Are you planning something big? Want it to be remembered forever? Need help with budget planning? Don’t worry; we’ve handpicked the tried and tested ideas to help you squeeze your cost and save money on event planning, without sacrificing on the stuff that matters the most. Whether you are planning a birthday party, a baby shower, or something in between or beyond, these simple hacks will help you travel in business class on an economy-class ticket!
There are plenty of ways to tailor a special event in limited resources, and you can master this art by skimming through our complete guide to event budgeting!
Simple Hacks to Save Money on Event Planning
Here are some simple and cost-effective tips to help you impress your attendees without compromising on the “Bling” factor:
- Acknowledge Your Resources
- Carefully Decide on the Venue and Menu
- Sort the Invitations
- Adopt the “Three R” Rule
Acknowledge Your Resources
Imagine having to cook something without knowing the ingredients. The same goes for event planning. There’s no way for you to conquer a budget-friendly event without comprehending what and how many resources you have at your end. The resources can include money as well as personal contacts. In terms of house events and small parties, it is always wise to have a family talk before planning an event. Who knows if someone in your family might want to volunteer for photography? Using your contacts can be a profitable way to save rental costs in one way or the other.
On a separate note, we are all aware of the fact that every event has its individual significance and requirements, so it doesn’t make sense to compare the budget of your anniversary to a birthday party. Hence, using one yardstick to compare past and present events will take you nowhere.
In a nutshell, being aware of the scale and importance of the cost-effective events and your current resources, and then sorting your expenditures accordingly is a smart way to squeeze your budget.
Carefully Decide on the Venue and Menu
While you’re worried about the venue, your guests are mostly concerned about the menu. Before you get your guest-list ready, you should make sure that the attendees have easy accessibility to the venue you’ve just picked. Besides taking considerations of their comforts, it is also quite important that you should pick the places where you can easily manage an event on your own. For instance, your house lawn or your terrace; if you do not have any, always remember the hack #1 as you never know who is ready to lend a hand! Using extra spaces at your place will help you save on event rentals and make it easier for you to monitor the affairs since you are familiar with the space.
Moving forward, after you’ve finalised the venue, the next thing is the menu. Whether you’ve decided to cook the food yourself or to hire someone to do the job for you, it is always helpful to simplify the menu according to the mood and time of the event. Opting for things that people commonly eat is a smart way to squeeze your cost on event planning — for instance, going for fast food for customary attendees and biryani for traditional events. Having a dynamic menu is a good thing; however, you cannot afford the dread that comes with food going down the drain or in a dumpster.
While you’re deciding on your choices, the menu must also be thoughtfully planned by considering special dietary needs, food allergies, and religious restrictions of the attendees.
Sort the Invitations
Regardless of the fact that most event planners keep invitations last on their checklist of event planning, it would be smart to make sure that they go side-by-side with everything else. Now, you must be thinking, how does that make you save money on event planning? Let us tell you how!
Arguably, your guests are the protagonists of your event, and you’re making all these efforts for their amusement, which makes them priority numero uno. Sorting your invitations beforehand will go a long way, especially if you’re sponsoring the travel expense of your special guests. And, getting confirmation from them is the second thing that will be a plus for your planning. It only makes sense to not pay for a person’s ticket who does not plan on showing up to the event.
Moreover, you can also plan accommodations for your guests, their seating arrangements, and the food quantity accordingly – upon their confirmation of availability for the event.
Adopt the “Three R” Rule
Ever heard the term “waste-hierarchy”? It is an assortment of actions to be taken that will help you reduce the amount of waste produced in your event. Adopting the rule of three R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – and incorporating it into your event planning is a smart way to squeeze your cost. According to recent researches, an average person creates 1.5 tons of harmful waste per year – out of which 30 percent can be a treasure. The findings imply that the 3/4th part of that trash is recyclable.
Why must you contribute to global waste while you can use recyclable material? Yes, you can adopt a sustainable lifestyle by integrating recyclable decorations, crockery, and cutlery. Here are some more tips to reduce wastage of resources:
- Restrict yourself from buying things that are wrapped in disposable plastic bags/bottles/straws.
- Plan your event in the daylight to save money on light decorations and let nature do its magic.
- Send out digital invitations rather than using paper cards.
- For giveaways, you can use flower pots for gifts.
By adopting a smart strategy, you can easily save money on event planning by reusing generic stuff for different events.
Hopefully, these hacks have inspired you to plan your next big event on your own. Also, these hacks are quite applicable to larger corporate events as well. Stay tuned to Zameen Blogs – your digital consultant with credible lifestyle solutions. Ever planned an affordable event? Share your experience with us at blogs@zameen.com
