state your needs and then follow up with them to make them reality. Customers may hire you to plan a single-day event (like a birthday, anniversary, or sweet 16 party) or multi-day affairs (like golf championships, weekend expos, or entire weddings). To start off, you’ll need an excellent phone book with all the contacts possible for all sorts of needs. Be sure to include:
- rental businesses
- caterers
- florists
- locations (rental halls, museums, restaurants, etc.)
- musicians (you’ll want a mix of live and DJ services here, and all types of music)
- balloon shops
- Limo services
It’s a great idea to visit with a few of each of these vendors and gather information about prices, capabilities, and any extra services they offer. Then get the word out that you are ready to plan events for anyone and everyone. Your ability to take your client’s vision and make it happen - often with little ongoing input from them - will be what makes or breaks your success. A few parties that go off without a hitch, or at least without one that the client notices, will help get referrals for more business.
You’ll need business cards, ads in newspapers, and a robust cell phone package with great coverage. Once you do your homework on potential vendors, take a trip to the local craft store to see what supplies you can get to possibly do some of the work yourself. As you start your party planning business, you may need to get creative to help boost your profit margin. Flip through magazines (bridal ones are great) for some ideas for different themes, ideas, and giveaways.
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