So, you've decided to host a Vision Board Party? Congratulations!
Vision Board parties are super fun & transformative parties where friends connect and chat about their goals while enjoying wines and cheeses. Then, they create a visual image of what they want their future to look like. #goalcrushingandhavingfun
I have been hosting Vision Board parties, potlucks, and conferences for the past four years (so I'm clearly a huge fan!). Deciding whether your event should be free or an event with paid tickets is a pretty easy decision to make.
Why Should You Charge A Fee?
I recommend charging people to attend your event when you've put a significant amount of energy into the planning stages of the event, and you've spent money to host it.
Things You Might Pay For
Our first vision board event was a huge production. We spent weeks putting together speakers, sponsors, decorating the space. There was a legit agenda and vendor tables. In this conference-style type of event, we paid a lot of money in advance.
Here's a list of things that you might have to pay for to host a vision board party.
Materials
The most important items you'll need for your vision board party are the materials used in making a vision board. That means that you'll need magazines, poster boards, glue and scissors for every person that attends your event.
Related Posts:
Speakers
Depending on how you'd like your event to flow, you might want to invite someone to speak at your event. I've done several of these events where I'll teach how to build a Vision Board, how to create a vision or best practices for goal setting.
Bringing in a speaker will require that you spend time researching influencers and leaders, pitching to have them to speak at your event and then coordinating their appearance with their team. Some speakers will require a fee to speak at your event - these fees should be accounted for in your ticket pricing.
Related Content: 5 Ways to Become a Vision Board Party Speaker
Space
If you're hosting a Vision Board party for 10 or more people, I would recommend getting a space that will accommodate a larger audience. You'll need a space for the food to be served and another space that will hold a larger group, sitting at tables.
Food/Drinks
When it comes to food and drinks, I recommend going with food options that aren't too messy. Since people will be making the Vision Boards during your event, make sure you choose foods that will not make your fingertips greasy. (In general, I'd stay away from buffalo chicken wings. They're tasty, but they do make it difficult to flip through magazines!)
Also, make sure you check with your event space. Some spaces do not permit red wine to be served at events. (It's incredibly difficult to clean up!)
Related: 9 Crowd-Pleasing (and Affordable) Wines You Need At Any Vision Board Party
Related: What Kind of Food Should You Have at Your Vision Board Party
Decor
At our first event, we purchased DIY photo booth printables from etsy and a few other inspirational messages to have around the room as decoration. You may want to have the decor match the theme of your Vision Board party. If you do buy event decor, then you can add the cost of that into your ticket price.
Pros and Cons to Charging A Fee
Pros
You have an opportunity to break even on your event (and maybe even make a profit)
The people who buy a ticket will actually show up. (When an event is free, only a small portion of the people who sign up will actually show up.)
You’ll have an accurate head count for food and drinks.
Cons
Less people will register for your event.
You have to create an event that is worth the price of admission.
How Much Should You Charge?
If your Vision Board party will be a larger production and you're spending a significant amount of time on it, you may be hoping to make a profit. Here's how to walk through your pricing your party.
Cover Your Expenses
At a minimum, you'll definitely want to cover your expenses. This will include everything I mentioned above (and anything else you end up buying for your event).
You may have been able to get cash sponsorship or some other type of donation (like the food or drinks). If you received any cash sponsorship, you can subtract this from your cost of expenses because this is money that you can spend on your event that's not coming directly out of your pocket.
You can create a simple, preliminary ticket price by just taking what you spent and dividing it by the total number of attendees you expect to have at your event.
Then Add Wiggle Room
Most of your event costs will come in those last few days leading up to your event. No matter how much advanced planning you did, there will always be something you forgot - or something you didn't know about.
When we hosted our first event, we ordered tables and chairs from an event rental place and a u-haul truck to carry everything around. When we arrived at the event renal place, they informed us that they were closed for the rest of the weekend and we'd have to wait until Monday to return the items. That means we had to pay for 2 extra days with the u-haul, an additional expense that we did not plan on.
Adding a multiple into your ticket pricing will also help to CYA in the event that ticket sales are low.
How To Make Sure The Experience is Worth The Cost
Depending on the ticket cost for attendees, you can dramatically raise the expectation for your event. (People will be expecting totally different experiences for a $15 and a $99 event.) No matter what you end up charging to attend, it's most important that you deliver on the attendees expectations.
Clear descriptions on what they will receive with their ticket purchase
When you're hosting a paid event, you have to convince people that they want to buy the ticket but you also want to make sure that they will receive exactly what they expect. You do this by mastering your event description.
Related Content: How to Nail Your Vision Board Party Invitation
Speakers with Credentials
Securing high visibility + influential speakers will increase the value of your event dramatically. People will definitely show up and be pleased with their experience if you have their favorite influencer in the building sharing goal setting gems for the New Year.
Related Content: How to Secure Excellent Speakers Part I
Related Content: How to Secure Excellent Speakers Part II
high quality food and drinks
Who doesn't love food? If you can provide finger foods and great beverages for attendees, they will be more than happy to pay a higher ticket price.
gift bags
Gift bags are always a nice touch to the end of an event. It gives attendees something to remember the event, even long after the Vision Board fun is over. If you have a higher priced event, it also helps to add more value to your attendees.
workshops/panels
Your event is only a success when your attendees feel they've reached their goals. Having guided workshops and speaker panels will give attendees more opportunities to learn, be inspired and get their questions answered before jumping into a brand New Year.
Related: How My First Vision Board Party Turned My life Around
How To Host A Vision Board Party For Free
While it's great to be able to make a profit, sometime you just want to rock out with your homegirls and talk about goals. Here's how you can get it done for free:
Crowdsource Everything
This means have your friends provide all the materials. Everyone can pretty easily bring their own boards, scissors, glue and a few magazines from home.
Make It A Potluck
You can have the event be potluck style where everyone brings both a dish and a bottle (of wine, alcohol, or whatever) to share.
(Side note: I always recommend asking potluck attendees to bring both a dish AND a drink. I hosted one event where I instructed to bring a bottle OR a dish and we ended up with 12 bottles of wine and no food. You may also want to specify to have the dishes be items that aren’t super messy. You don’t want to get greasy fingers or dip on your Vision Board!)
Host it at home (or a free space)
This takes away the cost of a space for your event. Just make sure whoever's home you're using is large enough to accommodate the whole group.
Whether you host a vision board party for your close friends or for a large group, they're guaranteed to be a ton of fun! Once you get people in a room together talking about their goals (with lots of wine) you're going to have a great time.
I’d love to hear how your party goes!
Want To Start Planning Your Vision Board Party?
Download the FREE vision board party planning checklist.
Craft your inspiring vision board workshop talk with our FREE High Impact Storytelling Journal Prompts.
Plan, promote & host your first (or next) professional & profitable vision board workshop with our signature course, Sold Out Vision Board Parties.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure for more info.
About the author
Cyrene is a fun and accomplished workshop facilitator, learning and development guru and Human Resources professional. Being at the helm of Thrive Lounge has been a long-time dream. Through vision board workshops she plans to accomplish two-way learning. Sharing her vast years of knowledge to motivate and encourage others; while simultaneously getting the reward of great energy, ideas and questions to ponder back from each group. A super win-win. Please join our Thrive Lounge community so you too can benefit!
