Quick start: two weeks to go

An event two weeks out with little booked, on one page: the brief in five lines, the count and the reply-by date, the food decision, the one booking that cannot wait, the run sheet's skeleton and the rain plan.

Two weeks is enough for a dinner at home or a party in a backyard, and short for anything that needs a hired room, a caterer, a tent or a permit. This page puts the work in the order that keeps options open: decide what the event is, find out the one booking that could close, get the invitations out, then build the day. Each step links the chapter that explains it. A reader with months to go can use the same steps, more slowly; The planning schedule spreads them out.

Today: the brief and the booking that cannot wait

1. Write the brief in five lines. The occasion and why; about how many; the date; where; the spending ceiling. Add the one thing that matters most and who decides if plans change. Write it on the brief sheet (The event brief).
2. Find the booking that could close. A hired room, a caterer, a tent, rentals or a permit: anything someone else has to say yes to. Call or write to it today and ask what is still possible and by when (deadlines that close options). If there is none, the invitations are the first deadline.
3. Check the place against the count. At home, count seats and walk the route from the door to a seat and the bathroom. In a hall, find the posted occupant load. Outdoors, ask the park or the host what the place holds and where people go if it rains (Venue and layout).

In the first three days: invitations and the food decision

1. Send the invitations with a reply-by date. Set the reply-by date a few days before your first supplier or shopping deadline. Ask about dietary and access needs on the invitation (Guests and invitations).
2. Decide who makes the food. Cooking yourself, a potluck, a caterer or restaurant, or a mix. With two weeks, a caterer may already be booked; ask before you assume (Feeding a crowd). For a dinner at home, choose a menu where only one dish needs the oven in the last hour (A dinner party).
3. Write the budget as a list. One line per cost, an estimate on each, a contingency line, and the deposits with their due dates (The budget).
4. Ask the rules question. Your lease or building rules at home; the venue's rules in a hall; the park's terms outdoors. A tent, a grill, alcohol for sale, a raffle or amplified sound each mean asking (Permits and insurance).

The week before: count, confirm, write the day

1. Count on the reply-by date. Count the yeses in people, call the no-replies, and decide your planning number on purpose (the planning number). Send the final count to the caterer or venue by its deadline.
2. Put a name on every job. Setup, food, drinks, the door, children if they come, cleanup. Yourself included. One person decides when you are busy (Volunteers and helpers).
3. Write the run sheet. The day by the clock from setup to cleanup, a name on each line, and a contact sheet with every phone number you might need (The run sheet).
4. Write the rain plan and three other what-ifs. For each: the sign, the moment you decide, who decides and what happens. Outdoors, name where people go if thunder is heard; a tent is not that place (The contingency plan).
5. Confirm every supplier. Time, address, contact, what they bring. Check the forecast.

The last two days and the day

1. Shop and prepare what keeps. For a meal you cook, write the cooking timeline backward from the time food goes on the table (the cooking timeline).
2. Pack the day-of kit. Printed run sheet and contacts, first aid kit, tape, markers, chargers, trash bags, a food thermometer (the kit list).
3. On the day, follow the run sheet and watch the food clock. Perishable food comes off the table after 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F (Food safety at a glance).
4. The day after. Returns, final payments, thanks to helpers, the actual costs, and three things to keep and three to change (the day after).