Father’s Day is just around the corner, and it is up to us to make our dads feel special. While most of us are lucky to have fathers who won’t expect much, we all know how much they would appreciate your efforts toward making their day special and memorable.
And while planning a Father’s Day celebration can be challenging, we are here to help with 10 amazing Father’s Day ideas that go beyond your typical garden barbecue or weekend brunch (although you can choose that too)! From mini golf tournaments to wine and cheese tasting events, we have something to match the tastes of every dad.
So, regardless of whether you are a business that targets married men or fathers, or simply someone looking to bring a smile to their old man’s face, our Father’s Day event planning guide has got you covered!
Step-by-Step Guide to Father’s Day Event Planning
If you are a business planning to boost your sales with a Father’s Day event for your customers, follow the steps below –
Plan Event Time, Date, and Location
Father’s Day falls on June 18th, so decide whether you want the event to be a one-day affair or multiple days.
Also, determine the timing of the event; this should be convenient for your guests or customers. Finally, choose the location – you can either host it at or near your physical business address or somewhere more accessible depending on your preferences. Ideally, the event venue should be close to where most of your customers live.
Decide Event Theme and Menu
What theme do you want your Father’s Day celebration to be like? To answer this, ask what your customers are most likely to prefer.
For example, you can have a baseball-themed Father’s Day, or a vintage celebration, etc. Your event menu must be according to your theme. We have compiled some ideas in this article to help you out.
Order Supplies
Place an order for the requisite event supplies as soon as you can, because with Father’s Day approaching soon, other businesses too may be planning similar activities – and you don’t want delays in your preparation. Event supplies include everything you need to host a memorable Father’s Day celebration, such as chairs, tables, lights, disposable cutlery, etc.
Create a Guest (Customers) List
You will already have the details of your existing customers; create an Excel sheet of everyone you intend to invite to the event. You can also invite your existing customers to invite their friends using referral tickets.
Reach Out
Once ready, begin communicating with your customers via their preferred channels – you can use emailers, WhatsApp broadcasts, etc. Make sure your messages are as straightforward as possible. You don’t have to write something fancy – just communicate the value your business offers during this event.
Advertise Online
You also want your Father’s Day event celebration to draw new customers to your business. So, consider advertising online on platforms like Facebook or Instagram where most of your potential customers are likely to hang out.
Here are a few excellent examples of Father’s Day advertisements for you below to be inspired from –
Painting with a Twist – Father’s Day Celebration (Savannah, GA)
Agua Caliente Father’s Day Celebration (Cathedral City, CA)
The Rock & Roll Playhouse (Port Washington, NY)
Managing the Event
Once you have organized your Father’s Day event, it is now time to manage the occasion. When properly executed, your guests will have a memorable celebration that can create a positive association with your business.
To begin with, print out your guests’ names and details in an Excel spreadsheet.
Next, conduct a brief pre-event meeting with your staff members to ensure they understand their assigned roles. Your Father’s Day event would have multiple tasks such as welcoming guests, ushering them to their designated chairs (if applicable), overseeing food and beverage serving, etc.
As for marking the guests’ attendance at the event, have an employee manually check in the attendees for the event manually checking their names and details in their ID cards against those on the list to confirm their identity.
Consequently, if your event requires tickets to show proof of admission, assign a worker to collect the tickets from the guests and admit them to the event.
Of course, while this approach would work if you are looking to host only a few customers or guests, it would be inefficient if you are expecting a larger audience at your event. Here is why –
- Inviting and following up with a large number of guests or attendees to your event manually could be time-consuming
- Manually checking in the guests could be inefficient and if your event sees a larger footfall, it could lead to delays in admission and frustrate guests
- Physically issued tickets could be resold or duplicated, thus leading to potential losses for your business
You can schedule and manage your event the traditional way, or try a more streamlined way. That’s where Evey Events comes into the picture. Evey helps you schedule and manage events intuitively.
Let us see how you can schedule and manage an event using the platform.
Hosting and Managing Events Using Evey
You can install Evey to host and manage events efficiently if you have a Shopify store. To do so, follow the steps below –
- Add Evey to your Shopify app store and install it.
- Evey offers a free 14-day trial to let you test out the app and its features.
- We will create our Father’s Day event via Evey, so click ‘Create event’.
- Write the event name and choose the date and time; Father’s Day falls on June 18th, so you can have a one-day event or multiple days for a heartier celebration!
- Scroll down and pick your Father’s Day event venue; you can also add a location URL via Google Maps to help your guests navigate easily.
- You can then decide whether you want to make the event visible on your Shopify store. We want the maximum number of customers (guests) to see and attend, so the box is checked.
- If you want to charge customers for attending the event, set a ticket price. We have kept it at $15/ticket, a nominal event rate.
- Set the number of tickets you want to sell. In our case, we have about 100 tickets we want to sell as we expect 100 customers to show up for the Father’s Day event.
- Click on ‘Save Event’.
- You will be navigated back to the events screen where you can see your newly created event. As you can see, it has zero attendees. So we will need to invite people. Click on the event.
- We have zero attendees right now. Remember the customers’ list on the Excel spreadsheet we mentioned earlier? We will import it to Evey. Click on ‘Attendees’. You can also add attendees individually, but that is not recommended if you are expecting a larger audience.
