The Feel Good Formula
More than 30 years of observations, refined into the principles we use to help clients make better event decisions.
The 6 Step Formula to Designing Events that make you Feel Good
The Feel Good Formula is the philosophy that guides how we think about successful events.
It was developed from more than 30 years of observations across thousands of weddings, parties and corporate events.
Over time, we noticed that certain decisions consistently helped create better outcomes, while others often worked against them.
The Feel Good Formula captures those observations and provides the principles we use when assessing, planning, styling and designing events.
The Event Assessment Framework is how we apply those principles when reviewing a client’s wedding, party or event.
Whether you’re planning a wedding, party or corporate event, these are the principles we use to help assess, plan and design better event outcomes.
The Journey to the Feel Good Formula
From DJ to Event Strategist
When I first stated Feel Good Events in 2008 we used to call ourselves decorators. But over time, I realised decorating was only one piece of the puzzle.
My journey started more than 30 years ago, not as a stylist or planner, but as a DJ. Back then, if a dance floor was empty or a party felt flat, I assumed the problem was the music. I’d replay the night in my head wondering what songs I should have played differently or what I could have done to lift the atmosphere.
But after thousands of parties, weddings and corporate events, I started noticing something interesting.
The events with packed dance floors, guests staying late, and people talking about them long afterwards weren’t always the biggest, most expensive, or most visually impressive events.
The same goes for weddings and corporate events. Some of the most expensive weddings and corporate functions were often the least enjoyable.
The difference wasn’t usually one big thing.
It was a series of smaller decisions working together.
Over time, I noticed the same factors appearing again and again:
- The layout of the room
- The positioning and size of the dance floor
- The lighting and temperature in the space
- The timing of speeches and formalities
- The type of entertainment chosen
- How food and drinks were served
- Whether guests naturally interacted or became disconnected
- The age and mix of guests attending
- How the venue itself supported or worked against the desired atmosphere
It got to the point where I could walk into a venue and make a fairly accurate prediction about how the event was likely to turn out before it even started.
Not because I could see the future.
But because I had seen the same patterns play out thousands of times before.
I realised that successful events aren’t usually the result of one perfect decision.
They’re the result of many decisions supporting the outcome the client is trying to achieve.
Likewise, disappointing events often aren’t caused by one major mistake. They’re usually the result of several small decisions unintentionally working against the goal they were working towards.
That observation changed how I looked at events.
Instead of focusing only on what looked good, I became increasingly interested in understanding which decisions were most likely to help or weaken the result people wanted from their event.
When Feel Good Events expanded from a hire and decorating business into styling, planning and event assessment services, we gained the ability to influence many more of those decisions.
More importantly, we gained the ability to assess them.
Over time, we began documenting the patterns we observed, the decisions that consistently worked well, the common mistakes people made, and the factors that most often influenced the success of an event.
Those observations eventually became the Feel Good Formula.
Today, the Feel Good Formula serves as the philosophy that guides how we think about successful events.
It brings together the principles we’ve developed from more than 30 years and thousands of weddings, parties and corporate events, helping us understand which decisions are most likely to support the outcome a client wants.
The Event Assessment Framework is how we apply those principles in practice when reviewing, planning, styling and designing weddings, parties and corporate events.
That’s how the Feel Good Formula was born.
While every event is different, the same patterns appear again and again. The Feel Good Formula helps us recognise those patterns, apply the lessons we’ve learned, and focus on the decisions most likely to make the biggest difference.
The Feel Good Formula
E.N.E.R.G.Y
E – Emotion First (Guest Experience)
We always begin by defining the outcome the client wants to achieve. Understanding how guests should feel, behave and interact helps guide every decision that follows.
N – Nurture the Energy & Fun ( Event Energy Level)
We assess the factors most likely to influence guest participation, interaction, enjoyment and energy levels throughout the event. This helps identify opportunities to strengthen the atmosphere and reduce decisions that may unintentionally cause the event to lose momentum.
E – Engage All the Senses (Stimulate The 5 Senses)
We don’t stop at looks, we use sound, scent, taste, touch, and light to make the experience something guests feel and talk about afterwards.
R – Raise the Atmosphere (Styling Choices)
We use styling, lighting and environmental design to help create an atmosphere that supports the purpose and desired outcome of the event.
G – Guest Connection (Event Floor Plan)
We assess how layout decisions influence guest movement, interaction and connection throughout the event.
Y – Your Event, Evolving (Continual Improvements)
Every event teaches us something. We take those lessons forward so yours benefits from everything we’ve refined from 1000’s of events.
Without considering these factors, it’s easy to make decisions that unintentionally work against the outcome you’re trying to achieve.
Step 1: Emotion First
Start with the Why, not just the What.
Want an event that means something? Start with how you want people to feel. What sort of experience do you want to create for your guests? We don’t just ask what you’re celebrating, we dig into why you’re bringing people together. What’s the purpose behind the event? What kind of emotional impact do you want it to have? What feeling should linger after the last guest leaves?
