What do Event Planners do sef??

This is a question I have been asked so many times when I go for interviews or when people first meet me, especially parents. Till this moment, I usually don't have an answer! This is  because it's so easy when you attend a well coordinated wedding  or event to ask, "so, Ms. Planner, what did you do?", "What exactly am I paying for?" and  "Don’t you think you are expensive?". Haa! It is rather interesting that people  will trust you with the intimate details of their event,give you the responsibility of making sure the event goes flawlessly and then sometimes turn around to ask "what are we paying for sef?"

I was very happy to know when we had the first Events Planners meeting (see the APPOEM post)to know that I was not the only event planner who felt this way.

What do we do? Nothing really except the following:

 
•    Go for meetings on end, some last up to five hours or the whole day
•    Get home really late most weekends
•    Answer phone calls endlessly as it rings
•    When a bride and her family say jump, you usually ask how high and when!
•    Do a lot of thinking, our work is mostly cerebral, you have to think the process through and think of plan B, C ,D etc.
•    Manage situations you cannot predict - is the cameraman not coming, or the place catching fire, or the food arriving, or is it managing people?
•    Managing the relationship between the bride and groom
•    Managing the relationship between two families
•    Managing the bride and her in-laws
•    Managing the guests who want to sit where the bride and groom should? {The list is endless}
•    Downloading the bride's vision as she has it in her head, seeing what the bride is seeing, her colors, her perfect day, knowing that real life is never like that magazine shoot but trying to get it as close as possible
•    Ensuring that the budget is realistic and will be enough and making sure people prioritize properly - sometimes they place more priority on the day than the bride and groom.
•    Sometimes you might have people who will threaten and bully you but as you grow older in the business, you learn to stand on your NO!
•    Planning and managing an event with the Nigerian factor involved.
•    Making sure the client is not upset with you because a guest walked up to her and said she has not eaten- but she really just finished with the 6th plate of food!
•    Manage the fact that the MC is nowhere to be found or there is no diesel available for the back up generator.

Too many things to manage including your own blood pressure.The list is endless but  I do hope that you will be able to defend us  next time someone says " wetin planners dey do sef!". Not able to defend us?Please appreciate ;-). I would love from you about your experience with event planners- good and bad!

xx

Molly