How to charge for Event planning services ?

How to charge for event planning services ?

Today i am going to tell you about that how can you charge for your event planning services  ?
There can be various options by which we can charge from our clients. Five ways by which you can charge from your client .

1- Hourly Rate - 

Its exactly how it sounds , In this you fix up a certain amount that you should be comfortable charging each hour of work that you complete , you add upon the hours and you bill it to the client after the event .The amount charged must be decided on the basis of your experience in event industry , so if you are just starting up so i would suggest that approx 1500 -  2000 rs /hour is a good rate but as you get more experience you can add on your price . The some of the highest and biggest names in  event planning charge up to 50 - 60000 rs per hour and even more than that .

The best thing i like about this that there is clarity that your client need not to pay you further money its clearly mentioned that how much and how many hours you have put into the event its absolutely clear . The thing which i don't like about this is that you have to charge after the event , which sometimes becomes sticky and you don't want any discrepancy in hours work and how much work you put into event .

2-Flat Fee - 

Flat rate is the best rate charged , this one is my favorite and preferred.

Its grate because upfront  you can collect 50 % amount on signing the contract and the other 50% is charged two weeks before the event , in that case it means you have all the money that you have earned before the event .

But this is not appropriate because for new event planners and even others too sometimes client has fear of not having his event successful .

So what i suggest as a general rule  keeping all things about clients budget in mind , that you should take 15% amount at the time of booking , 35% two weeks before the event and  50% on the day of event completion .

Keeping the clients budget in mind .

3- Vendor Commission -

This one in not very common and i don't necessarily recommend you to use the benefit of vendor commission is that you don't have to charge the client very much or even sometimes nothing , what you are going to actually charge the vendors a commission that you book , suppose you hired a caterer for your client you have that catering company pay you for the services now the problem is this that lot of client think that you only pick those vendors who have commission for you .

So this one which is not recommended but in specific circumstances it can work .

4- Percentage of total event - 

Percentage of the event is some what related to flat fee but the difference is that in this you are going to get your money after the event . Now what can be little bit  problematic with this is that lot of client might think that you might be trying to exclate the prices and  not try to give them discounts  because you want to make the event money too high , but it can be a good option especially in corporate sectors .

 This generally works in corporate as event agency commission .

5- Day of coordinator - 

This option is getting more and more popular these days because its lot less expensive because a day of coordinator is nothing have to do with the actual booking of vendors , so you are basically being hired for a day of event .In this it don't mean that you just have to come in on the day of event and help setup everything , you are actually working on the project for 2 weeks or may be even up to a month because you will be the person who must be quite dealing with the vendors , event persons and making and executing the schedule of the day work , you are also the in charge for setting up to the event and till the date of its end till its breaking down and making sure that every thing runs as smoothly as possible weather that is hiring other people work underneath you or hindering anything that a normal event planner would handle on the day of event .

So a day of coordinator can charge an hourly rate as well as flat fee what ever you feel more comfortable , but still i think flat fee is usually the most transparent and the best rates that make your client and you comfortable on the amount fixed and agreed on before the event .

What you have to consider is that you are probably be working 8 to 10 may be 12 hours on the day of event but you also be working may be 2 weeks or a month while bringing up the event so u must consider every thing in mind before considering your flat fee .

Now all these options are definitely variable and we all use these all in different circumstances again my favorite is flat fee but as i do more over corporate work so i have to use percentage of event .

I have even worked in few weddings as a day of coordinator .

Things to remember while you are charging your fee are -

1- Type of events -

Social events like wedding planning , event planning for birthday parties or retirement parties 

Corporate events can be charged 30 % more and this is an industry standard that every body is ok with it .

2- Location - 

If you live in a metro / major city you can charge a higher price whereas in small towns usually event planning services get much lower price .So the location of your event execution matters a lot .

3- Experience -

You want to start with the number which you feel comfortable getting but you also have to know that if don't have much experience every event that you book helps you to gain experience and build you client relationship so that you can book more work .

If u start with a small number you can always grow and the more experience you have the better and better can be your price tag .

I hope the above information may be fruitful for you in your future work .