Every event has 4 main elements. The Venue, the Caterer, the Photographer and the Entertainment. And with each element comes a different perspective on what could be done better! Even the most professionally trained and experienced event coordinator is still limited to what they have actually "experienced" themselves. And seeing as the Entertainment ultimately guides the flow of most events, there are quite a few "tips" that, we who are paying close attention to the details, can provide from a perspective only seen and learned through our eyes!
So, here is one of the most common "mistakes" that I have observed in my 10+ years of Entertaining at basically every type of event that exists!
1. Trying to move your guests from one place of entertainment/attraction/element to another.
- This might seem like a easy thing to do, but if you have live music at your wedding or your event, but you only want it to be part of the event, the attraction needs to be as close as possible to where you want everyone to end up in order for them to fully experience every element that you have laid out for them.
Example:
You have planned for everyone to enjoy easy listening live music as they arrive and mingle for a little while. Then you want to feed them and afterwards have everyone enjoy more high energy live music so they can all dance and have a great time. Too many times I have seen the event planner try to take all the guests from the mingle/cocktail hour to a different place at the venue. (Upstairs, inside, a different room...) away from the atmosphere of the live music. Then they try to corral everyone back to the area where the live music is.
This almost never works... Once your guests have settled into a room/atmosphere, they become comfortable with the feel, noise level and conditions of that room/atmosphere. Trying to pull them back into an entirely different element again can be very complicated. Especially if they have to walk a significant distance on a full stomach... They will also have apprehensions like, "Will I have to come all the way back over here if I want another beverage?", "Is there enough room/seating where the live music is playing?" and so on...
And more times then not, you will have a few guests that will move to the live music area and then half or more will stay where they are comfortable and already accustomed to.
So this causes the energy level in both areas to be much less than you had hoped for, and when your guests are leaving, they will be saying things like, "It was very nice" or "Thank you for inviting us", When your intentions were for them to be saying things like, "What a Party!" "We had a Blast!" "Let's do this Again!"
It is a very simple thing, but believe me, it can make all the difference in the world when you plan your next event! Keep all the major Elements of your event in the same Atmosphere/Location!
Thanks for reading and I hope this is helpful to you!
Cheers!
David.