One important aspect of planning a live event is deciding whether you'll serve meal and refreshments 

If you're planning an all-day live event, will you provide a meal and refreshments, or send people off-site for lunch? For a residential event, will you host meals on-site? Even on a half-day event, do you intend to provide refreshments? Meals can eat up a substantial portion of your revenue, so consider your meal options when selecting a venue.

Refreshments during a Live Event

A typical live event might feature coffee when people arrive, a mid-morning break for refreshments, lunch and a mid-afternoon refreshment break. These refreshment options add up. If you're giving coffee to people three times during an event; morning, mid-morning and mid-afternoon; you'll need substantially more refreshments than by providing one simple refreshment break. Likewise, refreshments may also include things like assorted pastries, fruit and other snacks.

It's a good idea to serve some refreshments during an event. If people skip breakfast or don't have coffee in the morning, they might be losing focus and their attention could be drifting by mid-morning. By providing refreshments, you give people the sugar boost and the caffeine they need to stay awake and alert during the next segment of your event, as well as giving people a break and a chance to move around. These things all contribute to the overall alertness of your attendees, and this makes attendees overall more receptive to your message.

Meals during a Live Event

Meals during an event provide an even more complex dimension to your live event planning.

Will you provide a full-service, sit-down meal, or a buffet? Or will you simply give your attendees time to go off-site for lunch? If you include a meal in your event, you must make sure your selections are appropriate for the venue and event.

If you're serving a meal to upscale clients for a high-end coaching program, you don't want to provide a barbecue buffet. Conversely, if you're providing a basic personal development event, you may not want to spring for the full-service, elegant sit-down meal to match your event. Plan your meal options and menu to match your event.

Venues, Meals and Event Prices

If you serve meals or refreshments at your event, that directly impacts your event prices. These costs can substantially increase the price of your event, which you must then pass on to your target audience by charging a higher price for the event. If your audience expects a certain price point, you may need to eliminate meals to reach that price point. Conversely, if your audience is likely to expect meals and refreshment, you must raise your prices and charge accordingly.

Venues can help with your meal and refreshment planning for your live event. Some venues can provide meals and refreshments as part of booking the venue. This is typically based on a per-head cost, which is always negotiable. Find out how much the venue would charge; it may be less than you'd pay if you source refreshments and meals elsewhere.

Serving appropriate refreshments is an important part of live event planning. Think about whether your audience is likely to expect refreshments, and what you can afford to provide. Evaluate venues that offer refreshments and meals, because you may be able to decrease your overall cost and simultaneously manage the refreshments and meals through the venue directly.

Happy Planning!

About the Author

Bernadette Doyle is a marketing specialist who helps entrepreneurs become client magnets and attract a steady stream of their ideal clients. Visit her Event Money Machine Blog. You'll learn about an amazing new Telesummit. Tickets to this event are FREE - so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available. http://eventmoneymachineblog.com