Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah!

This year my gift to all of you is knowledge. Don’t pout! It’s a great gift. My mother always used to say that it’s great to learn from your own mistakes but it’s a gift to learn from someone else’s!

I implore you to learn from mine!

I am not an event planner. I’ve never claimed to be. I’ve discovered recently that I never will be; it’s a profession that extends well beyond my skill set.

I would imagine that many of us have thrown parties before. I would also wager that those parties may have been limited to birthdays or anniversaries that we’ve put together for family. Family, for the most part, can be forgiving. If the dinner is a little cold they’ll turn to a microwave. If you run out of ice, someone will offer to go get some at the corner gas station. If the hors d’oeuvres (if you go that far for a birthday party) aren’t great, they’ll wait patiently for the cake.

Not so with people you don’t know . . . or people who aren’t your mom and dad.

My uncle is a successful business owner. He has a company with roughly 300 employees. In the past he has hired event planners to throw his company Holiday party. He is also a loyal reader of this blog (family support). He thought it would be a good idea to turn this year’s party planning over to me.

The conversation went something like this:

“Hey kiddo. You’re planning my Christmas Party this year.”

“Thanks Uncle _______, but I’m not an event planner.”

“What? You write about this stuff all the time. How hard can it be? What are you, a dumb @#$&?”

Like I said: Family support.

So that’s the conversation that led to 300 disappointed employees, an upset uncle and proof that I am indeed a dumb @#$&.

It would take too long to go over all the disasters that befell the party, but I’ll hit on the major ones here and give you some things to consider the next time you think you could save money by not hiring a professional event planner.

Did you know that most locations don’t have the necessary power for a DJ’s equipment? I found out that many times a wall socket isn’t going to cut it. Unless of course you want the transformers to blow.

Did you know that you need permits for a generator?

Did you know that 300 people coming to a party don’t necessarily arrive together in a bus but that they may drive their own cars there? Do you know that if you have a tent with a dance floor set up in the parking lot that people can’t park their cars there?

Did you know how upset people get if there are no places to park their cars? Did you know how much more upset they get if they have to park on the street and walk up to three quarters of a mile to get to the party? Did you know that the police don’t appreciate you parking hundreds of cars on the street? Did you know that “the police don’t appreciate” is a euphemism for “the police get really pissed off”?

I could go on, but you get the idea. . . I hope.

Do yourself a favor if you ever find that you are throwing a party or an event that has more than people who love you unconditionally in attendance: hire a professional event planner. There are so many things that go into planning events that it isn’t worth trying to do it yourself. They are professionals who know exactly what they’re doing and what needs to be done.