The Last-Minute Client: The Cant-Avoid-Party Agenda

Everyone hits some rough spots in the money area every now and then, but party planners take the biggest hit when an unusual party request comes along; namely, the last minute party help request.

The scenario

Your phone rings in the middle of the night and you struggle to make your voice seem normal. A friend or a friend of a friend is on the other line asking if you could help with the party next week. You say, ’sure’ because you figure that helping means doing dishes or arranging the table. Then, the client says “We haven’t started on anything yet, and it’s for 150 people.” Your world just turned upside down.

Money Matters

Firstly, you’re broke so that means you can’t put down payments on other party needs like table arrangers or decorators. You’d rather spend what little you have on the caterer. Secondly, a last minute party thing could mean that you and the client won’t have time to sit down and talk about the financial side, and arrange a suitable down payment for your services and other supplies. Also, the topnotch freelance employees could be fully booked and can’t clear their schedule for you, and you can’t even make it worth their while to drop everything for your party. one fast solution of course, is availing of a payday loan to tide you over and handle the more pressing money needs.

Improvise!

You can cut corners on decorations by doing them yourself. One trick that I got from Rachel Ray is the creative use of old things as table accents. Once you have several ideas in place, these will have to set the theme for your party, and there’s no turning back. A little dash of creativity goes a long way, like this centerpiece created for Rachel by Project Runway’s Daniel V. It’s just crystal glasses filled with old jewelry. It costs nothing and it looks wonderfully fabulous!