Maybe your daughter has come to you starry-eyed and announced her engagement, talking about all kinds of plans for a big, splashy wedding. Or your parents are looking forward to their golden wedding anniversary, and as the "glue" that binds the family together, you're being looked upon by your brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles as the natural choice to pull off a big anniversary party. Maybe you're responsible for a long-awaited family reunion, or a reunion of your husband's army buddies, or the annual firefighters' association banquet.

Reasons for throwing a major social event are infinite. The trouble is, pulling together a wedding reception, anniversary party, or reunion can be a complicated affair. Renting and decorating a banquet hall, finding entertainment, hiring a caterer, choosing the menu, creating and sending invitations - all take time as well as money; and with the busy schedules we all lead today, it can be a major commitment of energy as well as time and money.

Make it easy on yourself!

Contracting with a full-service banquet facility which offers event planning expertise can simplify the process immensely, while creating an attractive and festive environment sure to impress the participants. A competent event planner can also guide you through the process of coordinating your event. She can help you develop a budget for your affair, and then present alternatives, including ideas for decor, menus, and entertainment options. While an event planner can't take all the responsibility for your special event off your shoulders, she can certainly save you a lot of wasted time and effort and help you avoid the pitfalls of event planning.

When you're contracting with a banquet facility, make sure you take into account the events that need to take place there. A wedding generally has a band, orchestra, or DJ with music and dancing; a reunion or wedding anniversary may need some kind of AV equipment and a projection screen for showing family photos or home movies.

Many brides-to-be want a formal wedding in a church, with a reception to follow in a second location; but others are happy to hold both wedding and reception in the same place, and many facilities provide a wedding chapel or other wedding hall in addition to the reception area. In this instance, the facility event planner can coordinate the entire process, from wedding to reception.

Arranging for accommodations for out-of-town guests can be an added responsibility. If you've chosen a facility which is part of a hotel, making overnight on-site accommodations for your out-of-town visitors can be a major convenience, both for them and for you; and there's a possibility that you'll be able to arrange for group discounts.

Keep your most important priorities in sight.

Remember, hiring a full-service banquet facility and event planner isn't supposed to complicate your life, it's supposed to make it easier. The most important thing is that all of the event's participants - including you - enjoy yourselves. Let the event planner worry; that's what she's hired to do!

Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for the Internet and for local and regional publications. She can be reached at amfredenburg@yahoo.com.