BUSINESS OF EVENTS
The Digital Mirage: How Social Media Can Warp Event Planning Expectations
By Meghan Ely S ocial media is arguably one of the best ways to grow your business, establish your brand, and connect with potential clients—you virtually (pun intended!) can’t go without it to run a successful event company. However, social media can also, in turn, work against event pros in the sense that it can spread misinformation and shape unrealistic expectations in the eyes of your target audience. Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok are all wonderful for exposure, but rarely do they show the full picture of budgets, vendor capabilities, and attainable aspirations versus those AI creates. Let’s start with common misconceptions The fact is that most event clients haven’t planned a large-scale celebration, and social media is where their knowledge often begins and ends. It can be great for crafting a general idea of their preferences, but their perception of getting from point A to B will likely be skewed. According to Brittany Branson of By Brittany Branson, a lot of the disconnect is due to budgeting. “I definitely believe the number one misconception is always about cost. There’s quite a disconnect between cost education directed at couples
verses the caliber of events these platforms promote. For example, so many major outlets continue to tell couples that the average wedding in the United States runs about $33,000. However, you’ll rarely see those same outlets share images from a wedding with that total cost, let alone take major differences in geography or regional culture into account. Understandably, it’s frustrating for couples, and that frustration is then re-directed at us event professionals.” Another big misconception is that every wedding or event is extravagant and over-the-top, when in reality, clients are just seeing the highlights on social media. Dominic Fournier of The Wedding Duo notes, “If a couple sees event highlights on social media, they might be misled into thinking their wedding is less than everyone else’s event. When the truth is, wedding professionals tend to capture every aspect of the big, beautiful, high- end weddings, and that’s what they post, but they probably do just as many weddings at the church hall, VFW, or local gym.” What happens when the budget and the vision don’t match So, let’s say a client has pulled inspiration from social media for their event but doesn’t necessarily have the budget or resources to achieve the vision. What can you do
Trends have come such a long way in the world of events, but understandably, they aren’t always communicated realistically on social media.
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SPECIAL EVENTS SPRING 2025
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