How to become a party planner

How to become a party planner? It’s a perfect job if you like planning and organizing events!

• Do you enjoy communicating with other people?
• Are you detail-oriented and able to take responsibility for various tasks?
• Are you creative? Do you have an active imagination?
• Are you able to stay in correspondence with partners, be constantly in touch and write emails, return phone calls no matter what time of the day or night it is?
• Are you constantly searching for inspiration and new trends in the event industry?
• Do you enjoy making surprises and making other people happy?

If yes, the party planning job is perfect for you!

Party planner is a person who is responsible for planning, organizing and managing a party based on clients’ requests, expectations and budget limitations. Party planners find the right location and venues, arrange transportation, accommodation and create timelines, schedules, to-do lists to make the party run smoothly without delays. Party planners think about the perfect catering tailored to specific details of a party.

As the party always depends on clients’ needs, aims and objectives, a party planner needs to identify clients’ requirements and ensure their satisfaction within certain time limits. Party planners listen carefully to the clients’ needs and are able to offer their own suggestions and present their ideas on how to make the party unforgettable. They handle problems and manage unexpected cases which may occur during the event. In other words, they think about the smallest details of a party.                                  

You will face different types of parties. Depending on the target audience and their occasions you will be facing a huge variety of different celebrations. The most popular types are birthday and anniversary parties, tea and cocktail parties, bridal showers and baby showers, graduation parties, welcome and farewell parties. More specific are soirées, dance parties, and balls, receptions and surprise parties. Some types are seasonal – for example, New Year parties or Christmas parties. You will be facing private and corporate parties.

A professional party planner organizes details and takes care of all the arrangements, such as venue, decorations, catering, transportation, accommodation for guests. Party planners are involved in the event from the planning stage and to the day of the event. They have to remain available after the end of the party as well. They often supervise the cleanup and suggest ideas of how to thank guests for being part of the great party.

Party planners are always busy: they spend lots of time in communication with the clients and their partners, vendors and suppliers. They manage all the deadlines, create checklists, stay in touch to make sure the arrangements are in force. In case of big parties, the work of party planners can be stressful and can require much time and effort to meet the deadlines.

Party planners’ salary may vary significantly depending on the location, their experience and the size and budget of the parties that they manage. The average fees that the party planner make in the United States range from $20 to $40 per hour. This amount also depends on how long the party planner stays in the industry and how effective they are in marketing and selling their services.

Becoming a party planner, you will create dozens of documents, contracts, to-do lists, schedules and timelines to face every day. You will need to keep everything under control. During the preparation stage of the upcoming party, you will need to communicate with partners, negotiate prices with the vendors and stay in touch with the clients 24/7 to meet their expectations. As a party planner, you will need to understand clients’ requirements and ensure their satisfaction. For some parties, you will need to organize and manage the technical setup for the musicians, bands, etc.

Becoming a party planner, you will need to have strong organizational skills, be creative, be able to handle unexpected circumstances, be energetic and motivated.

You can start your career by organizing parties for your family and friends. Do your best to think through all aspects of the event, from the location, catering, decorations and invitations to accommodation and entertainment. You can scale up by volunteering at various charity events, developing your party planning knowledge.

Your job and tasks will be divided into three main party planning stages – tasks at the party preparation stage, tasks during the party itself (party coordination) and tasks after the party. Once the party is over, you will need to compose a budget report and note takeaways for yourself including all the mistakes to avoid them in the future. With each party you have planned and organized, you will grow your experience. You will meet new people, build new contacts which will help you develop your skills along your career as a party planner.

As soon as the party is over, make sure you save everything (from documents to contact lists). Each party is unique. Planning the next party will require spending much time to prepare. You will need to manage lots of organizational processes and the documents from previous parties will help to manage these processes easier. The good idea is to categorize your work according to party types, sizes and budgets.

As a party planner, you will need a minimum portfolio. After having successfully planned and organized a party, make sure you have enough pictures. Get permission from the clients and the vendors to publish your work for the promotion of your party planning business. A minimum portfolio demonstrating your success as a party planner is the first impression your potential clients get about you. Put your experience and work forward. This is one of the most important steps of how to become a party planner.

Party planning degrees are not required if you decide to start your career as a party planner. Some event and party planners start their career by obtaining a bachelor’s degree in event management, hospitality, marketing, business, communications, public relations. Large hotels and casinos may require high school education and work experience in the fields of business, entertainment, design, or art. In some cases, the knowledge of interior design or floristics can be helpful. If you are planning to work in the field of international event planning, foreign languages proficiency can also make it or break it.

To develop your skills and knowledge, you can attend various webinars, take part in event planning conferences and read professional event planning magazines, blogs, articles. You can also follow experienced event planners online.

However, in real life to start your career as a party and event planner, there is no need for party planning degrees, but this job requires lifelong learning and continual self-education. You can visit party planning courses near you or develop your planning knowledge online. There are effective event and party planning courses where you can get knowledge and then start your hands-on working experience and manage different types of parties.

Online courses are organized by professional wedding and party planners. These courses let you learn how to throw parties and then implement your knowledge of how to plan, organize and manage events of all sizes for different target groups.

Party planning classes vary by duration, level of experience required and course curricula. You can learn online, get all document templates and then start working in less than a month. Many courses include tests, materials, quizzes, worksheets, and templates based on examples of real events.

Party planning is one of the most promising careers in the event planning market. Each party is unique, and the planning processes require lots of time to think through every task and pay careful attention to every detail. There are different party planning aspects that you can learn online. After completing online classes, you will be able to create planning documents, schedules, and timelines, to-do lists, budgets and contracts.

At the party planning classes, you will learn about your main tasks and responsibilities. You will also learn to prepare proposals for the clients and find the right location based on the number of guests. They will help you to suggest the right party theme to your clients, create and manage a budget.

Good courses teach you how to select the right caterers, choose the perfect entertainment and fun activities for all age groups of the guests. Many also include modules on how to arrange decorations and organize table plans, how to address the stationery issue (paper invitations, thank you notes, etc.) and favours for the guests. 

The party planning classes and courses are usually offered by professional event planners who will share their own party planning experience. You will learn the principles and techniques of planning parties and discover how to manage on-site activities.

Online courses are a perfect way to start your career as a party planner and event planner. Aim for an exciting high-paying career and benefit from the knowledge offered by the online party planning classes.