des moines, iowa and beyond

workflow & systems strategist

Coffee Dates | What is an Event Book & Why You Should Use Them

Business

There are so many things that go into executing a wedding day. All of the details, contacts, contracts, special notes, timelines, checklists and other miscellany have to be corralled somewhere. How else does a team of wedding professionals and planners make your day happen on the actual day? This dilemma was one of my most frustrating things to figure out when I first started HHE. Enter, my Event Book.

Sharing the timeline with our vendor teams and bridal party is where I started. When it was me and Adam or my mother in law executing, we talked about everything in the weeks before and we just knew everything in our heads. Then it came time to bring on others and train people that weren’t in my world all day, meeting my couples ahead of time and that I would have to trust to do things without me by their side. Not to mention, I was booking larger weddings with more details and more in a season. It was getting hard for me to remember every minute detail. It was time I found a solution.

I started making lists and gathering everything together in one file that I dubbed the Event Book. It is a catch all and very organized collection of every detail necessary to execute a wedding day. It is a companion to my Design Books, which will be a post at a later date. While contracts need to be accessible, we store those on HoneyBook for easy mobile access. Any special notes are in the event book. I do know some planners that prefer to have them all printed and on hand, but I rarely have need for them on the actual day, so I keep them digital. Must have inclusions in the book are:

  • Vendor contacts
  • Bridal party contacts
  • Layouts
  • Timeline
  • Ceremony, Cocktail Hour, Reception design details
  • Photo lists – must haves, family photos, etc.
  • Checklists – details to style, design items, items to return, etc.
  • Team tasks
  • Exit Plan

The other bonus to this is that my clients sign off on everything at least three weeks before the wedding. This is a twofold intention. It allows my couples to know we have everything sorted so they can relax. It also allows me to send the full book to my team for each wedding prior to our team meeting. On the day of, it is absolutely vital to us to all be working from the same information. It helps us run they day independent of each other and be consistent in communications with vendors, guests and our couples. I cannot imagine a wedding day without the Event Book.

What organizational tools do you use on wedding days? What has helped your day of execution teams run the day more smoothly?

xoxo, Jenn

 

images via SC Stock Shop and Everlasting Love Photography

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