Christmas Is Coming: What Successful Event Planners Do Now

Today is less than five weeks to Christmas Day.

So what do experienced event planners do now in late November?

They're not planning Christmas parties.

They're planning product launches, store openings, expos, festivals, markets, corporate dinners and charity galas for late January, February and March.

Why?

There are five reasons to organise your event ahead well ahead of time in November.

1. The first four months of the year are prime summertime corporate entertainment and they also coincide with the peak party season. Many clients will be competing to book many of the same venues, not to mention event hire items.

2. Suppliers close down for Christmas - with many closing shop between mid-December to mid-January  (or some variation on this).

While they are closed, your voicemails, text messages, emails and Contact Us queries remain unanswered, to be dealt with once they open - along with the hundreds of queries from other potential customers. Find out the fastest way to get your query answered.

So if you don't order now, you'll go in a queue which means your items won't be made until next year...

3. Because many event planners know the suppliers are closing down over Christmas, they frantically book suppliers now in November to have their orders processed before Christmas.

This therefore creates a backlog of orders that do not get completed before the supplier shuts for the holiday season.

4. Smart event planners also know that by planning ahead, they can save money by getting their items custom-made overseas. 

Getting event decor items shipped by sea, rather than airfreighted saves considerably on the bottom line. Check the scenarios for the you-can-have-it-good-cheap-or-fast-pick-any-2 syndrome.

5. In many cases it can be a great cost-saving to get your custom item manufactured in China.

But even using suppliers in China to save money needs to be planned well-ahead for because many suppliers take off up to 10 days around the Chinese New Year as their annual holidays.

Enjoyed this? Find out how the holidays in Australia, the USA and China affect your events.