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[Company name]

[Document title]
[Document subtitle]

Omer
[Date]
Table of Contents

Abstract..................................................................................................................................2

Logistical and Technical Challenges...................................................................................3

 Insurance, Licensing, and Contractual Obligations:.......................................................3

 Staff Briefing/Training and Event Production Schedules:.........................................4

 Event Design:...................................................................................................................4

Audience Profile and Target Markets.................................................................................5

Health and Safety/ Risk Assessment...................................................................................6

Financial Management, Funding and Budget Sheets........................................................7

Supplier Relationship Management and Managing Contractors....................................9

Framework for Sustainable Practices...............................................................................10

Balancing between Stakeholders.......................................................................................11

Managing Pricing................................................................................................................11

Meeting Changing Economic Environment.....................................................................12

Evaluation Strategy............................................................................................................12

Recommendations:..............................................................................................................14

References:...........................................................................................................................15
Abstract

The event management plan revolves around many important details and skills needed for an

event manager. The venue selected for this report is the Hilton York wedding venue. This report

discusses every detail of the event management plan, what needs to be done by the event

manager, and what is not necessary during carrying out such a wedding event at Hilton. Hilton

has been conducting weddings in small amounts but carrying out weddings extraordinarily. So

for an event manager, it is very important to look after all the details before carrying out an event

at such a reputable venue. Information about suppliers, vendors, wedding photographers, and all

the other important details should be understood by the event manager before the event in order

to decrease the chances of mishaps during or before/after the event. It also includes knowledge

about the relationship with stakeholders and supplier relationship management, both of which are

important for an event management plan.


Event Management Plan – Report on Operational Considerations
(Hilton York - Wedding Venue)

Logistical and Technical Challenges

 Insurance, Licensing, and Contractual Obligations:

In order to run a successful business of a wedding venue or hotel, licensing policy is very

important in order to maintain rules and validity of place. Wedding venues have liquor-related

permits, adult entertainment permits, commercial or public event permits, etc. (Eugene). Hilton

York is licensed under the LICENSING ACT 2003 - NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR THE

VARIATION OF A PREMISES LICENSE (Oxford Mail, 2019). For a successful event

management plan, it is important for an event manager to know about the licensing act and what

it says in order to keep the activities at a wedding under those limitations. However, any non-

obligation to the legislation will be heavily fined. The licensing act says that:

The hotel premises should be layout as described in the application of the notice.

Alcohol hours should not exceed from 8:00 to 2:00 daily.

Late-night refreshments should not be exceeded from 23:00 to 5:00 daily.

The contractual obligations should be worked on before. Hilton York has different contracts

with beverage companies, catering companies, food companies, decor companies, and other

important companies needed for a wedding event. For an event manager, it is important to know

their obligations and let them know about the hotel’s obligations in order to eradicate any

disturbance at the event.


 Staff Briefing/Training and Event Production Schedules:

For an event to become successful, venue staff and their roles in delivering the event should be

assigned on a prior basis. Hilton York has specific staff for specific events. For a wedding event,

there is a sales and marketing staff for attractive event bookings, operations staff for delivering

events, and food and beverages staff for handling the catering department. Hilton York has

positive staff reviews on the website TripAdvisor. The staff was very helpful and friendly and

the egg lady was great at making eggs (Olivia, 2021). Such reviews make a great repo for an

event. For a successful event management plan, the staff should be well cooperative and well-

structured in order to carry out their tasks. However, some catering services provide their own

waiters and staff to work in the food department. Hilton York has worked with a purple chili

catering company that has the best reviews from clients. There are different catering companies

available to be booked at Caterer.com (website: https://www.caterer.com/jobs/food

%20%26%20beverage%20assistant) with good reviews, so they can be booked by an event

manager for a wedding event at Hilton York.

 Event Design:

Event designing is a creative and yet the most crucial part of the wedding. Event designing is a

process of creating all that a client and the event designer have in mind and bringing it out

altogether (Elle Education, 2018). Hilton York focuses very much on its event design because it

carries 80% of the importance of an event. They contact the best wedding event designers and

bring the budget and concept of their clients to find the perfect designer. The UK Wedding Event

is the partner of Hilton York hotel for managing and organizing their weddings with 30 and more

wedding suppliers (The UK Wedding Event, 2018). As an event manager, the negotiations can
be done in order to bring the best of what the client wants and what is in the trend and also the

resources available.

