How to do a 'mock up' event or prolfile form without it going 'live' on the website?
On the first step when creating a new event, down near the bottom of the form, there is a checkbox labelled "Is this Event Active?" Un-check this and the event will be hidden from the public. You can come back later to set to true -- it's on the first tab when configuring the event.

To display the event on a WordPress / CiviCRM site you need to insert a shortcode for the event into a WordPress post. Put your cursor into the body of the post, then click on the CiviCRM triangular icon just above the field. Choose appropriate options like an event and test rather live page. That will let you test purchasing a ticket for the event without having to pay real money. Test tickets purchased also dont show up in standard reports and participant counts. When you are satisfied with the purchase pages and emails sent you should switch the shortcode to the live page and ènable the  event.

Good luck.