Why your day-of bag needs an upgrade
If you’re an event planner, you know that there is a whole list of items you might need on an event day. As a good planner, you try to be prepared for as many scenarios as possible, without showing up at your client’s event with a moving truck. Over the years, we’ve really honed in on what’s essential for us to do our jobs well. We also have expanded our day-of bags to include not only items to triage issues that might arise, but to make us more efficient and more cohesively branded.
When we first started Brilliant, we would bring a canvas bag to our events. It had all the basics - our timelines, a sewing kit, scissors, mints, stain removers, first aid items, and even headsets. It was organized and always had what we needed. And then the scope of our events grew and suddenly, our bag didn’t seem like it was working for us like it used to. So, we took inventory of everything and revamped our system. For example, the bag itself, a canvas one that was branded by the Knot, seemed good at first. We could wash it easily, it was wedding-y because of the brand, and it was big enough to hold everything we needed. Fast forward a couple of years and we realized it wasn’t the right choice for us. It wasn’t branded with OUR brand. It wasn’t inconspicuous and professional enough. As we soon learned, it also wasn’t nearly big enough to accommodate everything we now needed.
We gave it an upgrade and then we took aim at the bag’s contents. Sure, we kept the basics, but we also needed to make sure we could deal with more complex issues and look cohesive doing it. A couple of years ago, we designed shirts for our team to wear during setup. These go into our bags, along with any event-specific matching accessories. We’ve always used headsets as a means of communicating during events, but it’s just as important to make sure our team can be on the same page about floor plans, seating charts, and setup details. So, we went paperless. This means each planner on our team receives a tablet day-of. No more bulky, awkward paper timelines. We can make and see changes real time and everyone on our team is on the same page - always.
If it’s been awhile since you’ve really looked at the contents of your event day bag, we recommend taking inventory during this slower season and looking for places that you can make upgrades. Want to find out exactly what we keep in our bags? Get our guide to packing your own day-of bag in the boutique.