Hilton York has different packages which include a discounted price if services are taken

altogether. These services include arrival on the red carpet, sparkling wine at the arrival of

guests; candelabra table centers, silver cake stand, personalized menu, discounted per night stays

and a facility of a gym for bride and groom proceeding with free 6 months membership. Hilton

York has also other exhibitors who work with their weddings in order to make their event

successful. These are: “Walkies down the aisle with Petsy” is a wedding add-on service that

includes a walk with a pet down the aisle for the bride. If a bride would like this for her wedding,

the event manager can contact and book them in advance. Moreover, the famous photographer

“Divine captures” has also done many wedding photoshoots in Hilton so the event manager can

book them if the client doesn’t have a personal preference. Event managers can also find

different bakers and book them for the event like Sweetilicious bakes the best items in the UK.

Audience Profile and Target Markets

Hilton’s target market or customers are divided into middle and elderly-aged professionals

who have high levels of earnings and belong to the upper class (Landman, 2019). This

demographic segmentation is for business people and business travelers. However, for wedding

venues, the target market should be engaged people aged from 30-60 because they will be the

most valuable clients for Hilton. Event management is planned according to the social class of

the client. So an event manager should plan things that a client can afford and desires for his

wedding. It also includes the employment status of the client. If a high-class client is coming to

Hilton for his wedding, the event manager will propose a package based on his budget and

interest. So event managers should keep an open eye and should hire marketing agencies in order
to promote their packages and venues to attract such people who would be nearly getting

married. Social media promotion can also be used by event managers to attract the audience and

their target markets.

Health and Safety/ Risk Assessment

To ensure the safety of the staff and guests, health and safety assessments are very important

to be incorporated into an event (Law, 2019). At Hilton York, there are certain assessments to be

looked after by an event manager. There are also health and safety legislations for Hilton York

wedding venues that event managers and companies should be aware of. For an event

management plan, it is important to understand the risk assessment, fire risk assessment, and

safety policy of Hilton York. The event management plan can also have a NEBOSH course

included in their risk assessment plan. NEBOSH is a UK-based managing risk assessment course

that helps employers to create a safe and healthy environment and also keep themselves ready to

carry out any risk assessment plan in the right way possible (NEBOSH). It also helps in

identifying what possible risks can take place during an event and what possible measurements

can be made on a prior basis in order to decrease the happening of that risk. Event managers

should also make their staff ready to provide first aid and food hygiene. Hilton York has also risk

assessment plans for situations like stage collapses, crowd crushes, natural disasters, etc.

(1) (2) (3) (4) 5) (6)


Activity / Hazards Persons Current Actions to be New Risk
Area of Identified at Risk Risk Taken to Minimize Factor
Concern Factor each Risk (high, medium
ie: what can ie: who (high, or low)
ie: what is cause harm? could be medium or ie: what action can you
harmed by low) take to lower the level of ie: risk factor after
taking place the hazard? action taken to
risk
as part of ie: determine minimize the risk
the event? the level of
risk
Entrance Physical Everyone Medium The parking area is 2 Low
/Parking injury present mints walk from the
area there hotel. During the
specially walk, the children
children were injured because
of other motion
vehicles. The hotel
has broaden their
parking lot to make
it much safer for
customers.
At wedding Understaffing Customers Medium Customers get really Low
venue causing chaos disappointed when
customer service is
not provided
sufficiently. Hotel
hired more staff for
better services and
less chaos.
Catering Food Customers Medium Food poisoning was Low
poisoning decreased by
checking the food
hygiene and tasting
the food before the
customers by a
special food team at
hotel.
Rooms near Noise Customers Medium The rooms are being Low
wedding organized in order to
venue make them noise
free. It is important
because people who
are resting in rooms
get disturbed a lot.
Hotel Safety/security Staff and Medium They have Low
of people customers introduced their
safety and security
policies in order to
keep their guests and
staff protected.
Financial Management, Funding and Budget Sheets

Event managers should provide the customers with budget sheets for the Hilton York wedding

venue. In order to make a budget sheet, the event manager should make a list of estimated and

actual prices of all the things in the wedding. This profit and loss budget sheet has been made

based on the data collected from the official website of weeding at Hilton York. The capacity of

guests at the wedding venue of Hilton has been collected by the website of the venue scanner

which shows that the Hilton wedding venue has a capacity of 20-150 guests (Venue Scanner).

