5 things you should (or should not) splurge on for your event
AUTHOR | Sara Loretta
PUBLISHED | Sept 2026
Events can be expensive. The cost of things like meals and swag add up fast, and we’re seeing most 100 person events averaging $89K in production.
Seeing that number I’m sure you’re thinking “WOAH NELLY”, and I get it. That’s why I believe there’s certain things you should and should not splurge on, based on three key factors: the overall budget, the desired experience, and who your attendees are.
Considering the budget, you need to decide first & foremost, do you want to break even or make a profit? For some of our clients, experience trumps profit. For others, every cent matters. Obviously this is where sponsorships can help offset costs.
However the most important thing is to determine how much cash you have on hand for production, and how much you are willing to lost if your event isn’t profitable. In my experience, those who don’t have cash set aside (or are fine spending X amount loss), often skip the small experience details because they believe no one will notice — they do. Those who enter production with a clear number in mind, aren’t worried about a $150 order on a last-minute fun idea.
It’s not to say you can’t have an incredible event on a tight budget. You can. But knowing your IAP (Ideal Attendee Persona), will make these decisions 10X easier on where to splurge or not.
For instance, if your attendees are made up of people who don’t normally go to events, you have two paths - skip the stuff like tote bags that won’t be useful, or go all-out and give them the VIP treatment just because they’re finally getting out of the house. This is something we did with Molly Donlan’s retreat. We wanted her team to feel like bougie influencers, even though the majority of them do freelance contract work. The way you make your attendees feel is everything — but you don’t have to go into debt to do it.
So without further ado, here are my five things I think you should or should not splurge on for your event.
1️⃣ Breakfast
I’ve talked about this a lot, but breakfast is an easy thing to reduce costs on. It’s also the easiest thing to get sponsored if you don’t want to spend money on catering and still provide coffee & light bites in the AM.
The start time of your event should dictate this decision. My recommendation is anything before 10A, offer coffee and breakfast tacos. 10A and beyond, just do coffee & grab snacks like fruit, granola bars, etc. Being onsite before 10A, means people don’t have time to get up and pop into a coffee shop… making it a long time until lunch.
The next piece of the puzzle is if you are encouraging meetups before main programming starts. This is something we do at Ops Ahoy. Attendees are encouraged to host walk & talks, journaling sessions, etc. and most likely will not be onsite until right when programming begins. In this scenario, I don’t want food waste or money waste, so we do a light breakfast of yogurt, granola and fruit, and reduce the catering number by 20 so there isn’t leftovers.
2️⃣ Signage
I think this article is quickly turning into “how to not be wasteful at your event”, because signage is another thing that you don’t have to splurge on, unless you already know the event will be happen year after year.
There is nothing worse than printing signage only to throw it away at the end of the event. But, sometimes it happens like with sponsorship signage. Sponsors come and go, and 95% of the time you will not have the same sponsors from one year to the next. That being said, those signs can be printed cheap through Vistaprint (seriously an 18×24 foam board is only $28).
Consider reusability as much as you can. It might increase the budget on year one, but then year two and beyond, that cost isn’t needed.
For instance, at Sponsor Games 2025, we splurged on balloon garland to add some flair in various areas. What a waste. It’s $1,800 spent that we can’t ever reuse. So for Sponsor Games 2026, we focused on splurging on reusable signage like trifold columns and a better step & repeat that can last us the next few years.
Of course, this is entirely exclusive on how you store the items after (so keep the shipping boxes!).
3️⃣ Swag BY ticket tier
This is an area where, I will encourage you not to buy things for the sake of impressing the ticket holder.
If your event has multiple ticket tiers (general vs. VIP), trust me when I say, receiving a tote bag is not going to make a ticket holder feel like they got their money’s worth. I’ve been to plenty of events where as a general ticket holder I didn’t get any swag and I didn’t blink an eye.
However the ticket does need to include a cohesive list of “gets” that make sense to the event, whether the swag becomes a credit towards a coaching program or an experience that improves the attendees’ work.
At Ops Ahoy, VIPs are receiving complimentary headshots.
At Sponsor Games, VIPs are getting onsite private coaching (which is a bridge to have them join the coaching program after the event).
At both events, all attendees receive the basic swag necessities: a notebook and a pen. Then each have had a small budget for “fun” items like a baseball cap or a money gun, that’s custom to the event.
4️⃣ Speaker appreciation
Separate from general attendees, I think speakers are often not given enough love. I’ve seen plenty of events treat speakers as they should be grateful to just have stage time, and nothing else. I’ve also been a speaker and treated like royalty — Make With Notion 2025 had a glam station, private dinner, and I received the coveted Notion LEGO person stack.
However, speaker costs can also go through the roof if you are not careful. During initial budget planning, decide 1) will speakers be compensated, 2) will speakers’ travel & hotel be covered, or 3) a mix of both.
Aside from that choice, celebrating speakers onsite is just as important. There are several ways to do it whether it be a private dinner or a gift upon arrival.
For Ops Ahoy 2026, since we’re hosting the event on a ship, all speakers are receiving a replica ship in a bottle with their name engraved. One, it’s cool as fuck. And two, most of our speakers are first-timers, and I wanted the gift to sit on their shelf as a reminder of the achievement.
(will share pictures soon!)
One final note about speaker travel fees to keep costs down. I would recommend only agreeing to covering up to a specific dollar amount on the flight. Flights can vary drastically with one costing $250 and another $800. $350 is usually a safe bet for coverage, and you could include paying for one checked bag too. Then any other upgrades are on the speaker to self-cover.
5️⃣ Venue
As you know, I’d rather chew glass than rent a boring event space for the sake of the budget. That’s why venue research is so important because there are endless opportunities to rent a space that fits your budget.
Obviously this is entirely contingent on the amount of attendees, but I’ve been really enjoying spaces on Peerspace, museums, libraries, local botanical gardens, and even coworking spaces.
The first most important thing is: are you going to like the photos after.
You’re going to use that media to promote the event in future years and repurpose it into content, so it’s crucial that the space has good lighting, space to move around, and checks off whatever other box is important for your attendee experience.
Many spaces will also cut deals for multi-day rentals. It’s the downside to many venues who primarily do weddings, is the rates they share initially are based on one-day rentals, so make sure to share your entire timeline before thinking a fee is final. I’m also finding co-working spaces are ~20% cheaper if you rent on weekend days because it’s easier for them to close the space.
The last most important thing is: event dates.
If you fall in love with a venue that is primarily for weddings, peak season rates are real and expensive. Summer in Texas is cheap because it’s so hot and venues struggles to fill dates. You need to decide what’s more important - getting your dream venue or hosting on dates that don’t break the bank.
