Guess who’s back?! That’s right, yours truly! Sorry I’ve been MIA for the past couple months. Epic Events is in the midst of an EPIC event season, and all this event planning has got me slacking on my blogging…and sleep. So here’s the post you’ve all been waiting for! That is…if you read my last blog post. If you didn’t, shame on you.

So you’ve decided that you need an event planner, but how do you choose “the one”?

Just like when you’re searching for “Mr. /Ms. Right”, you need to meet your event planner face-to-face so you can find that “spark”. After you meet them, or better yet, while you’re meeting them, ask yourself these questions:

Do they seem organized? This may seem like a stupid question because it’s like “all event planners are organized, it’s their job…” In a perfect world, yes. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world; otherwise, I’d have Beyoncé’s body and would be married to John Stamos. Yup, John Stamos. There are event planners out there that just can’t seem to get their lives together. Some ways you can tell is if they are late to meetings, keep asking you the same question after you’ve already answered it 20 times, or take their sweet time responding to your emails, phone calls or texts. Always annoying with anyone, especially when you’re paying them…but we’ll talk more about that in a sec…

Are they well connected? Do they have good relationships with vendors and caterers in your city? The answer to this question could be the difference of a couple hundred dollars of expenses for you! If they aren’t well connected, it could also be a red flag that they are hard to work with…or maybe they have had their heart broken before and are afraid of commitment, or maybe “it’s not you, baby, it’s me”…Oops, got a little off track there.

Are they flexible? HA! See what I did there? 😉 But seriously, how available is this person to you? If you call and leave a voicemail, do they get back to you an hour later, or a week later? Do they work around your schedule, or do you have to change things to accommodate them? They should make you feel like you’re the only client that they have, even though you’re probably not (DISCLAIMER: if this is the case with that love interest, kick them to the curb ASAP).

Last but certainly not least, will this event planner give you a good Return on YOUR Investment? Are they worth what their fee is? If you feel like they aren’t doing very much work for the price they are charging, then move on! Just like when searching for that significant other, will they take out the trash and rub your feet after a long day at work? If not, then move on honey!

Bet you never realized how much event planning is like being in a relationship, huh? When it comes to your event, consider this the most important relationship you’ll have because, just like that little cutie you’ve been eyeing, if they don’t complement and enhance your life, they’re only going to cause stress and who the heck needs MORE stress when planning a party or falling in love?!? Until next time friends!