Many people who are planning security for events commit one of two errors: either they make guesses about an approximate headcount on the basis of gut instinct, or trust a vendor’s estimate to decide the headcount for the event. Both methods result in the same outcome: the presence of too many security personnel in the entryway as well as a lack of security guards near those areas that require focus.
It’s not all about paying on more. It’s about coordinating security services with the exact design of the event, such as the number of entry points the event has, the type of drinks served, what is the layout of the venue in addition to where the cash as well as valuables are located at the time of the event.
Start With the Venue, Not the Guest List
The guest count is important, however this is the second part of the question and not the first. The primary question is: how many ways could someone gain access to or out of the venue?
A banquet hall with one main entrance and a service door requires a different security layout than a farmhouse with an open layout, multiple gates, and parking spread across a large field.Farmhouses can accommodate more guests than a banquet hall, but they typically require more guards because the perimeter is larger and harder to secure. trust a vendor’s estimate to decide the amount for the event
Prior to thinking about the figures, take a walk around the location (or request an elevation plan) and note:
- All entry and exit points that include staff, vendors and catering access points.
- Places where gifts, cash or precious items will be kept (a gifts table cash counter for Indian weddings, a coat check)
- In which bar will alcohol be offered, as well as whether it’s an area with a bar that is separate from the rest of the bar or if it is a free-flowing bar
- Parking arrangement -whether it is valet, self-park or mixed or is it clearly accessible from the main event or in a separate area
- The public should not be able to access (kitchen or backstage rooms)
Each one of them constitutes a post and not a guest count fraction. The most frequent error in staffing is splitting guests into groups using a rule of thumb, and not recognizing the fact that a dark parking area 200 feet away from the main entrance requires an individual guard regardless of the number of people who have gathered inside.
A Realistic Way to Think About Numbers
There isn’t a single ratio across the industry for every occasion, or any other source which offers an unambiguous figure (like “1 guard per 50 guests”) can be a little too simplistic.
- Include a security guard at any entry point that is not monitored. If catering staff or vendors use the same front door with no one monitoring it, this is an area of potential threat regardless of how many guests are present.
- Increase coverage when the alcohol served is for longer than three or four hours. Incidents tend to occur in the latter part of a party rather than the beginning of an event. Make sure you plan a shift overlap to ensure that your most experienced guards are available late, not earlier.
- treat valuables (cash counters and gifts tables) as a permanent post and not as something that is covered “in passing” by a security guard who is on the move. An unmarked gift table that has no designated post is among the most frequently found omissions in wedding security organizing.
- Parking is required to have an individual security guard when there’s more than a few minutes’ stroll away from the location in the evening, particularly at night. It’s often understaffed since it’s inaccessible to the event itself.
An exercise that can be useful is to sketch out the event, then mark each of the posts from the previous list Then, only after that, ask the number of guards needed to guard them throughout the actual event’s duration, taking into account guard breaks and shift handoffs. A six-hour duration doesn’t mean that there are automatically 6-hours of guard time per post.
Where Over-Staffing Actually Comes From
The cost of overpaying for security at events doesn’t always involve the cost per guard – typically, the cost is for the time of a person who isn’t actually using. Two common patterns are:
Complete head count beginning with the initial guest and ending at the final guest. Most events don’t require every post to be staffed all-time strength throughout the time. Checkpoints for entry are most important when guests arrive; after all guests are in the post, it can be reduced to just one guard, instead of two or three guards, and the staff that is freed up can be moved into areas where traffic is higher late, like parking or the bar.
Guards who do not have a clearly defined posting. “Floating” security may sound like a flexible concept, but in reality, security guards who do not have any designated area are likely to be grouped near one another or close to the most noticeable location and leave the areas that were designated previously for example, an entryway or a gift table unoccupied. Each guard on the roster is required to have a specific post, and should have a distinct duty, regardless of whether that posting changes during a specified time throughout the day.
Questions Worth Asking Any Security Provider
No matter who you employ, these questions are likely to make a difference between a genuine hiring proposal from an unplanned one.
- Can you walk me through why this specific headcount, post by post?
An agent who is able to map guards’ locations to entrance points, the valuables as well as the service for alcohol you outlined is planning. A vendor that offers a number based on guests’ count is guessing. - What happens to staffing after the first two hours?
This will tell the reader if they’ve considered shift adjustments and whether or not coverage shifts change as the event develops instead of staying the same. - Who is responsible for the parking area specifically?
If you don’t know this is usually the place where the staffing gap will be.
A Simple Planning Checklist
- Take a walk around the area and record each entry and exit point, as well as the vendor and service access
- Find the posts that contain important items (gift table or cash counter, coat check)
- Please note the length of service for alcohol and the location
- The map parking location and the location and distance from the main location
- Choose which of the posts require full-duration coverage, and which posts require arrival window-only coverage
- Verify the time of handoff so that the guard’s alertness doesn’t drop in the late, frequently more risky hours.
A Worked Example: Staffing a Mid-Sized Wedding
The numbers are simpler to talk through using a concrete example. Imagine a reception hall that has around 300 guests. only one main entrance, one entryway that caterers use as well as a valet-parking lot that is across from the main entrance, and a table for gifts as well as a bar that is open for five hours.
Reviewing the post list instead of guest counts:
- Main entrance 2 security guards are present during the time of arrival (first 30 minutes) and then reduced to one once the vast majority of guests are inside.
- Service access: 1 guard for all duration This is the part that most personnel plans don’t even consider as it’s only used by those that “obviously belong,” which is why it’s required to have the use of a specific screening
- Parking (valet and across on the street): 1 guard and increasing coordination requirements in the evening hours.
- Table of gifts: 1 guard, for the entire duration of time, as it is a permanent post instead of something that is checked in transit
- Bar area/general floor coverage 2 guards with an additional guard added for the two remaining hours of time when the bar is open for all night
This adds up to between 6 and 8 guards for this layout not because of guest count, but because of five distinct posts, and how the coverage of each shifts over the five-hour event. The same venue that has similar guest numbers with a single entrance, but there is no parking space, is likely to require significantly less.
This is the exercise worth doing for any event: list the actual posts first, then size the headcount to them. Getting these numbers right is easier with someone who’s planned this kind of event before feel free to reach out if you’d like a second opinion on your headcount.
