8 Things Clients Should Prepare Before Hiring a Corporate Event Planner
Category: Business | Author: aliana | Published: September 23, 2025
Hiring corporate event planners is a significant step in making sure that everything goes as expected. Since events don’t happen too often, people working in companies have their own daily tasks, which is why assigning in-house planners can be risky, especially if they don’t have prior experience.
On the other hand, hiring a corporate event planner can also be overwhelming, especially since you’re going to trust an entire corporate event to a person or a team. But just like hiring other third-party businesses, there’s a right way to find the best one.
In this article, we’ll provide a list of things you should consider before hiring corporate event planners.
1. Define Your Event Goals
One of the things you should keep in mind before hiring a corporate event planner is to define the event goals. Whether you’re hosting a seminar, product launch, or team-building, knowing the goals of the event is essential, especially since you need to relay them to the event planner. If the event planner knows all the information about the event, they can easily plan and execute it.
When defining the event goals, you can ask yourself some specific questions. Some of these include, “What should this event accomplish?”, and Who are the stakeholders?”.
2. Set a Realistic Budget
Corporate events won’t become successful without the right budget. So, even before you start looking for an event planner, you should have already set a realistic budget. With this, it’s easier to assign the breakdown. And once you do, you should be transparent about it.
Once you inform the event planner about the budget, they can come up with a workable plan. In addition, if there are specific things that are way past your perceived amount, you can make compromises as early as possible.
3. Choose a Date and Timeline
If the actual event date isn’t finalised yet, you can at least inform the event planner about the target month. That way, they can create a timeline that works within the month you’ve mentioned.
In addition, once the timeline has been created, you should be the one to confirm whether it works. Of course, you can ask the event planner to present or explain why the timeline becomes the way it is, but if there are certain changes needed, inform them about it.
4. Finalise the Guest List
Your guest list can also have a significant impact on the overall planning of the event. It includes the entertainment, mode or presentation (if applicable), food, seating arrangements, and design layouts.
For instance, if there is a specific age group, like 22-35, the event planner can decide on arrangements that the guests in this age group can enjoy. Besides, if they don’t consider the guests, it can ruin the entire event if it’s just about the mood of the guests.
5. Decide on the Location and Venue Preferences
The idea about how the event will look is based on how the client perceived it. One factor that can ensure that the event looks the way it should is the venue. So, if you have an ideal type of venue or location in mind, don’t hesitate to inform the event planner about it.
Meanwhile, it can be easier to create a venue preference in mind if every element has an objective. For instance, if you need a ballroom, it can be because there’s a part of the programme where there will be dancing.
6. Outline the Event Programme
Even if the rough draft of the event programme is enough to show the event planner the gist or flow of the event. You don’t need to specify the time and activity. For instance, you may include entertainment even if the specific type of entertainment for the event is yet to be finalised.
As the event date approaches, you can update the event planner about the specifics of each activity included in the programme. This can help them arrange the logistics and vendors needed for the event.
7. Highlight Branding and Theme Ideas
Every brand ensures that corporate events are an extension of its brand identity. Whether it’s about the colours, style, and theme, the guests should be able to identify the branding of the company once they enter the venue.
Although it seems complicated, corporate event planners are usually familiar with how branding works in corporate events. However, you should still come up with some suggestions or in
8. Clarify Special Requirements
Do you have a specific request? Listing them in advance can significantly help the event planners arrange a better plan and execution. On the other hand, if you inform them about these requests at the last minute of preparations, you might encounter some problems on the event day.
Final Thoughts
Hiring corporate event planners can be one of the easiest parts of event planning. Although it can be difficult to find a compatible planner, you just need to allot some resources to do so. However, you should first prepare the things needed before finding the right event planner, so that things can go smoothly, and so that the event planner can assess whether they can fulfil your requests.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aliana Baraquio is a content writer for Pink Caviar Events Sydney, a full-service event management and decorative hire company located in Sydney. When she\'s not typing out blog posts, you can find her watching anime series or baking cupcakes.