r/EventPlanners

I’ve been curious about how AI is changing the event-planning world, beyond all the hype on social media.

For those who plan weddings, corporate events, birthday parties, or other events — are you actually using AI tools in your day-to-day work?

I’m particularly curious about a few things:

1. What do you use it for? Ideas and themes, budgets, vendor research, schedules, invitations, guest management, or something else?

2. Has it genuinely saved you time or made your work easier? Or does it create more work because you have to double-check everything?

3. Where does it fall short? Generic suggestions, inaccurate information, lack of creativity, or something AI just can’t handle?

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I work in the event industry and regularly attend exhibitions, conferences and other formal events where you meet a lot of people and exchange business cards.

The problem is that everyone gives out business cards, and even if the card itself is creative, they all eventually get mixed together.

I’m looking for a very small, lightweight thing that I can hand someone along with my business card — something that is inexpensive enough to carry in bulk, but distinctive enough that they might actually remember it later and think, “Oh yeah, I got this from that person at the event.”

Ideally, it should have some connection to the event/experiential industry, rather than being generic merchandise like pens or keychains.

I’ve thought about things like miniature VIP passes, event tickets, wristbands, NFC tokens, etc., but I’d love to hear more creative ideas.

What’s the most memorable small giveaway/business-card alternative you’ve ever received at an event? Or what would actually make you remember the person who gave it to you?

I plan a lot of "lowkey" events for a few different groups. Happy hours, family lunches, weekday networking events, bar birthday parties, etc. I'm noticing that in the past year or so, a lot of venues are trying to force wedding pricing on casual events. Even suburban, dingy biergartens and breweries are trying to enforce per head open bars and sit down, multi-course meal tiers, along with steep venue fees that don't come with anything. When I push back and re-explain that I want something more simple and explain my budget and needs, venues are increasingly unable to flex. Some of these venues that argued with me for months worth of events ended up shutting down due to lack of business, which is insane to me. They'd rather go out of business than allow planners to order simple packages like drink tickets and food platters, or even a beer/wine only open bar with attendees ordering more on their own tabs.

Is anyone else struggling with this is in their cities? How has your approach changed to work around this? Not every event has the budget for large fees, sit down meals, and open bar packages. I used to be able to secure semi-private side rooms with simple packages with ease but that's getting increasingly impossible.

How do you adhere acrylic letters to wooden backdrops? I’ve seen some acrylic letters come with 3M adhesive but I’ve heard that can be quite strong and difficult to remove. Do you typically use that or something else to apply the letters to the backdrop? Thanks!!