An event planner, like Pamela Howard, from Howard & Howard Event Management & Catering, takes meetings for you. Why? Because there are details you don’t have to be bothered with. She knows the ins and outs of your event. Because you will have a vision and strategy meeting at the beginning of the planning process, Pamela will know exactly what your needs are. That means she goes to meetings with the hotel and the DJ and the videographer and the furniture rental company and the hotel's outsourced A/V people and you can get more work done. Having an event planner will save you tens to hundreds of hours of your own time!

Where you should host your event - which city and where in the city - depends on the kind of event you’re hosting and what your goals are in the event. Your event planner will help you choose a venue that can actually help you meet your goals for your event. This is something that can affect attendance, sales, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

Reason #2: You’ll save money.

This might be opposite of what you’d expect. You’d think because you have to pay the event planner, you’re spending more money, right? Not so. Once Pamela Howard and her team know you, your budget, and how strict you are about sticking to it), she can work with vendors to save you money on all kinds of things. The more transparent you can be about your budget, the more effective they can be. They know which vendors would be willing to work with you on price and where you'll have some wiggle room. And because Pamela has deep relationships with vendors already from her past events, it’s easier for her to ask them for things than it would be for you to successfully make the same request. In the long run, an event planner can actually save you the money you spent hiring her, and then some. Reason #3: You’ll have a better looking event.

Left to their own devices, most clients end up with a fairly sparse event, sans decoration, or drastically over-pay for things they really didn't need in hopes of "not forgetting anything". Spending resources wisely on decor, space, and materials is a skill learned over decades. Event planners know what makes for a great event and what looks and feels great. There are tons of details like this you might never think of on your own. Things like, did you know that if you angle your audience chairs a certain way, it makes them feel more involved and engaged? Or that going with flowers currently in-season and available from domestic producers instead of internationally imported can save you 75% on your floral bill?! This was just one of a hundred details you might not know and wouldn’t have thought of but Pamela does and that's what she spends hundreds of hours every month thinking about.

PS... Your friend and family are not a substitute for a professional wedding planner. In fact, more friendships are lost due to wedding planning/hosting than any other life event except going into business together!

Reason #5: You’ll have good people doing good work.

Whenever you're doing something for my home, you might check Angie’s List or Yelp, which are great services…but for several reasons, you might never feel completely sure you can rely on the reports in Angie’s List, Yelp, Google, etc., so you'll still feel like you have to do a lot of research after you find a few companies with positive reviews. Your event planner will know not just one great videographer, wedding cake designer, photographer, florist, etc. but several. And she'll also knew several A/V companies, personal stylists, hair stylists, wedding dress designers, and caterers, so she can get several quotes for you to review and tell you all the right people to call. Because of the number of events she’s done with each of these companies, Pamels will know the pros and cons of each and help you make the best choices and stay on-budget.

Reason #6: You’ll eat.

You know what most people forgot about? You'll have to eat. Most corporate events and ALL weddings are really a 36-72 hour, non-stop events that require monitoring. You can’t exactly run out for a quick bite somewhere when 30 other people are waiting for you. One of the first things Pamela will do for most out-of-town brides and corporate event hosts is send them menus from the host hotel so they can pre-order their personal meals for any down time. Bet that's something you never would have thought of!

Reason #7: You can BREATHE.

When you’re planning an event, doing everything yourself is a very, very big job. And it gets stressful. As soon as you hire an event planner, you can breathe. You can step back, regroup, focus on the things you know the most about, and get a lot of work done. Because someone else is handling the details of the event itself, you can be more productive on the things you do best. Plus, when the event happens, you know Pamela and her team will be monitoring the event itself, taking care of important guests and family, and making sure the logistics are handled so that you can focus on making your guests feel welcome, comfortable, and important.

When the day of the event comes, you can relax into a great event knowing your guests will see, taste and experience the best wedding, corporate or social event they have ever attended!
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