7 emotions every planner feels on event day

Event planning isn’t for the faint of heart.

While you want your dinners, galas, and fundraisers to appear effortless, there is a lot of effort that goes into them. And along with that, a lot of emotion.

When you’re trying to make everything perfect for your client or your guests, there’s bound to be a lot of stress and adrenaline. You’re also guaranteed to feel nearly all of these emotions.

1. Excitement

After working hard to plan your event down to the last detail, the excitement of seeing everything come together is the best way to start your day. As Alisha Garnier, Events Specialist for Grantham University, said:

“The morning of an event, I get so excited. The event is finally here and it’s time to have some fun!”

2. Anxiety

Of course, following quickly behind that excitement is generally a few twinges of anxiety. Even the smallest event has so many moving parts and requires your team to be at their best. And all it takes is one little hiccup to throw everything off. “The client is relying on you to make their event a success", says Cindy Ormond, Entertainment Coordinator at Ormond Entertainment. “They are investing their time and energy and faith in our abilities. When you’re devoted to your business, clients, and their events you begin to understand just how much responsibility we have, and that can be totally stress inducing!"

There’s also the anxiety of anticipation. “Regardless of the scale of the event, there’s a lull before the storm”, says April Sciacchitano, Co-Founder and Partner at Mix + Shine PR. “Your adrenaline is rushing, and you have nothing to do quite yet. It’s agonizing until it’s time to jump into action.”

3. Frustration

Let’s face it, something isn’t going to go as planned. No matter how thoroughly you comb over every detail, there are going to be some things you can’t foresee. When those bumps in the road come up, you’re going to get frustrated. And it’s usually the little things. “You get frustrated when the client calls in with last minute VIP guests once you’ve just tripled checked and printed the final guest list”, says Abigail Opiah, a publicist and PR strategist from New York City. But the next emotion makes all those frustrations easy to handle.

“The pressure to get the event right, on time, and to make it the best possible feeds that adrenaline rush."

4. Confidence

When you have a great team, you can feel confident that even with those little hiccups and diversions, you’ll produce a fantastic event. And the more events you do with a rock-solid team, the more reassured you’ll be of their abilities to handle whatever challenges might be thrown your way. “I’ve been producing events for more than 10 years, and that enables me to make decisions quickly and confidently”, says Rachel Tait, Senior Director of Client Services & Event Management at CDM Media. “I know I have the support of my senior team and I have full confidence that the correct calls are being made by each person.”

5. Relief

Once the event is underway and you’ve dealt with the hurdles, you can start to enjoy the fantastic dinner, party, or performance you’ve created. This is when you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and your adrenaline rush gives way to relief. “The pressure to get the event right, on time, and to make it the best possible feeds that adrenaline rush”, says Richard O’Malley, founder of The O’Malley Project. “Then, once it all goes according to plan, the relief is invigorating.”

6. Satisfaction

As the event is wrapping up, it’s time to take a minute and appreciate just how well everything went, and what a great job your team has done. “I take little moments to recognize and appreciate what my team and I have accomplished", says C. J. Legare, a freelance experiential marketing manager. “It’s so important to remember why you love what you do, especially when you’re in the thick of some bizarre shenanigans.”

7. Exhaustion

There’s no question that putting on a great event can wear you out! After being on high alert for several hours, not to mention all the work in previous weeks and months that has gone into making the production successful. It’s only natural to feel a rush of exhaustion once you’ve wrapped everything up. “By the time the event is finished, you’re now at or past exhaustion”, says Garnier.

“You just want to tear down as quickly and efficiently as possible, leave with a smile, and get ready to do it all over again tomorrow.”

Found out why event planners use zkipster to help them plan and deliver the world's best events.

Header image by Aranxa Esteve via Unsplash