Event Planner's Top 5 Pet Peeves—And Our One Solution

Ugh! Once again, your clients have changed their mind on the reception flowers, and now you have to start all over on the design. That’s enough to make your head spin, right? I mean, they’ve only changed it about seven times already. But as a professional, you take a deep breath, resist the eye roll, and say, “OK, what flowers were you thinking about?”

Mr. Webster, famous for his ability to define words, would categorize this as a pet-peeve moment—you know that one incident or occurrence you find especially annoying? But don’t feel bad; you’re not alone. We rounded up five of the most common pet peeves every planner has when planning an event:

1. RSVP Nightmares

Late RSVPs are enough to drive you completely event-planner crazy. You and your clients send out RSVPs for a reason: so you can get an accurate headcount for seating, food, bulletins, and countless other items. But when someone sends a late RSVP, you have to completely reorganize the venue layout to accommodate for them. Why do these even exist?!

2. The No Shows

This happens at every. single. event.

The guests RSVP’d on time, you ordered them a meal, and you saved them a seat, but when you look around, they’re not there. Maybe they didn’t want to insult your clients by checking “No” on the RSVP slip, but what the guests fail to realize is that you arranged tables, prepared food, hired staff, and might have even delayed the start of the event just for them. This one is a big event planner pet peeve!

Related: 15 Wedding Expenses You Forgot to Budget For

3. Vendors Arriving Late

It’s the day of the event and everything is on time, except the DJ. He is over an hour late and you could just scream. He needs to run AV cables, set up his table, and do a sound check—all before the guests arrive. As an event planner, you rely on vendors to help you implement a successful show. However, when one part of the event runs behind, everything else does too. And yes, we understand problems with vendors do arise, but a good vendor will ensure they show up early to silence your event-day worries.

4. Hidden Costs

Your clients depend on you to plan the event of their dreams within the means of their budget. And nothing annoys you more than a vendor who gives you a quote, but neglects to include the hidden service charges. Sneaky, sneaky! Knowing the exact prices up front helps you plan a realistic budget because no one likes asking the clients for more money at the end of the event.

Related: Event Contracts: Your Armor and Your Shield

5. Lost Guests

You tried your best to paint the prettiest signs, and you made sure every sign post had the directional arrow guiding guests to the event. But it never fails, a guest always gets lost and then gets mad at you. Although you have a great poker face and apologize for the miscommunication, all you want to do is roll. your. eyes.

The One Solution: Inspherio

Pet peeve moments happen, but the Inspherio Crew is here to make them less of an occurrence. As experienced event professionals, we know there are certain moments that can drive you crazy, which is why we designed the perfect anti pet-peeve, event planning solution. When you join the Inspherio family, you’ll have access to features that can help keep people on time, track and update guest lists, budget events, and a vendor contract feature to ensure every event is spectacular.  Don’t believe us, try it free for 30 days. You’ll be glad you did.

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Getting Organized With Inspherio!

It’s time to get your business organized with Inspherio - the most advanced business management program for Event Industry Professionals.  Inspherio provides solutions for businesses of any size, no matter if you are a one person operation or a full crew with many employees.  No other tool allows you to manage your entire business from one place - even employees and payroll! 

The exclusive Enterprise Version of Inspherio is leaps and bounds beyond any other program on the market today!

No other program offers a Truly All-In-One Solution, allowing you to:

• Schedule Your Employees & Assign Them to Events
  No more wasting time on an antiquated scheduling process
• Give Your Employees Account Access with Individual Login Information
  All your company information in one central place
• Automate Your Payroll Process & Track Expenses Intuitively 
  Eliminate that shoe box full of receipts & tax info
• Gather All Event Info From your Clients Automatically Add it to Contracts in Real Time
  Inspherio eliminates redundancies wherever possible
• Create Contracts in the Cloud & E-Sign Them From Anywhere
  Always Be Closing, no matter where in the world you are
• Generate Comprehensive Reports at Tax Time & Throughout the Year
  “Planning Your Success” is our motto, but can also Measure Your Success

With Inspherio, you are not alone.  Our customer support team is always available to offer heroic help whenever you need it through phone, email, & chat support.  Just give us a call at 704.234.6000 or email us at support@Inspherio.com with any questions you may have.

