Event planning is one of the best ways to test your time management and managerial skills. Planning an event is very exciting but it can be a tad stressful. It doesn't matter the type of event you're planning whether it's a wedding, a birthday or a product launch, the stress of making it perfect for you and the host of the event can be a lot to handle. From time management, managing vendors and staying within budget, you need a certain level of skill to make an event work. What about planning a great event on a limited budget? It is possible but it requires you to apply some strategies and techniques to make the event great. Staying within a limited budget is the key to planning a great event. 

Event budgeting is basically a forecast of your expenses for the event and the income you will generate from the event. Not all events will generate you an income (weddings for example), but some other events like a book launch will surely bring in money. It is important to adjust the estimates, review and update this budget throughout the event planning process and make sure every expenditure is within the set down budget.

Some events are planned with a bigger budget than others. Some believe that an event that's supported with an unlimited amount of funds usually turn out better than events with a limited budget, although that seems to be true, it isn't always the case. Events with smaller budgets can sometimes turn out to be great if you know how to go about it.

In this article, we will tell you some tips to use if you want to plan a great event on a tight budget.

Tips for planning a great event on a limited budget

Planning a good event on a limited budget requires good managerial and event planning skills, it also means you'll have to tweak and apply some little tips to make the event come out great even if the budget isn't big enough.

• Train and use volunteers

As an event manager, one of the wisest decisions you'll make will be to invest in an internship or volunteer program where you train people on how to become good event managers. This way you'll get extra skilled manpower you can rely on whenever you have a project, so you won't spend too much money employing skilled help for your event. Interns and volunteers are always looking for opportunities like this to sharpen their event planning skills so it is basically a win-win situation 

• Consider location and transportation cost

When planning an event and the budget is limited you have to consider the location of the event and the cost of transportation to that location. Do you want people to travel to your event? can you hold it somewhere close by and more accessible to people? The further the location of the event the more money you'll spend on transporting some top guests to the event which automatically cuts deep into the budget. 

However, this depends on the type of event you’re organizing and the kind of attendance you're expecting. But whatever the case may be, planning your events in a more accessible location will help you save more on the transportation cost and keep your expenditures within the budget.

• Consider costs for food and beverage

Unless you're planning a culinary event, an eating competition or you just want to stuff your attendees with enough food to fill them for the whole day, spending too much on food isn't a good way to work around a limited budget.

You can provide a good catering service but it doesn't need to be too much or too fancy, most people come for an event for the content and not necessarily the food (this is subjective though). You can become creative with the catering and promote healthy food which adds value to them and reduces your budget on food. 

• Keep track of everything

As an experienced event manager, you should know how the small expenses can add up to become a huge expense. If you're planning an event on a limited budget and you hope it turns out just as good as an event planned with a large budget, make sure you keep track of the little spendings. Make sure you're very much aware of any hidden costs or charges, anything that adds an extra dollar to the cost of your expenses should be avoided like a plague, that's the key to planning a great event on a budget.

You can always make your events turn out as good as the client wants it without going beyond their budget, it depends on your professionalism, experience, and expertise. The budget set aside for the event doesn't matter, what really matters is you and how good you are at working around it.