Project Management

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Collaboration and Communication in event planning

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Suzanne Meeker Process Design Consultant II| Bank of America Charlotte, Nc, United States
I just completed an 18 month long project, planning my son's wedding.  It was executed perfectly and both families are delighted.  I was definitely the PM and CFO for this effort.  I want to share all our great lessons so that others can avoid the typical stories we hear about wedding drama!  I believe our success really began during the initiation phase of the project and I am now working to align the entire journey to PMBOK principles.  I would love to hear any other event planning anecdotes and questions you might have, to ensure I build a useful story!.  
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Sergio Luis Conte Helping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based Organizations Buenos Aires, Argentina
I planned my wedding using PMI´s guidence. After that, for one of the trainings I delivered for years in some institutes and Universities, I create a full case of study to be solve as part of the training with it.
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FAIZA KHALIL MIS,Policy & Project Coordinator| SAMBA BANK Karachi, Sd, Pakistan

Congratulations on completing such a meaningful and well-executed project! Applying PMBOK principles to a personal event like a wedding is an excellent example of how structured project management can ensure success. I’d love to hear how you handled stakeholder expectations, scope changes, and budget control throughout the process—those are often the trickiest parts in event projects!
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Aaron Porter
Community Champion
IT Director| Blade HQ Payson, UT, United States
I was an event manager before I became a project manager and can appreciate the overlap between the activities. As you're aligning the journey to PMI's approach, pay attention to both the similarities and the differences. It's not a perfect match, and understanding those differences will be helpful for those in event management who want to transition into project management (I've known a few).

You probably can't overstate the need for effective risk management. Weather is a greater concern for events than for the majority of IT projects. Something will likely go wrong with the food, at some point, or you may run out of ice on a really hot day, so it's important to know of a store that can deliver what you may be missing. You also want to make sure your staff understands the food. For example, the white dust on the fancy hamburger buns is flour, not mold, and you don't need to throw away over 200 hamburger buns 30 minutes before it's time to start serving food.

Applying an iterative approach to events was not something that would have been effective on the events I managed, but there are agile principles that could have been applied. It's probably fair to say that there's a lot, in event management, that involves the application of what would be considered agile principles by an outsider.
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Syed Ashir Riaz
Community Champion
AI-Powered Social Media Strategist
That sounds like a wonderful project and a great example of PM skills in real life! From my experience, clear communication and defined roles are key in event planning, especially when emotions run high. Regular check-ins and transparent budgeting helped me keep everyone aligned and avoid misunderstandings. I’d love to read your lessons learned once you share your story!

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