How to Hire an Event Planner

Video Transcript

"So you are planning an event, and you're wonder, how do I find an event planner. Well, my name is Lori Randall with Simply Divine Events, and I'm going to tell you, how to hire an event planner. The first thing you're going to want to do is, talk with your friends and family, as well as co-workers, and see if they've used an event planner that they loved, and they loved working with, first go that route, the most important thing is finding referrals from friends, family members and co-workers. If you don't know anyone who had an event where they used an event planner, go to your venue, your hotel, your country club, talk with them and see if the catering manager has vendors that they can refer to you, a lot of times they do. You can also look at MPI, with your local MPI chapter, which MPI stands for, Meeting Planner International. You can also look at International Special Events Society, they have wedding planners and event planners on there as well. You can also look in, Martha Stewart's Weddings, or any wedding magazine, you can find a lot of adds for different planners there. Even if you're not looking for a wedding planner, a lot of wedding planners who might be advertising in magazines, might also do other special events as well. Then what you want to do is, set up a meeting with your event planner, and see if you really like each other, if you guys kind of click personality wise, if you have a vibe going, obviously that's probably one of the most important things, because you're going to be planning this event at lease six months out, so you want to make sure that you're going to be able to click with this event planner. You want to make sure that they are organized, that they have experience, you want to ask how long they've been in business, how long they've been doing event planning in general, find out what their background is, have they worked anywhere else, or did they just start this business on their own. You want to look for background in hotels and restaurants, so they no everything from setup to food, to entertainment, and not just the whole creative side of it, you want to make sure that they're well verse and well rounded and organized. Another thing to ask is, finding out are they insured, are they licensed, you want to make sure that, it's very important as well, so if something does go wrong, you're covered. So those are some ways to hire an event planner. And I wish you the best of luck on your event."