Once we understand the desired outcome, we can assess which decisions are most likely to support it and which decisions may work against it.
Why this matters:
When there’s an emotional anchor behind your event, it becomes more than just a party or a wedding. It becomes an experience your guests carry with them.
Guests may not remember the exact flowers or furniture or props that you had, but they will remember how they felt at your party, wedding or event. That lasting emotion is what makes an event stand out years later.
Examples
- Imagine your guests walking in and instantly feeling the buzz of excitement.
- Picture leaving your own event thinking, “That was one of the best nights of my life”.
- See your friends smiling, laughing, and connecting, exactly the way you hoped.
- Imagine your wedding guests saying, ‘’That felt like the two of you in every detail.”
- See your staff proud to be part of a company that knows how to celebrate.
Step 2: Nurture The Energy & Fun Journey
Events naturally rise and fall in energy throughout the day or night.
Through thousands of events, we’ve observed that certain decisions consistently influence participation, atmosphere and enjoyment.
This step focuses on identifying those factors and assessing whether they support the type of event the client is trying to create.
Why this matters:
Energy and fun are inseparable. Events naturally rise and dip in energy. Without planning, they can peak too early or stall. By understanding the decisions that influence energy and fun, we can identify opportunities to keep guests engaged and reduce the likelihood of the event losing momentum.
People remember the highs of the event and the Fun moments. The atmosphere when they arrived, the way the event built to a peak and the moment the dancefloor took off. Events with good energy, planned fun and natural progression are more memorable every time.
Examples
- Picture a party that starts strong, keeps building with a surprise fun element mid way, and ends with everyone still on the dance floor.
- Imagine your guests never once checking their watch, because the energy carried them along.
- See your wedding moving without gaps or delays from ceremony to dance floor without awkward pauses and bored guests.
- Imagine your corporate function where people stay until the end and not just because they have to, but because they want to.
- Picture a night that feels alive from the first welcome drink to the last song.
Step 3: Engage The Senses
Great events don’t just look good, they feel good in every way.
Through thousands of events we’ve observed that people experience events through more than just sight.
Sound, scent, taste, touch, lighting and temperature all influence how people experience a space and remember it afterwards. These elements trigger memory and emotion in ways visual styling alone can’t.
Where styling sets the tone visually, this step creates felt experience from what guests hear, touch, taste and smell.
Why this matters:
Your brain flags multi sensory experiences as meaningful. That’s how we turn your event into something people remember long after it’s over.
These details deepen the experience and trigger lasting memories.
Examples
- Imagine your reception space glowing with candlelight, music flowing, and the air filled with the smell of flowers.
- See yourself on the dance floor as the lights shift with the music and the room erupts in cheers.
- Picture a gala dinner where even the food presentation feels like part of the show.
- Imagine guests taking in the scent, sound, and feel of a space that just feels right.
- See your house transformed with lighting, sound, and styling so it feels nothing like home.
Step 4. Raise The Atmosphere
This step focuses on using styling, lighting and environmental design to support the desired outcome and overall tone of the event.
Through thousands of weddings, parties and corporate events, we’ve observed that styling influences far more than how a space looks. It can affect how welcoming, exciting, relaxed, sophisticated or energetic a space feels.
Colour palettes, textures, lighting, scale and decorative elements all contribute to the first impression guests form when they enter a space and continue to influence the atmosphere throughout the event.
Rather than decorating for appearance alone, we assess how styling decisions are likely to influence the mood, atmosphere and overall outcome the client is trying to achieve.
The goal is to create an environment that supports the purpose of the event and works in harmony with the other decisions being made, helping strengthen the overall result rather than simply making the room look good.
Why this matters:
If the room doesn’t match the mood, the experience falls flat. Styling plays a significant role in establishing the atmosphere and overall tone of an event. When done right, people feel the atmosphere before they even know why.
Examples
- Picture guests thinking they are stepping into a plain hall and suddenly finding themselves in a glamorous ballroom.
- Imagine a conference room styled so well it feels nothing like work.
- See your wedding aisle set so beautifully that jaws literally drop.
- Picture your birthday party lit and styled so your friends can’t stop taking photos.
- Imagine your colleagues saying, ‘This doesn’t feel like a work event at all.”
Step 5. Guest Connection
A well designed layout creates invisible momentum. We assess how layout decisions influence guest movement, interaction and connection throughout the event.
This step is all about physical movement from how people move through your space, interact, and engage. That includes how rooms and zones are connected, how furniture encourages interaction, and how layout supports key moments like dancing, speeches, or reveals. We identify dead zones, bottlenecks and areas where the layout may unintentionally limit interaction, movement or participation.
Why this matters:
Bad layouts kill energy in the room. A great layout works with your energy, not against it, helping people feel free to move, connect, and stay engaged.
