After all the time, thought, and effort you have put into planning for all of your retreat attendees, you still want to enjoy your event, too, right?!

You don’t want to be stressed during the event. You don’t want to be completely drained after, either. You have worked so hard to make everything perfect, and you want to and should feel rewarded, too!

With a little planning, you can avoid stress and exhaustion and trade them for fun and rejuvenation! How? With my special tips on the best way to design your retreat, so you actually enjoy them.

Get Clear on Your Goals

While planning the curriculum for your live event, make sure you’re setting clear goals for your attendees and yourself. Break it down, day by day, or even hour by hour. 

When planning for your attendees, put on your teacher hat and think about what milestones they will reach at certain points within the experience.

Some examples:

• They will have completed “x, y, z” by the end of the day.
• By noon, they will have experienced “x, y, z.”

Whatever it is, clearly establish what they're going to walk away with by a certain hour, the end of the day, or the end of the experience. Doing this allows you and your attendees to come in already knowing what the goal is, and ensures you are on the same page.

While you’re thinking about your attendees, don’t forget to set goals for yourself, too. 

Take some time to consider:

1. How do you want to feel during the event?
2. What transformation do you want to see in your attendees?
3. What do you want to see from a sales standpoint?

This is one of the most important parts of planning because you may have a picture in your mind of how an experience should be or an idea of the feelings or the emotion you want to deliver. Still, your thoughts need to be communicated in the preparation of the event to make sure that it’s clearly presented to attendees as well.

Plan Ahead

One of the biggest keys to eliminating stress during your event is allowing yourself plenty of time to plan out all the details. No one wants a stressed-out person running an event that’s supposed to be rejuvenating, so trying to throw everything together isn’t ideal. And who likes to run around like a crazy person trying to get everything done for your event while balancing family things, planning for a vacation, getting ready for the holidays, etc., etc. anyway? It’s impossible to balance it all without thinking ahead!

I like to say giving yourself four to six months is the sweet spot for nailing it all down.

Of course, you can take more time than that, which is probably even better, but anything less than four months will be really pushing it to get all the things done you need to.

Make sure you’re making time in your calendar for planning, selling, and the restoration you’ll need afterward, too! Because guess what? When you’re done leading your amazing retreat, you’re going to be a little tired and have some emotions and thoughts you want to process!

I make it a priority to already have something scheduled right after my events to give myself the space to rest and recuperate. My family loves to camp, so I try to intentionally plan my events during the spring, summer, and fall so that I can have time to myself, out in nature, to decompress and get myself ready for what’s next.

Now, you might not be a nature person, so I’d encourage you to consider doing something that would be restful for you. Maybe it’s a massage, a pedicure, or a lunch with a dear friend. Whatever it is, already have it on your calendar before your live event even starts to give yourself some peace and relaxation after pouring so much into your live event and attendees.

Personalize It

It’s important (and fun!) to incorporate details into your retreat that reflect you and your personality. The fact of that matter is, a lot of your attendees are showing up for you. They’re buying into your philosophy, mission, and core values, and they want a little taste of that.

So when I’m planning an event, I like to include some of my favorite things. Doing this not only brings my attendees joy, but it makes me happy, too! It’s a win-win.

Take some time to think about the things you love. Me, I love sangrias and peonies. So I enjoy incorporating a signature cocktail into my events and having my favorite fresh flowers all over the place. My events are usually in the South or in Nashville, so I also think it’s fun to give my out-of-town attendees a taste of where they’re visiting. I bring in some things that the area is known for–they love it!

I'm giving you these ideas because I want you to think about really activating all the senses at your retreats. What are the smells your attendees will experience? What are the tastes and flavors they’ll enjoy? What will they be hearing? What playlists will you make? All these things are a reflection of you and the love that you want to pour into these people. That's how you delight people. That's how you give them a really amazing experience.

Have Support

With all that goes into event planning, you can’t do it alone! You have to make sure that you have people helping you all along the way, especially during your live event. I like to say having one support person per twelve to fifteen people is best. Of course, that depends on what activities you have planned and what your needs are.

So in the early stages of planning your retreat, be thinking about how you will need support? Who are the people you can really trust to help deliver this wonderful ​​experience for your attendees? Having great support helps create an amazing live event that makes your attendees feel taken care of–and in return, has them coming back for more or telling their friends about the phenomenal time they had.

These are just a few of my favorite tips to help things be smooth sailing as you plan your live event! 

If you want more tips and tricks on creating a retreat, you can download my free Retreat Planning Roadmap. While you are there, you will gain access to my Front Porch Club, where you’ll receive all things retreats and live events!

If you’re ready to create your own transformational experience that brings your brand to life, join me in Invite and Delight!

I’ll be your coach to help you create and sell these amazing experiences for your business.