The expense list can add more items like food, room stays, etc. but it depends on the wedding

planning and clients that either they want room for stays or not. The table is made just to show

how the P&L budget sheet is made. The event manager should do a deep analysis about what he

can add and what the client desires to be added and whatnot. This is how the event manager can

conclude the profit he will get and can decrease the chances of loss.

Total income
No. of Estim Act Pr Estim
Act
guests ated ual ice atedual
price
pric
e
Adults 150 100 $9. $1492. $995
95 5
Children 50 30 $9. $497.5 $298
95 .5
Total $1990 $129
3.5
Total expense
Entertain
ment
DJ and $300 $27
Disco 5
Children $55 $50
room
Own band $55 $50
Decorati
ons
Flowers $5 $3
Table $5 $3
cloth
Candelabr $25 $20
as
Total $445 $40
1

Estimated Actual
Total income $1990 $1293.5
Total expense $445 $401
Total profit (or loss) $1545 $892.5

Staff Training, Outsourcing Skills, and Services

The venue manager is responsible for the event-specific venue structure which includes the

division of staff in their respective departments. The event manager is also responsible for the

training of those staff members. For example, if a client wishes to be catered by some specific

catering company but that catering company doesn’t fit into their budget, the manager should be

able to either negotiate with the catering suppliers or provide any alternate supplier. Making

customer service better is the most important step to running a business. Businesses lose $75b

globally only because of their poor customer services (Nolan, 2018). The event management

plan should also include whether the client wants the table, counter, or buffet system at their

wedding. There should be a catering manager who should have the skill to help clients in

choosing a menu, recruiting the staff with organizational skills, and ensuring health and safety
regulations of the food. Hilton York should have a catering manager with leadership skills who

can lead a team timely in heavy shifts to deliver the food in an event timely. Moreover, the event

manager should also mention proper budget management to the client and the supplier.

Supplier Relationship Management and Managing Contractors

Before making an event management plan for a wedding, the event manager should know

about all the suppliers they have partnered with for their recent events. SRM increases the

performance of the event (Daniel). Hilton York has had many suppliers from the last few years.

For example, for external lighting, they have partnered with Sloanled (Hilton, 2022). They also

have exterior decorative supplier Avery Dennison. Supplier relationship management is very

beneficial for event managers. Event managers can have trust in expertise, budgeting, and

process effectiveness with suppliers who have already supplied them at previous events. Hilton

has an online application form for brands who want to become suppliers to Hilton. It has all the

policies of Hilton so that suppliers would know prior about their rules and regulations. For a

wedding venue, the event manager can show the work of their suppliers at Hilton and can ask the

client about the budget and what they think of their work. However, if not satisfied, the event

manager should hire other suppliers who are eligible with their previous suppliers in order to

maintain the reputation of their hotel, Hilton.

Framework for Sustainable Practices

Hilton has been using sustainable practices in their hotel and that’s why it’s easy for an event

manager to introduce such options to the client to adopt these. In the year 2019, Hilton York has

been using their award-winning light stay system to measure the environmental impacts on the

world. To make a wedding event at Hilton sustainable, the event manager should make use of all
the sustainable practices like reducing energy and carbon consumption by organic menu

selection, use of water dispensers, and reducing waste by introducing cleaning products like

reusable towels instead of tissues. Moreover, the thing which is wasted most at weddings is the

food. Event managers should make arrangements to stop food wastage by recycling it. In the

report, Hilton said that they are striving to reduce water and food waste by up to 50% by the year

2030 (ESG Report, 2020). For making a wedding event sustainable, the event manager should

ensure to use an ecofriendly menu, ecological cake, give suggestions to clients about a designer

who practices, eco-friendly wear, and use flowers from local shops in order to reduce the energy

consumption by the fuel for traveling.

Balancing between Stakeholders

Event managers should keep an open eye on the stakeholders and their effect on the event or

venue. In previous years, primary stakeholders like Covid have been affecting weddings at

Hilton very adversely. An event manager should plan a wedding keeping in mind how to balance

between stakeholders. For a Covid wedding at Hilton York, the event management plan should

include social distancing, allowing only limited people at the wedding venue, availability of hand

sanitizers, and reducing the time limit of the wedding in order to abide by the rules and keep a

balance. In order to balance between the stakeholders, an event manager should use a stakeholder

analysis.