These are just a few examples of what Inspherio can do for your business. Join Inspherio Now to checkout the above features and more!!! Get started for Free!  NO Credit Card required to check it out!

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Use A Great Program to Manage Your Event Business

If you are in the Wedding Business or if you would consider yourself to be an Event Professional, you are probably too busy preparing for your events to worry about all the meticulous details to run your business properly. 

If this is true, you are not alone.  Thousands of event professionals around the country are not taking advantage of the full potential of their business.  This common trade-off occurs when an event professional decides to go after more work and make more money, or devote less time to new jobs, and more time organizing their business. 

Thanks to Inspherio, no one should have to choose between staying organized & staying busy with new jobs.  Inspherio allows a business owner to manage their leads from start to finish as well as manage their finances, receive online payments, send Electronic Contracts, and much more! 

With a web-based event management software program for any type of Event Professional, you can stay busy doing what you love, because Inspherio helps you take care of all the meticulous details behind the scenes.  just think of how beneficial it would be to only enter your contact's information once, and from then on, it will auto-populate on all the required forms like contracts, invoices, an agenda for the event, and more.

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How much does the Wedding cost in US?

24,973 - Number of jewelry stores in the United States in 2009. Jewelry stores offer engagement, wedding and other rings to couples of all ages. In February 2011, these stores sold $2.27 billion in merchandise.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, NAICS code (448310)

$17 million is the combined wholesale value of domestically produced cut roses in 2010 for all operations with $100,000 or more in sales.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service

17,124 - The number of florists nationwide in 2009. These businesses employed 75,855 people.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, NAICS code (453110)

2.1 million - The number of marriages that took place in the United States in 2009. That breaks down to nearly 5,800 a day.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics

28.7 and 26.5 years is median age at first marriage in 2011 for men and women, respectively.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Families and Living Arrangements: 2011

Average cost of wedding bouquet, according to the Brides magazine is $230

Average cost of a Wedding is about 25,000, with about 6000 couples getting married daily, that makes the wedding industry one of the most lucrative industries, surpassed only by chocolate and travel industries. Even with economy slowing down in past few years, the average cost of the wedding went down only about 3k, (in 2007 it was 28,000). Couples still put a lot of value on how their event will look, where it will be held and by whom it will be planned.

Wedding Photography is another industry of its own, according to census survey, wedding photo make about 40% of the total professional pictures taken. Kids’ pictures are the next runner ups.

June, August and October are the 3 most popular months for the weddings.

Most recently there has been a lot of buzz on the web about what average event planner, DJ or caterer should charge for their service. Some debate that the flat fees are the best and give you better edge to win a customer, but the downfall is that the flat fee may not adequately reflect the effort and extra work you put in to the event. Some say that charging the percentage of the total cost of the event may be a solution to the problem; however that unorthodox approach caused quite uproar among meeting planners and other industry professionals. Seems that some sort of hybrid approach is needed here?

Would you charge your client a higher flat fee to stay on budget or would you rather sacrifice your effort to keep your client satisfied? Tell us what you think…

Pictures source: Pinterest

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Destination Wedding: 7 Rules About Southern Wedding Planning

More and more couples choose to travel for their wedding outside of their hometown. There are different reasons why. Sometimes they don’t want to play favorites if one or both of them are not from the town they live in or their families are scattered across the country. The number one reason is to pick an unforgettable destination that will be remembered by the couple and their guests.

South Carolina has become a very popular destination for a wedding. No wonder! Great weather, beaches, lavish parks make perfect backdrops for the wedding pictures. Places like Charleston offer great historic locations for wedding receptions and ceremonies.

So, what if you have to plan a wedding in a south? Where do you start to ensure that the wedding will be not just a party with lots of food, but a very special occasion, the one people talk about way after honeymooners returned home?

Here are few things to remember.

If you are a Wedding planner, DJ or any other wedding related professional, please, make sure that your fees and your budget are clearly discussed with the couple or the other responsible party. Do not surpass your budget; do not add any last minute fees. That will ruin the day. The comprehensive collaborative platform of Inspherio allows you to do just that, set your prices and let your client see them clearly with our Client Portal tool.

