When I went on my mini trip to the City of Angels, I took one of my crazy ideas (okay, well it wasn’t that crazy) and decided to plan an event- A Bloggers Brunch! Mind you, I planned this way in advance from how it conceptually looked in my mind to the day of, and I’ve got mad respect for people putting things together. So here are a couple of tips on how you can plan a mini event (whether it be a GNO, a birthday party, or just a special gathering of friends) whether or not you plan it being in the same country or not.
1. Give yourself at least, AT LEAST a month in advance
Events are hard to plan. From my previous experience working on a handful of events, things NEVER work out smoothly. You will always find bumps in the road or mini surprises, or realise that you forgot an important detail- like adding the ‘Time’ to your invites.
2. Time line your expected email responses
One of my biggest pet peeves are people who don’t respond to time sensitive matters in a timely manner. Especially if I email the same thing twice haha! Call me insane, but I like to be able to have constant communication with who I’m working with.
So when you don’t get a reply after emailing twice in a span of a week and a half, it’s time to make that international call.
3. Social Media is Key
You can’t deny the power of social media. All of my guests were Insta-friends with me and I’ve never met them in person until the event. But that’s the power of it, you meet people all over the globe that you wouldn’t have otherwise and when you do, it’s like you’ve known them forever.
Sharing about your event is important, and most importantly, be sure to thank your sponsors!
4. Paperless Post is Your New Best Friend
Gone are the days of regular email invites. I love Paperless Post, it’s easy to track your guests, send update reminders and have your invites look pretty and save trees.
5. The venue has to be the number one thing to nail
Because without the venue, where will you host the event? I was fortunate to be able to work with an amazing hotel- Hotel Bel Air tucked in a beautiful almost- Greece like architecture. Beautiful mini lake, amazing décor and service and you catch a glimpse of celebrities everywhere.
I reached out to like 7 venues and it was honestly such a headache but Wolfgang Puck was one, or the only venue who responded quick, was helpful and provided the sweetest lil food surprises.
6. Just Roll With It
There’s only so much you can control and sometimes when you think you’ve got everything planned out, it’s time to make it out to the venue at least half an hour early and roll with it! Grateful that for me, I had more guests than expected, amazing sponsors ( beyond this world pastel bouquets from Empty Vase) and beautiful jewels from my favourite, Olive and Piper.
Despite the headache of planning an event and packing for my trip, would I do it again? Yeap.
Special thank yous to
Venue: Hotel Bel-Air, Wolfgang Puck Restaurant
Jewelry c/o Olive and Piper
Flowers c/o The Empty Vase
