Saturday 22 August 2015

Event Size: Do the Math

Planning for an event is like attempting to look into the future. If you could look into the future, you would be the best event planner around. Unfortunately, us mortals have to use math to figure out how many people are coming and what they will. The threat of not providing enough is an unhappy audience while the threat of providing too much is a lack of space and a rising production bill. Getting the event size estimate is one of the more important jobs.

The biggest thing to do is ask for RSVPs. Many reservations don’t have to be done through snail mail anymore. The first thing to do is enable yourself to be efficient with online or email RSVP. Make it convenient for everyone including yourself and get as many RSVPs as possible. Much of event planning is aided by apps and online tools. Use them!

RSVPs help, but sometimes you just can’t get people to check in. It happens! The common assumption is that only thirty percent of a crowd will RSVP. That means multiply the number of rsvp’d by 3.33 and you should have an estimate of actual attendees.

Napkins and drinks are smaller things that still need to be accounted for. Multiply your guests number by 10 to 15 and you will receive the number of napkins needed. It can be really amazing how many messes happen at events. Multiply the estimated number of guests by 3 in order to guess at drinks.

As an equation, we can use this:
Estimated Guests = RSVPs * 3.33
Estimated Napkins = Estimated Guests * 15
Estimated Drinks = Estimated Guests * 3

The final tip is to reduce the damage if you estimate too high or too low. Work with an experienced company who will provide any sort of chair or table rental in Los Angeles to meet your local needs. A company with experience can also give better estimates as no one has the real numbers.


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