Examples
- Imagine a party where people naturally move from bar to dance floor to lounge, never stuck or bored.
- See your wedding guests mingling effortlessly, instead of being crammed in a corner.
- Picture your gala where conversation flows because the layout makes it easy.
- Imagine your corporate event where guests feel guided, not lost or awkward.
- See your friends exploring every styled corner, each spot sparking new laughs and memories.
Step 6. Your Event Evolving
- Every event teaches us something. We review what worked, what didn’t, where guests gathered, what influenced energy and participation, and what could be improved. Those observations help us refine the Feel Good Formula and improve future events.
Why this matters:
- You benefit from everything we’ve learned from 1000’s of events in Melbourne. That means smarter planning and design choices, fewer mistakes, and better results.
Why the Feel Good Formula Works
We’ve spent decades observing how people behave at events. We’ve studied how they move through spaces, where they gather, what encourages participation, what creates atmosphere, and which decisions most often influence the outcome of an event.
The Feel Good Formula is built on those observations and helps us identify the decisions most likely to support the outcome a client wants.
As the host of the party or the couple of the wedding, you might be thinking: But what about me? From our experience we have seen time and time again that the events, parties and weddings that focused on the desired outcome first, often achieved the strongest result. And because the guests had the best night of their life so did the birthday girl or the bride and groom or the CEO of the business.
We believe the best events are the result of many decisions working together to support a clear outcome.
The Feel Good Formula helps identify those decisions and provides a framework for assessing what is likely to help, what may hurt, and where changes could have the biggest impact.
That’s what we’re experts in.
While guests may not remember every individual detail, they often remember the atmosphere, the interactions they had, the fun they experienced, and how the event felt overall.
That’s why we focus on identifying the decisions most likely to influence those outcomes before the event takes place.
The Feel Good Formula helps us assess what is likely to support the result you’re trying to achieve, what may unintentionally work against it, and where changes could have the biggest impact.
FAQ section
What is the Feel Good Formula?
The Feel Good Formula is our 6 step method for planning and decorating events that feel amazing and not just look good. It’s based on 30 years of real world experience and is designed to influence how guests feel through intentional styling, layout, and sensory details. Whether you’re planning a wedding, party, or corporate event, this method helps create memorable emotional experiences.
How is this different from a regular event stylist or decorator?
Most stylists stop at making things look good. We go beyond visuals and focus on how your guests feel throughout the entire event. Our process is built around the emotional purpose of your event, designing the flow, mood, and energy to suit that purpose, not just follow a trend or Pinterest board.
Why do you focus so much on the guest experience instead of just the host or main person?
Because when your guests feel amazing, you will too. We’ve seen it time and time again when people are relaxed, engaged, and having fun, the hosts enjoy themselves more. Whether you’re the birthday star or the bride, nothing beats seeing your favourite people smiling, dancing, and talking about how great the night was.
How do you figure out what emotional tone or energy is right for our event?
That’s where we start. We ask the deeper question: Why are you bringing people together? From there, we identify what you want your guests to feel be it connected, excited, relaxed, inspired etc. We then use that as the blueprint for the décor, layout, lighting, and layout. Every design choice supports that goal.
What do you mean by "designing how it feels to be there"?
It’s about more than looks. We plan the full guest journey from what they see when they arrive, how the atmosphere builds, and how the night shifts from one phase to the next. For example, a wedding might start with romance and calm, then build toward a high energy dance floor. Every moment is planned with feeling in mind.
Why do you care so much about the five senses?
Because people experience events with more than just their eyes. Scent, touch, sound and taste all affect how people feel. By designing for all five senses, your event becomes more immersive, more memorable, and more emotionally impactful.
How does the layout and styling encourage interaction?
We intentionally style spaces to encourage conversation, movement, and fun. That could mean placing lounge furniture near the bar, creating focal points like a photo wall or a champagne tower, or using the layout to gently nudge people from one area to another. It’s design with a purpose and to get people talking, laughing, and connecting.
What do you mean by "flow and shift" in an event?
Great events evolve. We design your event to move and shift as the night progresses, visually and emotionally. That might mean changing lighting to signal a dance floor moment, rearranging furniture to open up a space, or gradually increasing energy levels through music and décor. It keeps people engaged and avoids a flat atmosphere.
How do you keep improving each event you do?
We treat every event as research. After each one, we look at what worked where people gathered, what moments stood out, how guests interacted and we use that to refine our next designs. You benefit from all the learnings we’ve gained from hundreds of weddings, parties and corporate events.
Can you use the Feel Good Formula for any type of event?
Yes. The formula is flexible and adapts to any occasion from weddings, birthdays, brand activations, kids parties, engagement celebrations, product launches, and more. It’s all about understanding the type of experience you want your guests to have, and then using our proven steps to create that outcome.