- Click on ‘Import attendees’.
- Select or drag the CSV file to the box to import your guests’ details to Evey.
- Once imported, you can configure your import to add/remove information as needed. You should see a guest list (such as the one below) if your CSV file was properly formatted. Click on ‘Save and Import’.
- If your Father’s Day event requires paid admission, then you can design and create tickets for your guests. Evey allows you to create tickets with your custom design and generates a unique QR code for each ticket created. Guests joining your event can scan this QR code to validate their admission. This way, you can rest assured that your event tickets cannot be resold or duplicated.
- Click on ‘Tickets’ and then ‘Customize’ to customize your ticket design.
- You will see the default ticket design; you can customize the ticket as you want using the options on the left-hand side.
- Once finalized, click on ‘Save’.
Evey provides numerous benefits to simplify your event hosting and management. For instance, you can view ticket sales and event attendees’ names to your event at a glance.
You can also see the complete list of your guests, including how they checked in to your event. Evey offers free apps for iOS and Android to scan tickets on-site.
For example, you can see that the attendees checked in to the event by scanning their PDF tickets via Apple Wallet Pass.
To further explore how Evey can help your business schedule and manage events, schedule a demo today!
10 Unforgettable Father’s Day Event Ideas
Having trouble deciding your Father’s Day event? We have compiled 10 Father’s Day event ideas here to help brighten the day for your dad. Choose whichever surprise you think your old man will love the most – or pick multiple surprises to go the extra mile!
1. Mini Golf Tournament (Plus BBQ)
Organize (or join) a classic mini-golf tournament and invite your dad to a relaxing outdoor game in relaxed, pleasant weather. Granary Road also included a BBQ party with mini-golf matches for a complete Father’s Day celebration.
2. Father’s Day Museum Tour
If your father is a history buff with a taste for culture, treat him to a museum tour. The L. Ron Hubbard Life Foundation organized a complimentary Father’s Day Tour at the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition in CA.
Tip: If you are going to host a day-long event, consider adding some refreshments to keep the spirits of the customers high.
3. NYC Father’s Day Yacht Party & Marine Cruise
Few things are as relaxing as a yacht ride amidst the seas. New York Skyport Marina has organized a yacht party on June 18th ’23. It’s complete with DJs and food for a high-energy, yet refreshing experience allowing it to bring in the right set of people who can become their potential customers!
4. Father’s Day Concert
Music is a universally accepted choice – invite musicians or bands to perform at your venue for a spirited, dynamic experience. Speaking Rock – a Texas-based entertainment club has called in the Latin Breed, an artist loved by Texans.
The artist’s popularity brings in all of his fans while also promoting the business – making it a win-win for both the attendees and the business hosting this event.
5. Wine Tasting Event
For a more sophisticated, yet pleasant experience, consider organizing a wine-tasting event. Garden State Wine Growers paired wine tasting with music and an accompaniment such as cheese to further improve your event’s appeal and potentially generate more ticket sales.
6. Father’s Day Buffet
Hosting an indulgent lunch or dinner buffet could also help your customers enjoy a memorable celebration.
If you are a restaurant business, this could also let you try out new dishes or cuisines and see what your guests like best. This one has a full-day buffet from American Kitchen & Bar.
7. Father’s Day Hike
Surprise your guests with an adventurous and thrilling experience this Father’s Day with a hiking event.
Curate a scenic route for your customers and let them lose themselves in the breathtaking landscapes and serene trails away from the monotony of city life. This event features a Father’s Day 2.3-mile hiking event across the Oregon Ridge trails.
8. Father’s Day – Paint with Dad!
Yet another memorable way to celebrate Father’s Day would be to organize a painting event. The event organized by Painting with a Twist, is a great example of how you can merge business with fun.
Invite your customers to bring their dads for an artistic, yet recreational experience as they follow a guided painting session by an instructor.
Tip: You can also offer painting kits to the guests for an added fee, or add it to the ticket cost to generate higher revenue per ticket sold.
9. Father’s Day Family Fishing (and BBQ)
Invite your guests to a tranquil experience with a Father’s Day Fishing Competition. You can further enhance the activity by providing food and beverages to the event attendees.
Hosted by the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC, this event has one of all Dads’ favorite activities, barbecue! This is in addition to fly fishing, pond dipping, etc. things you can have at your own event.
10. Outdoor Cooking Competition
Hosting an outdoor cooking competition or Father’s Day cookout competition could be a creative way to invite your guests to explore their culinary creativity.
John Hope Settlement House hosted this fun barbeque session this Father’s Day. This is an excellent example of how you turn a boring, traditional business, into a fun event that gets the right people walking through your doors!
Host Your Perfect Father’s Day Event
Hosting and organizing a Father’s Day event successfully could help your brand boost customer loyalty and sales. However, it requires careful planning and execution with attention to detail. From choosing the date, time, and venue of the event to planning the theme and managing the guest attendance – this article has covered it all.
We hope this gives you some ideas as a business on how to surprise your customers by hosting a Father’s Day event!
Whether it’s mini golf tournaments or outdoor cooking competitions, we leave that to your imagination.
As for seamlessly planning and managing your event right from deciding the date and time to automatically checking in your guests, you can depend on Evey.
To see how Evey can help make this Father’s Day event the most memorable one for your guests schedule a demo with us today!
