12 mistakes when planning an event
From a budget with no cushion to photos scattered across 40 phones, with what to do weeks ahead so it doesn't happen.
Guide · by Brinddi · 4 min read · July 2026
- Add a 15% to 20% cushion to the budget, on a separate line you only touch in an emergency.
- Have a plan B booked for the venue, the weather, the food and the music. If it's only in your head, it doesn't count.
- Build a timeline in blocks with 15-minute buffers, and hand off areas to specific people by name.
- Taste the food before you sign, and schedule photos during golden hour, in their own block.
- Decide ahead of time how you'll collect the photos and videos from all your guests.
If you only have time for 3 of these 12, make it the 15% to 20% budget cushion, a booked plan B and 15 minutes of margin between the blocks in your timeline. When those fail, they drag the rest down.
They apply just the same to a 150-person wedding, a quinceañera, a twelve-guest birthday or a company event.
1. Budgeting with no cushion
It gets calculated on what things should cost. Then come the tips, the vendor's transport, the venue's overtime hour and the taxes that weren't in the quote.
Add 15% to 20% to the estimated budget, on a separate line called "contingency" that you only touch in an emergency. Ask for quotes with taxes included, and ask in writing what they don't include.
2. No plan B
All it takes is a vendor who cancels 2 days before, or a power outage at 9 at night.
Write down an alternative for the 4 things that fail most: the venue, the food, the music and the weather. If the event is outdoors, have a tent or a backup room confirmed. Plan B has to be booked, or at least discussed with someone who'll pick up the phone that day.
3. Impossible schedules
Ceremony at 5:00 PM, photos at 5:45 and dinner at 6:00. Tight timing falls like dominoes, and by 10:00 PM the night is 40 minutes behind and the DJ can't figure out why nobody's dancing.
Build the timeline in blocks, with 15 minutes of margin between each big moment, and send it in writing to every vendor. One person, a relative or your coordinator, makes sure the clock keeps moving.
4. Doing it all yourself
Host, coordinator, treasurer and photographer are 4 jobs. If you do them all, you spend your own event with your phone in your hand while everyone else dances.
Hand off areas before the day. One person greets the vendors and another handles payments and tips. Write it on a sheet with names and phone numbers, and pass it around.
5. Forgetting about guest comfort
What people remember is standing for 2 hours without finding a seat, or 20 minutes in line for the restroom.
Walk the venue as if you were a guest. Is there shade? Are there spare chairs? Is there water at all hours? Is it clear how to get in and where the restroom is?
6. Not tasting the food
Hiring a caterer based on their social media photos is a gamble. Ask for a tasting before you sign.
Confirm portions per person, options for vegetarians, people with allergies and kids, and how they keep the food hot. One server for every 10 to 15 guests is a good benchmark.
7. Photos at the wrong time
If group photos happen in the middle of the event, you have to pull people off the dance floor. At 3 in the afternoon, in direct sun, they come out with harsh shadows on everyone's faces.
Schedule the formal photos in their own block and, if they're outdoors, during golden hour, the last hour before sunset. Give the photographer the list of shots and groups of people you want.
8. Underestimating how long things take
Setting up the venue and welcoming 150 guests takes longer than it looks. Multiply every time by 1.5. Ask each vendor how long they need to set up and tear down, and confirm the venue's hours allow it without an extra charge.
9. An open guest list
"Invite whoever you want" blows up any budget, because without a confirmed number you can't lock in food, chairs or space.
Set a maximum number from the start. Send the invitations with an RSVP deadline and follow up with anyone who doesn't answer. Usually 10% to 15% say yes and don't show.
10. Untested sound
A speech nobody can hear, or a dinner with the music so loud nobody can talk.
Make sure there's a microphone for the speeches, and do a sound check before people arrive. Agree with the DJ or band on the volume for each moment: around 70 decibels at dinner and 90 to 95 at the peak.
11. Not deciding where the photos will end up
The next day, the best photos are scattered across 40 phones, and 3 days later nobody remembers to send them.
Before the event, decide on a single place for everyone's photos and videos. If getting there takes more than one step, almost nobody uses it. Announce it during the night, while people still have their phones in hand.
12. Signing blind
Every vendor signs a contract with the date, time, what's included, the cancellation policy and the amounts. Keep the receipt for every payment, and set the tip budget ahead of time.
