TechRadar AI Week 2025
This article is part of TechRadar’s AI Week 2025. Covering the basics of artificial intelligence, we’ll show you how to get the most from the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude, alongside in-depth features, news, and the main talking points in the world of AI.
Event planning is meant to be fun. You’re pulling people together to celebrate something special, whether it’s a milestone birthday, your wedding, or even just a Saturday dinner party with friends. The reality, though, is that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the details that go into the planning stages.
I know because I’ve been there. When my wife and I started planning our wedding, I realised very quickly that spreadsheets and late-night Pinterest scrolling weren’t enough. That’s when I started using AI tools to take some of the load off.
The impact was immediate, and I felt like I had a personal assistant who never got tired of answering the same questions or reassuring me that we had plenty of time to pull out our dream celebrations.
1. Start with a vision
Every event begins with an idea. The problem is, translating that idea, such as “I’d love something relaxed but stylish”, into an actual plan is harder than it sounds. Luckily, this is where AI shines. Ask a chatbot to turn your vague ideas into a theme, and it will produce suggestions that you can either run with or reject.
For weddings, you can give it a few details such as location, season, and guest count, and it will suggest themes that fit your setup. I tried “outdoor summer wedding in Scotland with 100 guests” and was given a set of options ranging from idyllic Scottish countryside to modern marquee. For birthdays, you can be just as specific: “40th birthday party at home with thirty people, a mix of family and friends, budget of £500.” Within seconds, you’ll get a coherent plan with food, drink, decorations, and even suggested timings.
AI will even follow up with extra bits it could help you with, things you may not have even considered in the first place, such as mock-ups for your invitations, moodboards, and more.
It’s not about handing over control. It’s about turning a blank page into something you can work with.
2. Budgets made bearable
Nothing derails event planning faster than money. It’s one thing to dream up the perfect wedding, but another to make it fit within what you can actually afford. AI can help by acting like a financial sounding board.
You can ask it to break down costs for a wedding with your budget in mind. “£10,000 wedding, 80 guests, central London” will generate a rough cost distribution: venue, food, dress, entertainment, and photography. You can then tweak the numbers to suit your priorities. Want to splash out on a live band but save on flowers? AI can rebalance the budget to show what trade-offs are realistic.
For smaller events like birthdays, it can do the same. Give it your budget and guest count, and it will suggest a menu, drinks shopping list, and decor ideas that stay within your limits. It feels less like number crunching and more like a friend reminding you not to blow the entire budget on a cake.
3. Guest lists and invites
Getting people in the same place at the same time is harder than it should be. AI can at least help with the admin. You can use it to draft invite templates that match the tone you want. Formal wedding invitations, playful birthday e-vites, or short WhatsApp messages that don’t sound robotic.
More importantly, it can help you organise the guest list itself. Tools like Notion or Google Sheets become much more powerful when paired with an AI assistant. Instead of manually updating RSVPs, you can feed in email replies and let the AI sort who’s coming, who needs a reminder, and who’s ignoring you.
For weddings, this is a lifesaver. I asked ChatGPT to cross-reference my guest list with my seating plan, and it flagged people who hadn’t yet been assigned a table. For birthdays, it can stop you from accidentally forgetting that one cousin who will never forgive you if left out.
4. Venues and vendors
Finding a venue is one of the most stressful parts of any event. AI helps by filtering options that actually fit your requirements. Tell it “wedding venues in Edinburgh with space for 100 guests, budget under £5,000, must allow outside catering” and it will produce a curated list. Instead of wading through endless ads and generic lists, you’re left with realistic choices.
The same goes for vendors. Whether you need a photographer, DJ, or caterer, you can ask AI to shortlist options based on reviews, price, and location. It won’t replace doing your own checks, but it cuts the time it takes to go from fifty possible choices to five serious contenders.
5. Menus and drinks
This article originally appeared as part of Essential Guide to ChatGPT, available now at MyFavoriteMagazines. Essential Guide to ChatGPT is full of top tips and expert advice, covering everything you need to know about the world’s most popular AI – from the basics to some of its latest features and functions.
Food and drink are where most events either shine or flop. AI is surprisingly good at creating menus that balance ambition with practicality. For a birthday dinner, you can ask for a menu that feeds thirty people, mixes vegetarian and meat options, and doesn’t require you to spend all day in the kitchen. You’ll get suggestions complete with recipes, prep times, and shopping lists.
For weddings, AI can help you brainstorm menu ideas to present to caterers. You can feed in your budget per head and get a sense of what’s possible before you even book tastings. Drinks are another area where it saves stress. “Cocktail menu for a 50th birthday, budget £200, must include one non-alcoholic option” becomes an instant shopping list that you can take to the supermarket.
6. Entertainment and playlists
Every good event needs a soundtrack. Instead of agonising over Spotify for hours, ask AI to generate playlists that match your theme. “Indie disco playlist for a wedding afterparty” or “classic pop hits for a 30th birthday barbecue” will give you a full track list in minutes.
It’s not limited to music either. You can ask for entertainment suggestions based on the vibe you want. Garden games for a relaxed wedding, trivia for a birthday dinner, or even suggestions for speech formats that won’t bore half the room.
7. Stick to a timeline
Events are stressful because everything has to happen at the right time. AI can build out timelines that stop you from forgetting the essentials. For weddings, this means a full countdown: when to book the venue, when to send invites, and when to schedule fittings.
For birthdays, it can generate a one-day run sheet that tells you when to prep food, set up decorations, and get ready yourself. I found this invaluable when juggling multiple deadlines. Instead of feeling like I was constantly one step behind, I had a clear checklist. And unlike me, the AI never forgot to alert me when to send a reminder email.
Time to PartAI
The fear with AI is that everything becomes generic. That’s why it’s so important to feed AI information on your personal life, including your likes and dislikes. The more you tell ChatGPT about yourself, the better, and if done correctly, you’ll get results that are specific to you. For example, I asked for wedding favour ideas specific to my wife and I got back suggestions like Pokémon cards, shortbread tins, and even Italian-inspired tartan ribbons.
For birthdays, I asked for decorations for someone who loves football and got a plan for turning a living room into a mini stadium, complete with snacks named after players. It’s those details that make events memorable, and AI helps you surface them quickly.
Planning events is stressful because it combines logistics, money, and people. AI won’t remove every headache, but it takes away the drudge work and gives you space to focus on what matters: the experience itself.
Whether you’re planning a wedding, a birthday, or just a big dinner, having an assistant who can brainstorm themes, balance budgets, suggest menus, and keep timelines straight is a game-changer. It won’t stop Uncle Dave from telling the same story twice in his speech, but it will mean you’re less likely to spend the week before the event in a spiral of panic.
Celebrations should feel like celebrations, not work. With AI helping out behind the scenes, you can actually enjoy the planning as much as the party.
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john-anthony.disotto@futurenet.com (John-Anthony Disotto)
