Event planning checklist for Spain

Most problems at parties and weddings in Spain do not come from a small budget. They come from doing things in the wrong order: the venue is booked first, and only later does anyone learn that it has a volume limit and no spare power. This event planning checklist puts the steps in the order that avoids that, from six months out to the day itself.

Event planning checklist: 6 to 4 months before

This is the stage where the decisions that shape everything else are made. Keep the list short and do not pay any deposit yet.

• Fix the guest count, because venue size, equipment power, line-up and budget all follow from it;
• Pick a date with the local calendar in mind: Hogueras in June in Alicante, Fallas in March in Valencia, the August Feria in Málaga and the spring Fiestas de Primavera in Murcia;
• Draft a rough budget and keep about a tenth in reserve;
• Start looking at venues, but hold back on the deposit.

4 to 3 months before: check the venue, then book it

Once the shortlist exists, ask the venue the questions that decide whether live music can work there.

• How much spare electrical power is there;
• Is there a volume limit, and until what hour;
• From what time can the space be used for set-up;
• How does a vehicle with equipment get in;
• What is the plan if it rains.

Book the venue only after those answers, and work out what equipment that room needs: sound and lighting, plus a stage or screen if you need them. This is also the moment to book the photographer and videographer, and to choose the shape of the music: a solo violinist for the ceremony, a duo for dinner and a full band for the dancing.

2 months before: food, decor and guests

• Agree the menu and catering and, above all, the serving times, because they decide the music timing;
• Book decor and flowers;
• Arrange hotels and transfers, especially if some guests fly in from abroad;
• Send the invitations;
• Find a presenter if you expect more than thirty guests (ours work in Ukrainian and Russian, and in Spanish on request; not in English).

1 month before: build the evening timeline

• Write the timeline of the evening together with the presenter, the musicians and the venue, so the hot course does not arrive in the middle of the first dance;
• Agree the playlist: the must-play songs, the exit song and what must never be played;
• Confirm the final guest count;
• Check the rain plan, whether that is a canopy, a tent or a spare room;
• Introduce the musicians to the photographer, so the stage lighting does not spoil the pictures.

The last week and the day itself

In the final week, send the video greetings and photos for the screen, because nobody can edit them in on the day. Confirm the crew arrival time with the venue, send the final timeline to everyone, write down who is giving a speech and in what order, and put every supplier into one chat.

If the earlier steps are done, the day itself is for celebrating. The technical crew arrives early, sets up and does the soundcheck before the guests come in. What you should not be doing that day: sorting out power, looking for extension leads, negotiating the finishing time or building the screen content.

Common mistakes when planning an event in Spain

• Booking the venue before checking its technical conditions, then finding that a full band cannot play there;
• Leaving music and equipment out of the budget until after the venue deposit;
• Not checking the timing with the kitchen, so service and music clash all evening;
• Bringing the video greeting on the day, on a memory stick, in vertical format;
• Having no plan for rain;
• Letting the suppliers meet for the first time at the venue.

An old finca or a villa often cannot take a full kit, and a hotel or a residential area may force the programme to stop earlier than planned. Both are easy to avoid when asked in advance.

How far can the team travel: a line on your checklist

Our base is Alicante, so one checklist line is whether the musicians and equipment can reach you. If the date is in Torrevieja (50 km) or Calpe (65 km), or in Elche or Benidorm, travel hardly affects the quote.

Tick “normal working trip” for Valencia (180 km), Cartagena (110 km) and Murcia (80 km); Jávea and Denia are 90 km each. For Barcelona and Marbella, both 530 km away, Madrid at 420 km and Málaga at 500 km, add a separate item: an overnight stay for the crew, with the van loaded the day before. The full list is on the cities page. Beyond that list we also go to other parts of Spain and to the south of France, within roughly 700 km of Alicante.

Who handles what: our items and yours

Some items can be handed to us and some stay with you.

With us: choosing a line-up to suit the format and the venue; finding out the venue’s technical conditions; all equipment and set-up; the soundcheck while the guests are not there yet; a sound engineer for the whole event; timing control; and taking everything down afterwards. If power is short, we bring a generator. If a big vehicle cannot get in, we use a smaller one over several trips.

With you: booking the venue and agreeing our arrival with it, catering and the menu, the photographer, the list of must-play songs and the video material for the screen. Decor and filming can also come through us, via partner contractors. The venue contract is yours; we only suggest what to ask.

Ordering music and equipment in practice

1. You send the date, city, venue name, format and approximate guest count;
2. We check our calendar and reply the same day with a quote;
3. We go through the venue details: sockets and power, sound level, set-up hours, access, and we call the venue ourselves if that helps;
4. A few weeks ahead we approve the running order, the playlist, the songs that must be played and the timing;
5. On the day we arrive early and finish set-up and soundcheck before the guests;
6. Last, we dismantle the kit and load it up ourselves, so no clearing away falls to you.

The music and equipment item on your checklist has no fixed deadline: whether we are free on your date is something we check when you ask. Put the date in your message and the answer comes back with a price. The wider tips on choosing a venue and choosing musicians sit in separate guides.

Three checklist lines with one team

A typical checklist has three separate rows: find the musicians, hire the equipment, arrange the set-up. Most clients tick them off one by one with different people. With us one team takes all three.

• One contact instead of three, so fewer arrangements for you;
• One responsibility: nobody says “that is not our equipment” or “those are not our musicians”;
• One crew at the venue, with a single arrival and set-up;
• Familiar kit, so the musicians do not spend their first set learning someone else’s desk;
• A sound engineer who knows the songs and where the vocals should be lifted or pulled back.

From experience, most technical trouble at events appears between contractors, at the joins between their areas, rather than in anyone’s own work.

Frequently asked questions