(Show Notes: Season 2, Episode 5)

This week, I’m focusing on the more creative and personal side of planning via event design. Event designers focus on the overall event aesthetic and help bring creative vision to life. The design of an event may incorporate everything from decor, theme, or layouts. This means that as you create the vision for your event, you’ll want to start by thinking big-picture and work your way down to the finer details.

First and foremost I’d like to take us all back to grade school and remind you of the 5 W’s. Who, What, Where, When & Why! These are simple, yet fundamental questions to ask as you create the foundation for your event. Of course, the answers may be a bit more obvious for events like a wedding or corporate meeting – but for other celebrations or fundraiser events, these questions can help to create a framework for your design concept and, later – the styling of your event.

Who – who is your audience? Who are the type of people who will attend this event?

What – what is the overall goal of your event?

Where – where is the event going to take place? There are sub-questions to this one – such as, are there any space requirements necessary to hold the event? Is there a certain setting that will help bring your overall event vision to fruition? Is there a specific area that the target audience will be traveling from?

When – When is the event going to take place?

Why – This may cover a couple of different questions. Why are people going to attend your event? Why are you hosting the event?

The point of this exercise is to help you hash out all of the possible details that may contribute to the overall theme or design you may wish to bring to life for your event. Better yet – physically writing down the responses to each of these questions as you begin your event planning process can be a helpful resource to craft your event concept and to look back on as you go through planning to ensure you are staying on-topic and covering all bases.

After going through the 5 W exercise, you are ready to start working your way through the steps of building your event concept.

• Set your theme – Deciding your preference for the feel of your event will help set the direction of how you will style it. Event Styling – though it sounds like it might be similar to design – is the actual practice of bringing the theme to life via decor, entertainment, layout, and other enhancements.
• Ask additional questions:
• Have you chosen your venue yet? If not, what type of setting will best pull together the overall feel for the event?
• What is the event’s main attraction? For instance, will it feature a musical act or other entertainment, spectacle or attraction? Is there a silent auction? Dance Party? Keynote Speaker? Unique dining experience?
• Begin styling the event to carry out the concept through colors, decor, entertainment and other enhancements.

This episode has discussed event design and event styling and how these elements will help bring your vision for your event to life. Design and styling is not a black and white practice and requires a level of creativity to construct a unique concept. These few topics are just the tip of the iceberg of design. Use Pinterest, be creative, and think outside of the box and you are sure to create a wonderland of an event that your attendees will be talking about for years to come.

Continue the conversation and ask your questions by joining the How To Event Facebook Group. Or you can keep up with us on Instagram by following @HowToEvent.

Season 2, Episode 6 will debut on September 3rd, 2020! This season we are focusing on Event Basics and each week I will review a new foundational event topic to help you get started with your planning process.