By use of this analysis, event managers will be ahead of the game and will build a complete

understanding of how to carry out an event. Other stakeholders of Hilton include owners,

shareholders, employees, guests, and suppliers, etc. (Hilton, 2017). For example at a wedding
event at Hilton, if an important employee falls ill, the event manager should have planned ahead

of time an alternate employee for that job. This is how the balance is kept between the

stakeholders.

Managing Pricing

Event managers should use yield management in their event management plan. This type of

management says that in terms of high demand, high prices can be charged and in terms of low

demand low charges can be charged in order to attract customers. If event managers are

conducting good weddings at Hilton, their demand will increase and so they can charge more

because no matter what, customers will attract to them in any way. In this way, through yield

management, event managers can maximize the amount of money (Martijn, 2019). Moreover,

event managers at Hilton York can propose packages like early-bird discounts, first-come, first-

served basis and VIP packages, etc. This is done in an event management plan because people

usually get attracted to the discounted prices and strive to get them. This will increase the

number of customers and the profit earned. People in the UK usually prefer to get married in the

summers, from the month of May to October (Dine.co.UK, 2021). This is the time when

wedding event managers at Hilton York can increase the cost and ultimately increase their profit

due to high demand.

Meeting Changing Economic Environment

There are many factors that contribute to the changing economic environment. In the past

year, the Covid has been one of the factors of decreasing the economy of every country. In order

to cope with that decrease, event managers come up with different strategies to overcome the

loss they are facing. If revenue is less than cost, wedding event managers at Hilton can use
substitute suppliers for their clients who are less costly, keeping in mind the reputation of their

venue. For example, due to Covid, the seating arrangements were changed which required more

tables and chairs at the venue. In this scenario, a substitute brand that might be less costly can be

used to make it budget-friendly for the clients as well.

Evaluation Strategy

In order to deliver an event with full responsibility, and evaluation strategy is important for an

event manager. All the steps discussed above should be planned on a prior basis. Planning a

wedding at Hilton York is a huge task because it requires many small and a lot of detail from

floor décor to arrangement of guests and to choosing table cloth for the table. Event managers

require a team of managers from different departments to look after their respective departments

with full responsibility. Prior meetings with the client should be done so that every little detail of

the wedding can be exchanged between the client and the event manager. Moreover, prior food

testing should be done in order to satisfy the client in every way possible. Being ready for the

emergency situation to ensure the safety of people is also a major step in event management

plans (Nielsen, 2019). As an event manager, one can compare their current situation and learn

from previous experiences or can also learn from the competitors.

Clean and well-maintained main entrance Yes, it is very clean and properly organized.
Venue closeness to the road The wedding venue is a bit far from the main
road
Outside of venue properly lit Yes
Signage hung at the main entrance Yes there are sign boards at the entrance
Nearby landmarks Wall Trail, Clifford tower and multangular
tower are nearby landmarks of Hilton York
Visible Smoking area Hilton York doesn’t have a specified smoking
area
Seating Areas A proper seating area is available at the
wedding venue
Service Road There are service roads inside hotel for the
ease of traveling
Notable Eyesores No notable eyesores are present at the
location
Outside Gardens A beautiful garden is available outside the
wedding venue
Hall/Reception well-maintained Yes
Own staff stationed at the reception Yes, staff is present at reception 24/7
Restaurant well-maintained Yes
Toilets well-maintained Toilets are very clean and maintained
Staff well-presented Yes which includes a dress code for them as
well
Attentive Staff Staff is responsive and attentive to all
customers
Cashpoint/desk The service at desk is very quick
Cloakroom They have bars for customers to put their stuff
in

Recommendations:

In order to carry out a successful wedding event at Hilton York, the event manager should

know all the required skills to do so. Following are some of the recommendations that an event

manager should follow:

1. Understand the budget of the client and stick to it.

2. Creating a timeline for meeting with the clients and the suppliers/vendors.

3. Making a financial budgeting list for making an honest relationship with supplier and

client.

4. Keeping the team ready for emergency situations.

5. Choosing the particular details way before the actual event like food and catering.
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Available at: https://www.revfine.com/what-is-yield-management/.

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award-in-managing-risks/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2022].

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Olivia, H. (2021). Great location and staff - Review of Hilton York, York, England - Tripadvisor.
[online] www.tripadvisor.com. Available at:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186346-d192668-r806712730-
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