Eight weeks out: decide what the event is for
Write down, in one or two sentences, what the event has to achieve and for whom. "Thank our hundred best customers and introduce the new team" is a goal; "a nice evening" is not. The goal decides who is invited, how formal the invitation is, what happens in the room and what the report at the end must show.
At the same stage, settle the things that everything else depends on: the date, a realistic guest number, the budget and who owns the event. One named owner is worth more than a committee; the owner decides when two good options collide.
- Goal and audience in writing.
- Date, target number of guests, budget range.
- One owner, and who else is on the team with which job.
- What the report afterwards must answer.
Seven to six weeks: venue, suppliers and the guest list
Book the venue against the guest number, not the other way round, and ask the questions that cause trouble later: how many entrances, where the signal is weak, when you can get in to set up, when you must be out, what the catering minimum is. Confirm the suppliers you cannot replace at short notice — catering, sound and screens, photography.
Start the guest list now, while there is time to clean it. Gather every source into one working list, give each row a source, find duplicates and broken addresses, and decide the segments that will matter later at the door and in the report: VIP, press, partner, team, family. A guest list that is cleaned in the week of sending is a guest list that is cleaned by the invitations bouncing.
Five to four weeks: the invitation
Design the invitation and write it once the facts are fixed: date, start time, venue address, dress code if there is one, and the reply deadline. Every fact on the invitation should come from one place, so that a changed start time does not survive in an old draft. Decide what you need to ask in the reply — attendance, plus-ones, meal choice, allergies, sessions — and keep it short.
Send from a sender guests recognise, test the invitation on a phone before anyone else sees it, and send a save the date first if the event is far away or guests must travel.
- Facts fixed: date, time, address, dress code, reply deadline.
- Reply questions chosen; nothing asked that you will not use.
- Invitation tested on a phone and in two mail clients.
- A personal reply link for each guest rather than one shared form.
Four to two weeks: replies and reminders
Watch the replies as they come in and act on what they tell you. Bounced invitations need a second channel today, not on the day before. Guests who have not answered get one polite reminder after a week or so — only those who have not answered, never the whole list again. Plus-ones, meal choices and access needs go to the people who need them while there is time to act: the caterer, the venue, the seating plan.
Late additions arrive in this window. Check each new name against the people already invited before sending anything, so nobody receives two invitations.
The last week: the door and the programme
Close replies on the deadline and give the caterer final numbers with the margin you agreed. Publish the programme or agenda, and send a last reminder with the address, the time, how to get in and the guest’s personal entry code.
Prepare the door as seriously as the stage. Decide how many entrances, who stands at each, what devices they scan with, and what happens when someone is not on the list. Run a rehearsal with the actual phones or scanners at the venue, including the place where the signal drops. Brief the team on roles: who may add a guest, who handles VIPs, who calls the owner.
- Final numbers to catering; seating plan if there is one.
- Last reminder: time, address, entry, personal code.
- Door plan: entrances, staff, devices, walk-in policy.
- Rehearsal at the venue, offline included.
- Roles and a phone number for decisions on the night.
On the day: run the event, not the spreadsheet
Open the doors on time with the list loaded on every scanning device. Keep one person free of a fixed post to deal with exceptions — a guest who is not on the list, a name spelled differently, a plus-one who arrives alone. Record walk-ins and changes as they happen rather than on a notepad to be typed in later; the report is only as honest as the door.
During the event, keep guests informed through one channel they can open on their phone: the programme, room changes, polls or questions if you run them. Somebody on the team should be watching arrivals and the room, not only the stage.
The day after: follow-up and the report
Send a thank-you within a day or two while the evening is still remembered, and a different note to those who were invited and could not come. If you want feedback, ask for it in the same message and keep it to a question or two.
Then write the report the goal asked for. Invited, replied, accepted, attended, walk-ins, no-shows, by segment — and an honest note of what worked and what did not. Save the cleaned guest list with the attendance on it; it is the best starting point for the next event.
- Thank-you to attendees; a separate note to those who missed it.
- One or two feedback questions, no more.
- Attendance report by segment, compared with the replies.
- Lessons written down while they are fresh.
- The cleaned list kept for next time.