Most southerners don’t like sit-down dinners, buffet  may be more appropriate. Make sure that set up of the tables and stations allows for a good traffic flow, yet make sure that there are places to gather. Southerners like to congregate and chat. Ample elbow room around a bar station usually does the trick.

For the menu, stick with simple comfort dishes, nothing over-the-top. A roast-beef carving station with lots of side dishes is a loved staple.

Outline the time when the reception will end, it is a courtesy that will be welcomed by both guests and the staff servicing the wedding.

If a wedding is outdoors, take measures to ensure proper airflow;  fans, ice sculptures and lots of cold beverages (ice tea is best) will make your clients more comfortable.

These are just few things that we could come up with. For more Tips and Tricks visit our other blog posts.
Of course, every event is different and takes a lot of collaboration, communication and hard work.

We know you work hard, that is why we’ve created the communication tool, called Inspherio. Like no other platform out there it allows you to manage your clients’ information from anywhere, add special notes and to keep a history of your client’s events. Anticipate your clients’ wishes and wow them with your attention to detail. 

Get Inspherio today!

Pictures source: Pinterest.

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Keep Your Identity Within Inspherio!

We know that the users of Inspherio are accomplished entrepreneurs who have worked hard to establish their name and business. This is why our team has made it our goal to ensure our users maintain their identity while using Inspherio.

Inspherio provides each user with their own domain within the program. You have the option of publishing your site directly through Inspherio or embedding the code into your site as just another page.

By embedding the providing code into your website, no one would ever know that Inspherio was powering your Contact page! You are able to customize the font, color, layout, even add your banner to the top of the page or as the background image. Your potential clients fill out the contact form and the information is directly imported into Inspherio !

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The following article was originally posted on DigitalBrandMarketing.com by Megan Harris


The wedding industry is not only high-grossing but highly specialized. According to the 2011 BRIDES American Wedding Study, the average wedding costs $26,501. While that figure has fallen about 5% since 2009 due to the economic recession, weddings are still very high-paying and nearly recession-proof business. Even in tough times, couples like to celebrate their nuptials in style, which is often not cheap.
As a freelance writer and editor, I have had experience with the wedding industry from the first article I wrote for a client trying to break into this competitive market. Here are some key points I have taken away from my work in the wedding niche in regards to business branding. Perhaps those in the wedding industry and beyond can find these tips helpful!

Supply a Need in Your Products or Services

Does your startup do what everyone else does? Chances are, if it is part of the wedding industry, it won’t take off. It’s a harsh but true reality that following the crowd will not get you noticed, and this is especially true in weddings.
Businesses must fill a unique need in their products or services. This is how BridesView, a wedding inspiration community, went from being a small startup to being featured on Mashable in a very short amount of time! They found a unique need to fill and found it in linking vendors and brides together through a photo sharing community.

Provide Value to Clients and Customers

One of the biggest hurdles in the wedding niche is getting noticed. It’s a competitive market, and you can bet every major city in the U.S. is teeming with photo booth rentals, DJ and lighting professionals, and floral designers anticipating that busy summer season. However, if you are not the kind of professional that provides outstanding service, you’ll get left behind!
Some of the best businesses not only are great at branding because of what they do, but because the mission of their brand shows through their work. I have had clients that are widely recognized from the five-star reviews they receive on WeddingWire and repeatedly gain recognition for their work.

Network, Network, Network!

One of the best ways to grow your brand is to partner with others in the wedding industry. Partnering with other businesses not only helps you gain their trust and expertise, but can help you come up with all new ideas!
Let’s say you want to provide a unique wedding editorial blog to your region. Why not partner with a wedding photographer or graphic designer to get your blog some traction? Perhaps they can send their clients your way once the blog is up and running. You will gain more exposure with partners and can likely find help in an area you do not know from an expert.
Regardless if you are working in the wedding industry or not, you can learn a lot about branding from it! Successful wedding businesses fulfill the needs of their client base; provide high-quality services or products; and are not afraid of working with others to improve their business. Try using some of these strategies in 2012 to boost your business!


This Blog was originally posted by Megan Harris on DigitalBrandMarketing.com on 1/29/2012
Re-Blogged by Inspherio on 2/7/2012

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