Miami Guide To Event Planning

If you have ever tried to plan an event, you know how much time and effort goes into it. Florida is a social state, so, it does not matter if you are downtown, South Beach, or Coconut Grove events are happening all around, all of the time. In this blog, we will give you all the tips and things you need to consider for event planning in Miami.

1.Set goals and objectives

Make sure that you know what you are trying to accomplish with this event. There might be many things but think about your overall objective. Is it to advertise a product, to celebrate a date, to raise awareness for a cause? We list this as the first thing you need to get done because this will guide you to make all other decisions regarding your event. When in doubt of something, look back and think about what your main goal is.

2.Establish a budget

We all wish we could throw a Kardashian-like event. But you do not want to break the bank to make an event. Determine exactly how much you can spend and try to keep it within your budget. Keep in mind that events are expensive. So, try to do an estimate of how much you can and will spend before hiring caterers and booking venues.

3.Size and duration

Event planning in Miami comes in all sizes and lengths. Do an estimate of how many invitations you will send out, how many people you can expect, and how long you want the event to be. If you are hosting a dinner and a speech, you can allocate fewer hours than someone who is having full-on concerts, performances, 7-course dinner, and ceremony in a night. If you have followed the previous step (establishing a budget), you might already have in mind how many people you can invite and for how many hours you can host the event.

4.Coordinate a team

Who is helping you out on this? Depending on the size of your event, you will need to set a team. When that team is set… delegate, delegate, and delegate. Event management is a lot of work and if you do not delegate some, you will find yourself in some troubled waters. Here are some different teams you can create and coordinate:

• Administration team — responsible for speaking with caterers, assign responsibilities, develop a schedule…
• Creative committee — responsible for researching food, drinks, and decor that aligns with the theme and goal of the event.
• Operations — responsible for overviewing the steps of the event from setup to clean up.
• Guest satisfaction — responsible for the operations of invites, RSVPs, parking, and seat mapping.

5.Finding a venue

There is a huge variety of venues you might decide to host your event at. You want to make sure that the venue is aligned with the team of your event. For example, if you are hosting a classical wedding ceremony, there are venues in Coconut Grove that host events dedicated to this. With a beautiful arborist scenery.

6.Food and drinks

Food and drinks are the keys to keeping guests happy. There is a big variety of event planning caterers in Miami that you can choose from. Before you make your choice, there are a few things that you need to ask:

• How do they charge? Is it per guest, per event, per plate, per drink?
• Do you pay upfront? Is there a deposit?
• Do they bring in their utensils?
• Are you responsible for damaged glasses? What is the fee you have to pay
• Make sure you ask about everything, you do not want to stumble upon any pricey surprises after your event is done.

7.Keep in mind the weather

Miami can be a moody city. So, be prepared for everything and anything. If you are hosting your event on an outdoor space, for example, it might be a good idea to rent a backup tent, generators, etc… Prepare for the worst and expect the best. A good tip is to constantly check not only weather channels but the weather radar as well. In that way, you are able to see if any storms are approaching you.

On the opposite spectrum, you also want to keep in mind the hot weather. South Florida is known for its year-round warm weather. It does not matter in which season you are hosting your event in, you want to make sure that your guests are cooled down and hydrated through the entire event.

8.Create a schedule

Time flies by when we are having fun. To make sure you do not prolong your event (or cut it short), create a schedule for things to happen. For example:

8 PM — Guests start to come in

8:30 PM — Drinks start being served

9 PM — First announcement

9:15 PM — Food starts being served

10:30 PM — Dessert table is open

11 PM — Band starts playing

11:30 PM — Award ceremony

12 PM — Bar closes

Try to stick with the schedule as much as you can. If you see that guests are starting to get “hangry” maybe consider serving dinner a bit earlier, or serving some appetizers while the remaining guests do not arrive.

9.Invitations

With the adhesion of technology in our daily lives, paper invitations delivered to the guest’s home address is not the only way to invite a person to your event. You can choose to send invites through email, social media, or even innovate on the inviting style and send boxes, or balloons, instead of the regular paper invitations.

10.Track attendance

You definitely want to give your caterer the right amount of guests and there are reasons for it:

• So they can charge you the right price
• They do not bring too many or too little good
• They do not run out of drinks

The best way to estimate how many people will attend is to have people RSVP. There are many ways that you can do this. For example, include a QR code on your invite, with a link people can confirm their presence. We have seen people that planned events in Coconut Grove asking for a quick text, which is absolutely doable as well.