event budget

If you’ve been tasked with helping organize your company’s next corporate event, one of the first things you’ll probably work to understand is the financial constraints you’ll have to consider. Nobody wants their event to go over budget, and you want to be smart about how you maximize your funds to ensure the event is as successful as possible. Finding ways to save money and stretch your budget when corporate event planning is key. But what is the best way to do this? What areas should you absolutely allocate funds towards, and where can you work to save a few bucks? In today’s blog, we share five smart ways you can save money when planning your next corporate event.

1. Choose A Picturesque Venue

You might think that venue location is where you can work to cut costs, but choosing a bland venue may mean that you really need to ratchet up the costs for decorations. You can minimize decoration costs by choosing a venue that is already beautiful on its own. A venue like The Riverside or The Palace Theater require minimal decorations because they offer stunning views and aesthetically pleasing surroundings. Let the natural beauty of the venue help you save on decor costs.

2. Avoid Peak Times And Seasons

You may want to have your company holiday party as close to Christmas as possible, but oftentimes these high-demand times will be more expensive. If you can push your event to a Friday in late January instead of a Saturday in December, you may be able to save on venue costs. Talk to your venue to see if certain times or dates are cheaper.

3. RSVPs

The catering bill will make up a significant portion of your budget, and while nobody wants to have too little food at an event, if you drastically overestimate attendance, you can get stuck with a major food bill and a lot of uneaten appetizers. Selling discounted tickets can encourage people to buy their tickets earlier and make it easier to get an accurate headcount, or you can request that people RSVP with their guests so that you can gauge attendance and plan your food options accordingly.

4. Read The Contracts Carefully

When we’re working with guests who are booking one of our venues, we always set aside time to sit down with them and go over the contract in detail. This way they understand what they are signing, there are no surprises, and guests can ask for clarification or get answers to any questions they may have before signing. Some contracts have added fees if all guests aren’t gone by a certain time or if you don’t clean up your decor quickly enough, so don’t go over budget because you get hit with a surprise bill when the event is over. We work with each client to ensure we help them stay within their budget by understanding the contract they are signing.

5. Streamline Everything

Finally, one great way to save money and ensure everything goes off as planned is to streamline as much of the event as possible. For example, at Entourage Events Group, not only do we help book amazing venues, but we have divisions within our group that can provide catering, decor, lighting, design, music and more. You’ll work with one group instead of trying to get one company to cater the event, another to provide the sound system and another to help decorate your event. Streamlining the process with a production company saves on costs and makes everything run smoothly.

So if you want help making sure you throw a wonderful event within budget, consider reaching out to the team at Entourage Events Group. For more information on what we can offer and how we can help you throw the perfect corporate event, give our team a call today at (612) 564-3777 or click here to schedule a tour online.