Event Budget

One of the initial steps in producing your event is creating a budget that includes all your anticipated expenses. This can often have an impact on the number of guests who will be invited as well as the type of event.  Although food is often the biggest cost of an event budget, your hospitality or audiovisual requirements may be larger, depending on the nature of the event and number of guests.

A typical event budget should include items such as:

• Accommodations for out-of-town guests
• Audiovisual equipment – rental and labor
• Automobile rental
• Awards and gifts – such as flowers, photo albums, or video and photo reproduction
• Centerpieces and other decoration
• Entertainment
• Food – as well as linens, paper products or china rental
• Furniture rental – tables, chairs and/or a podium
• Guest Transportation
• Invitations – designing and printing
• Lighting equipment – rental and labor
• Liquor/Bartender
• Musicians
• Parking
• Photography
• Postage
• Printing – menu cards and nametags
• Publicity – flyers, posters or newspaper ads
• Signs
• Sound equipment – rental and labor
• Speaker’s fees
• Supplies
• Videography

Ideas for reducing your costs:

• Centerpieces add a nice touch but can be costly. Try to come up with alternatives such as purchasing small plants and decorating them with ribbon.
• Solicit volunteers to perform tasks such as greeting attendees to avoid paying high staff costs.
• Depending on the nature of the event, try asking for donations prior to, during and after the event.
• If you are serving alcohol, keep in mind that the cost of an open bar will be much greater than serving only beer and wine.
• Discuss your options with the caterer. For example, a staff-served, five-course meal will usually cost more than a self-serve buffet, and seafood will usually cost more than a chicken dish.

STATE MONEY — When working on the budget keep in mind that there are limitations on what items/services can be purchased with state (E&G) and vending money. See the fund source expenditure guidelines for a complete list of how state (E&G) and vending money can be spent.