What most often breaks my heart when I head out and DJ at
someone’s 18th or 21st is when someone goes to so much effort and
expense to put on a party on such a special day and then far less people turn
up than expected. The poor host is so upset – they have put so much energy, so
much emotion into the day and then for one reason or another their guests just
don’t show up.
So here are my tips on making sure this doesn’t happen to
you!
It’s all about the invitation process!
When I really want people to come to a party I’m organising
I try to invite people well in advance and figure out as many reasons and ways
as possible to invite people.
Here’s all the different ways that you can let people know
that the party is coming up, in the order that I usually do them, starting
about 3 months before the party:
Make sure the key
people can come before you set the date
Make a short list of the people that you really want to be
there and speak to them all individually to find out what days work best for
them, and make the party on a day when all or most of them can come. If you let
these special people know that you wont be having the party at all unless they
can definitely come, they will understand how important it is to you that they
are there!
Find out peoples address details
Call them up and say “Hey I’m having a party on such and
such a date and I want to post you an invitation – what’s your address and
email? This way you have already sort of invited them!
Send them a save the date email
I usually send a save the date email out to let people know
when the party is on. Just something very simple that says: Hey, this is the
date and time. Stick it in your diary – more amazing details to follow soon!
Post them a formal invitation
A lot of people don’t do this any more – they just email or
hand deliver the invitations. I like to post an invitation with a formal RSVP
request. I think it lets people know that you really want them to come and that
it’s a big deal. It also means you can:
Follow them up by phone
If you send a formal invitation you then have the excuse of
following up by phone. I do this for everyone, even the people who say yes. I
call the yeses to thank them for coming in advance and to ask them if they need
any more info. This adds a personal tough and makes it clear that if they don’t
come you will be disappointed. I call the no replies and ask them if they got
the invitation. I call the no’s and thank them for letting me know.
Make a facebook event
If you haven’t done the other things then a facebook event
probably wont cause people to come, but if you have done the other things then
you will find people will use the page to chat to each other about the event.
Please don’t just make a facebook event and skip the other more personal
invitation steps. It’s a recipe for disaster in my experience!
Interact on the
facebook event daily
What makes a facebook event page worthwhile is not the
information, it’s the interaction, so put up questions about what people would
like to do on the day, if they have any questions etc and then interact with
what people say each day or put up some new information or questions – this
will engage people in the party day to day.
SMS and facebook message the day before to finalise
numbers
This is a great way to remind stragglers or forgetful people
about the event without seeming desperate – just text and facebook message to
say “Hey, just double checking that you are still in for tomorrow night so we
can get the drinks, food, (or whatever) right. Let me know!”.
If you do all of these things then in my experience a lot
more people will come.
Above all, don’t decide on how big your party will be until
you have firm RSVPs back for your guests – be realistic – if only 10 people
are keen don’t stress, just book in for a dinner at your favourite restaurant
with the 10 people who really love you – you will have a great time with the
people who truly matter. And if you find out that way more people want to come
than expected, then you will be able to manage peoples expectations and try to
fit the night to your budget so that everyone can have a good time!
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