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Event Planning Guide
Writing Down How Your Business Runs
Master the core concepts of writing down how your business runs tailored specifically for the Event Planning industry.
💡 Core Concepts & Executive Briefing
Understanding Brain-Dumping and SOPs
In event planning, your value shows up in how smoothly things run—before guests arrive, during the event, and even when something goes wrong. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are the playbook that makes “smooth” repeatable.
Think of SOPs like the exact setup plan for a venue walkthrough, the step-by-step flow for check-in, or the script for handling a vendor no-show. You want every event to feel consistent to your client and manageable to your team—whether you’re there or not.
A strong goal is this: a new team member should be able to perform at about 80% quality on Day 1 just by following your SOPs. That doesn’t mean they’ll be perfect immediately. It means they won’t freeze, guess, or skip critical steps.
The Importance of Brain-Dumping
Brain-dumping is how you get your event knowledge out of your head and into something your team can use. If your best planning steps live only in your memory, your business growth hits a hard limit: your capacity.
Event planners accumulate a lot of “invisible” expertise:
- The order you contact vendors so you lock dates and pricing early
- How you verify load-in details with a venue
- What you do when the bar runs out of a signature drink request
- How you build a run-of-show that actually matches reality
If those details stay only with you, your team will rely on you for answers. When you’re booked on site, on a call with the venue, or out sick, operations become risky.
Brain-dumping captures the real work: what you check, what you confirm, what you never assume, and what you do when plans shift.
Creating Effective SOPs
Use a simple structure for every SOP. It keeps your documentation clear and repeatable.
1. Why: Start with why the task matters.
- Example: “Why this SIP (site information packet) prevents last-minute surprises.”
2. What: Detail the exact steps.
- Example: “What to verify with the venue 30 days out, 7 days out, and the day before.”
3. Outcome: Define what success looks like.
- Example: “Outcome = client and venue have confirmed times, entry rules, electrical needs, and final headcount method.”
In event planning, this outcome part is critical. “Done” is not a feeling—it’s observable. If your SOP says the seating chart is “final,” define what “final” means (format, due date, who approved it, what version is stored, and where it lives).
Organizing Your SOPs
SOPs should be stored in one place your team can find fast, even under pressure.
If your team needs to answer a guest issue during check-in, they cannot hunt through email chains or ask, “Where do we keep that?”
Create a centralized SOP location that works on mobile and desktop. Use folder labels that match how events work in your day-to-day:
- “Pre-Event” (intake, timeline building, vendor outreach)
- “Day-Of” (check-in, staging, audio setup, issue escalation)
- “Post-Event” (wrap-up, invoice collection, feedback forms)
A good SOP vault turns “I think we do it like…” into “We follow the SOP titled ___.”
The Loom-First Approach
Instead of writing long documents from scratch, use Loom to record yourself doing the real task. In event planning, many steps are visual:
- How you input vendor details into your event tracker
- How you format a run-of-show
- How you compare venue diagrams to your load-in plan
Record, then turn the Loom into a written SOP.
This makes your SOP easier to trust. People understand faster when they can watch you perform the workflow, not just read about it.
Building a Culture of Self-Reliance
The fastest teams aren’t the ones that ask the most questions. They’re the ones that consult the SOP vault first.
Train your team to follow a simple rule:
1) Check the SOP vault
2) If it doesn’t exist, add a “SOP request” note
3) Then ask you
When a team member asks, “What do we do if the caterer is late?” you want them to respond, “I’m going to open the ‘Caterer Late’ SOP first.”
Over time, this creates consistency across every event type you plan—corporate offsites, weddings, conferences, brand activations—because your team isn’t making up the process each time.
When you document the way you plan, verify, communicate, and execute, you stop being the single point of success. Your business runs even when you’re not physically in the room, and that’s what lets your event planning company scale safely.
⚠️ The Industry Trap
### The “I’ll Just Handle It” Trap
In event planning, it’s tempting to think, “I’ll just tell the team how to do it when we need it.” It feels efficient—until your next event overlaps with travel, a venue issue, or you’re on-site handling a guest problem.
Picture this: your assistant runs check-in for a wedding for the first time. You verbally explained the flow last week, but you mentioned it in pieces while juggling a vendor call and a client text. During the event, a guest arrives without the correct RSVP name, and the team can’t remember your escalation steps or how to confirm it with the spreadsheet.
Now your check-in line grows, your client is stressed, and vendors start asking why timing is slipping.
The dependency isn’t “the team.” It’s the missing SOP. Without written instructions, the entire event becomes fragile—because the plan lives in your head, not in the system.
In event planning, it’s tempting to think, “I’ll just tell the team how to do it when we need it.” It feels efficient—until your next event overlaps with travel, a venue issue, or you’re on-site handling a guest problem.
