December 4/2018
Students in the Sustainable Tourism & Hospitality Management program planned a successful mock wedding held on Friday, November 30. Students worked very hard during the weeks leading up to the event to organize everything from décor, food, music, dresses, suits and a beautiful cake for attending guests to enjoy.
The event is a chance for students to utilize skills and knowledge they have learned in their Events Management class in a practical setting… Event management involves planning, organizing and execution of live events. There are several ways of categorizing events, such as cultural, education, scientific and private (weddings, parties, etc), in addition to categorization by their size such as community event or mega event.
Each year, the practical portion of the events management will take a different form. In past years, students have planned cultural and sporting events, while this year a mock wedding was chosen for the practical. A mock wedding is theatrical parodies of the marriage ritual in which actors dress as the wedding entourage. Students and staff acted parts such as bride and groom, groomsman, bridesmaids, the pastor and the family of both the bride and groom.
Specific objectives for the students included:
i. Apply budgeting and financial management in events management
ii. Market events
iii. Seek sponsorship for events
iv. Seeking permits for various aspects of the events
v. Staging of the event where students were expected to bring out aspect of atmosphere and décor as per the theme of the event
vi. Plan and serve suitable meals for the event
vii. Prepare an event programme and ensure proper coordination of aspects like entertainment, speeches and other aspects as per the requirements of the client.
Event planning takes a lot of coordination and team work, and students demonstrated that they could work together to produce a well-organized and highly entertaining event.
Article by:
Shaylyn Robertson
Eco-Tourism Business Officer – June 2018 – December 2018
Institute of Tourism & Hospitality Management
Dedan Kimathi University of Technology