Are you starting to put together plans for a large corporate event? If so, it's going to be important for you to take the right steps to ensure these plans come together without any problems.
Even if you have a lot of experience when it comes to planning large corporate events, it can still be stressful trying to plan one from start to finish. From choosing the right event venue to sticking to your predetermined budget, there will be so many things you'll need to monitor throughout the planning process.
But as long as you take the correct approach to planning large corporate events, you should be able to enjoy success when everything is all said and done. We've created a guide to planning large corporate events to help you out.
Read through this guide below to see the key steps you'll need to take to plan the perfect corporate event.
Begin Planning Early
It's going to be impossible to pull together the plans for a large corporate event overnight. It's also going to be very difficult to do it if you only give yourself a few weeks to plan one.
With these things in mind, you should always begin planning large corporate events as early as you can. Ideally, you should try to give yourself at least a couple of months to get the plans for a large corporate event in place.
If nothing else, you should be able to figure out when you're going to hold a large corporate event and what the purpose of it will be a few months in advance. It'll give you more than enough time to generate good ideas for this corporate event on the earlier side.
Create a Guest List
Once you have a general idea of when a large corporate event is going to take place and what the purpose of it will be, you can begin creating a guest list for it. It's imperative that you have your guest list nailed down before doing almost anything else.
The last thing you want to do is pick out the perfect event venue without a guest list in hand and later realize it's going to be too small for your event. You're going to put yourself in a tough spot if you do this.
You should work to come up with as close to a final guest list as you can early on in the planning process. It'll make it so much easier to conduct a search for an event venue.
Search for an Event Venue
Once you have a guest list ready to go, you can begin looking around for an event venue. You should stay as open-minded as possible when searching for an event venue that will fit your company's needs.
In some cases, you might want to host a corporate event at a hotel or a conference center. In other instances, you might want to try to rent out something like a sports stadium or an amphitheater for a corporate event.
Whatever the case, the venue you choose should work well for the specific type of corporate event you're planning. You might want to select a few different venues and get prices on each to see which one will work best for your event.
Decide on a Theme
Most large corporate events are going to have some kind of a theme. From serious themes like "The Future Is Now" to fun themes like "Winter Wonderland," you can help define a corporate event as a whole with a good theme.
You'll also be able to use a theme to make important decisions on everything from which food you'll serve at your corporate event to which kind of music you'll play at it. That's why you should try to choose at least a loose theme that can help guide you through the rest of the planning process.
Pick Out a Caterer
More often than not, you're going to serve some kind of food at a large corporate event. You can serve anything from small hors d'oeuvres to full-course meals at your event. It might be worth taking a look at this list of the latest food trends for corporate events in 2023 to see what your best options are.
But no matter which type of foods you decide to serve at your corporate event, you'll need to have the right function catering company on your side. Otherwise, the food might not be as good as it could be, and it could ruin what would be a great corporate event.
Fortunately, there are well over 85,000 caterers scattered across the country. This should include at least a few great caterers in your general area.
You should try to take part in tastings with as many caterers as you can so that you'll be able to plan out the menu for your large corporate event. You should also compare the costs that'll come along with working with different caterers so that you can find one that'll fit into your budget.
Choose Other Vendors
A caterer is just one of the many vendors you're going to need to hire for a large corporate event. You'll also need to hire other vendors, including:
- Photographer
- Videographer
- Florist
- DJ or band
- Security
- And more
It would be worth generating a long list of different vendors you'll need so that you can work to find each one. This part of the corporate event planning process can take a lot of time. This is what makes it so important for you to get a headstart on planning large corporate events.
Come Up With a Layout
When you get to this point in the planning process, you should have almost everything you'll need for your event. But what you won't have just yet is a layout for it.
You're going to want to set up everything from a stage to tables and chairs at your event. You'll also need to find places to put vendors like your caterer and your DJ or band.
You should ask the venue that you'll be working with to set you up with a blueprint of the room or rooms where you'll be having your event. It'll make it easier for you to start sketching the layout you would like to use.
Promote the Event
If you're going to go through the trouble of planning a large corporate event, you'll want to fill your venue up with event guests. To do this, you will need to promote your event to some degree.
After you create a guest list for your corporate event and decide when and where it will be, you should send out invitations. You should also use your website, your social media accounts, and any other options you can think of to market your event.
The more time you're able to spend marketing your event, the more attention it'll get out there in the world. It'll get a lot of eyes on your company and drum up interest in the corporate event you're planning.
Stick to a Budget
When you first start planning a large corporate event, you should always come up with a budget for it. This budget should be based on research you've done on the cost of corporate events in your area. It should also factor in the goals for your corporate event and the financial status of your company.
Whatever your budget may be, make it your mission to keep your corporate event under budget. If you splurge and go way over budget, it might doom a corporate event from the start and prove to be more trouble than it was worth.
Budgeting for large corporate events is often the most challenging part of it. It's going to take some creative thinking on your part, especially when it comes to deciding which vendors you want to hire and how much you're willing to pay them.
But as long as you start with a realistic budget and give yourself plenty of time to shop around for the most affordably priced event venues and vendors, you should be able to monitor your spending accordingly. You won't have to worry too much about going over your budget and impacting the success of your corporate event because of it.
Start Planning Successful Large Corporate Events
Planning large corporate events isn't ever going to be easy. You'll need to put your all into it to make a corporate event a success.
However, by following along with the steps listed here, you should be able to pull off planning large corporate events. You should also be able to do it without breaking the bank on them.
Would you like to take your corporate event planning skills to the next level? Make sure you attend this year's Event Planner Expo. Get your tickets here!