Picture this: your assistant runs check-in for a wedding for the first time. You verbally explained the flow last week, but you mentioned it in pieces while juggling a vendor call and a client text. During the event, a guest arrives without the correct RSVP name, and the team can’t remember your escalation steps or how to confirm it with the spreadsheet.
Now your check-in line grows, your client is stressed, and vendors start asking why timing is slipping.
The dependency isn’t “the team.” It’s the missing SOP. Without written instructions, the entire event becomes fragile—because the plan lives in your head, not in the system.
📊 The Core KPI
Core Event SOPs Stored: Document and store at least 12 core SOPs in your shared SOP vault. Count only SOPs that include: (1) step-by-step checklist, (2) owner contact/escalation path, and (3) a defined “final outcome” (what “done” means). Target: 12/12 completed before the next event kickoff.
🛑 The Bottleneck
### Execution Level: The Single-Thread Planner Bottleneck
Many event planning owners can’t delegate smoothly because key tasks aren’t documented. If your vendor outreach steps, seating chart finalization rules, or day-of escalation process exist only in your head, your team has to keep interrupting you.
Imagine you try to hand off “run-of-show updates.” Your coordinator asks questions every time the schedule changes: What version should we send? Who needs the updated timing? What if speeches run long? Without an SOP, you end up re-answering the same questions—and your calendar fills up with “quick clarifications.”
The bottleneck isn’t time. It’s unclear execution. Once the workflow is written down (and ideally captured with a Loom video), your coordinator can handle updates without freezing, and you can focus on client strategy and higher-impact work.
Many event planning owners can’t delegate smoothly because key tasks aren’t documented. If your vendor outreach steps, seating chart finalization rules, or day-of escalation process exist only in your head, your team has to keep interrupting you.
Imagine you try to hand off “run-of-show updates.” Your coordinator asks questions every time the schedule changes: What version should we send? Who needs the updated timing? What if speeches run long? Without an SOP, you end up re-answering the same questions—and your calendar fills up with “quick clarifications.”
The bottleneck isn’t time. It’s unclear execution. Once the workflow is written down (and ideally captured with a Loom video), your coordinator can handle updates without freezing, and you can focus on client strategy and higher-impact work.
✅ Action Items
### Steps to Implement SOPs
1. **Brain-dump your top 8 recurring event tasks.** Choose the ones that repeat every event (examples: intake call notes to contract checklist, venue confirmation checklist, vendor follow-up, seating chart lock-in, check-in setup, vendor contact list creation, run-of-show build, day-of issue escalation).
2. **Record a Loom walkthrough for each task.** Record you performing the real steps on your actual tools (your tracker, your templates, your spreadsheet). Aim for 10–20 minutes per Loom.
3. **Turn recordings into SOPs using a fixed template.** For each SOP, write: Why it matters, What to do (step order), and Outcome (what “done” looks like). Add the exact escalation contacts (venue manager, client lead, key vendor phone numbers).
4. **Create a single searchable SOP vault.** Use one place (Notion or Google Drive) and label folders by event phase: Pre-Event, Day-Of, Post-Event. Ensure each SOP has a clear title so someone can find it fast.
5. **Set the “SOP first” rule with your team.** In training and daily check-ins, require team members to check the SOP vault before asking you. Track SOP gaps and add them weekly after events.
6. **Do a 1-event “SOP dry run.”** Before the next event, run through the Day-Of SOP with your team for 20–30 minutes. Fix unclear steps immediately while the details are fresh.
1. **Brain-dump your top 8 recurring event tasks.** Choose the ones that repeat every event (examples: intake call notes to contract checklist, venue confirmation checklist, vendor follow-up, seating chart lock-in, check-in setup, vendor contact list creation, run-of-show build, day-of issue escalation).
2. **Record a Loom walkthrough for each task.** Record you performing the real steps on your actual tools (your tracker, your templates, your spreadsheet). Aim for 10–20 minutes per Loom.
3. **Turn recordings into SOPs using a fixed template.** For each SOP, write: Why it matters, What to do (step order), and Outcome (what “done” looks like). Add the exact escalation contacts (venue manager, client lead, key vendor phone numbers).
4. **Create a single searchable SOP vault.** Use one place (Notion or Google Drive) and label folders by event phase: Pre-Event, Day-Of, Post-Event. Ensure each SOP has a clear title so someone can find it fast.
5. **Set the “SOP first” rule with your team.** In training and daily check-ins, require team members to check the SOP vault before asking you. Track SOP gaps and add them weekly after events.
6. **Do a 1-event “SOP dry run.”** Before the next event, run through the Day-Of SOP with your team for 20–30 minutes. Fix unclear steps immediately while the details are fresh.
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