Kids Party Planning Checklist

Dear Friend,
Kids party planning should be at the top of your list if you want to host the event at home or in a restaurant. One of the biggest trends in parties for kids is to have them out away from your home. There are many pro’s and con’s to doing things this way. But most parents love the fact that they can walk away from the mess and clean up after the party after collecting their gifts and personal belongings.

If you want to have a stress free event, it is important to follow basic party planning etiquette. Well, for one simple thing, you don’t need party planning software or anything high tech like that. What you will need is a sharpened pencil, calendar and a piece of paper.

1. The first item of business you’ll have to decide on is whether you will have a themed party or not. Planning a kiddie party is really quite simple because your child probably already knows what he or she wants. Are they a Batman fan? Or perhaps a Hannah Montana fan? Even in the days of Star Wars, those themed out parties were the talk of the party planning circuit.

2. It is a good idea to send out invitations to all the guests your child would like to attend. This is one of the first tasks you must do in order to make sure the event gets on the calendar’s of your child’s friends.

3. You should be able to move onto the third decision for your party. That decision is that of the venue. Some kids like the outdoors and opt for an outdoor party. Other kids enjoy Mc Donald’s and want to go to see Ronald Mc Donald for their big day. No matter what, if you can get them to a themed or event based party, more than 80% of your work is done for you. How awesome is that?

So far, you’ve selected a theme, a date, the invitations and the party place. The only thing left to do is get everyone there on time.

4. It never hurts to remind your parents of the drop of time of the even one to three days prior. Things can change and often do in kids party planning affairs. So, knowing this a little ahead of time with a courtesy reminder will help you host a great party for your child.

Wedding Party Planning Tips

Dear Wedding Party Planning Friend,
Part of wedding party planning should involve the bridal shower. It poses a lot of challenges for you if you are attempting to do both. This is easily dealt with by planning properly.

It used to be customary that someone who’s not a friend or relative to the bride would host the party. But like many other traditions, people would rather roll up their sleeves and get it done instead talking about what is supposed to happen.

1. To make a memorable bridal shower, starts by getting her schedule and master plan from there. In most parts of the world, you have to get documentation from the civil authorities before you can be husband and wife. That being the case, you can used those milestones as opportunities to plan for this wonderful event.

If your bride comes to the party with lots of stress, strain and fears over everything she has to get done, this will rub off on her ability to have a great time. So planning ahead is crucial.

There are themes to consider. If this bridal shower will be like an “all girls night out” inclusive of adult entertainment and lots of alcohol you’ll have to plan accordingly.

Some girls have over 50 of their closest friends to their bridal shower. This some think is just to many people to have a good time. Since the bridal shower is not as rowdy as the men’s stag parties, you can invite fewer guests. Part of this is because women tend to have nurturing relationships with other women. While men mostly have acquaintances.

2. Party favors and memorabilia are a wonderful way for your guests to remember their time spent with you prior to your big wedding day.

You could have self-crafted food stuffs and items, candles, pictures, scrapbooks, and a whole host of assorted materials for your guests to keep.

A big trend today is to have memoirs that are inscribed with a time, date, and place or even a special saying. This would be a really nice keepsake for many of your guests. What it does is anchor the memory of your event in their minds.

3. The location of the event is also a big consideration. Many people opt to have the bridal shower at their homes. Others will occupy the future mother in-laws residence for the event. Some families insist upon having separate parties for the new family member. If you run into this you will see why proper wedding party planning was essential for you having a great time to remember.

Holiday Party Planning Tips

Dear Holiday Party Planning Friend,
Holiday party planning is always a lot of stress and hard work for most people. But if you follow some of the basic tips on hosting a great event, you’ll be happy, healthier and more well rounded for having done so.

To make the occasion as memorable as possible, you’ll have to engage some outside help or have a family hard working people not afraid to chip in. The success of the event will depend mostly on your preparations. If you are the host then most likely, you will be coordinating everything. And you know what they say happens then. . . if you coordinate then you are obligated to make everyone else happy.

First of all if you choose one of the major holidays, your theme should come to you. Christmas, New Years, 4th of July, Memorial Day, St Patrick’s Day etc., are all national holidays in the United States. People get together and take time off of work.

If you are throwing the party around one of those days, all you need to do is tie in your theme with the holiday. How easy is that? I mean, you don’t have to think a ton about what to do, especially if its the 4th of July. In fact, most of those holidays actually have prescribed things we would normally do on those days. This should come as a relief for you.

Since everything is virtually done for you, your job is more of a coordinator. No matter what, with most holidays, they tend to focus around eating festive foods. Another name for this could be themed foods. Just think about that for a moment. Thanksgiving is a themed out holiday. You know exactly what traditionalists recommend for your menu because of the holiday rituals. You know what to wear. How to decorate. Even down to the types of foods to prepare.

Along with having the theme for the party preselected for you, you may already have a pre made guest list. Your list would probably include friends, family, relatives and of course those from your church or religious institution.

Sometimes it is not appropriate to bring your child to a holiday gathering. For example, in Louisiana, Mardi Gras is celebrated by virtually everyone. They have all sorts of festive activities going on. Many include alcohol. And of course children below a certain age should not imbibe. The same thing could be said for a New Years Eve party. The type and amount of adult activity may preclude you from bringing your child to the event.

Some hosts are very flexible with the age limitations. But don’t take advantage of them by trying to avoid getting a baby sitter for your child should you decide to attend the event. Your party plans should not be a last minute effort this holiday season. Having a child at an adult party can make even the most gracious hostess a little uncomfortable.

Christmas Party Planning Tips and Tricks

Dear Friend,
Christmas party planning should be more for a joyous occasion rather than one thought of as being filled with tons of work. But someone has to host the party. Unfortunately, it may fall on you to do most of the work this year.

Here are three major tips that if followed you will surprise everyone including yourself, as you work to stress less and get more work done.

Before you begin, just take note of the best Christmas parties you have ever been to. Think about them for maybe one or two minutes. Okay. Are you there yet? Now recall what you liked most about them. Was it the food? Was it the company of guests that year? Perhaps it was because you got a new diamond tennis bracelet from your significant other. Whatever the reasons you chose certain memories, they hold clues for you to plan this year.

Tip and Trick No 1 – Plan Ahead

Christmas comes once a year. Everyone knows when that date is. Planning ahead will give you the flexibility and the options to make wiser choices. You can save more money by planning for the event a few months out. As was stated above, you already know when your party date is due. So plan accordingly.

In your plans, make sure that you plan on the activities to. Some families have a tradition to open presents or exchange gifts or to visit a grave site of a departed loved one at certain times of the holiday. In your planning, you should make sure not to leave any of that out.

Planning ahead helps you with regards to the selection and mailing of invitations to your event. Christmas really is another theme based party.

Tips and Tricks No 2 – Set your budget.

Budgeting is not a bad word. It is unfortunate that many people think that budgeting is bad business. But the truth of the matter is that it is quite the opposite. With a proper budget, you will be able to check everything against the final budget. No one likes to go to a Christmas gathering and have to spring for extra funds because we came in short.

Set your budget and stick to it. Your freedom is tied up in making the right choices for your gathering. You can make those choices with the proper budget.

Make sure you consider a few of these items:
Make a list of the types of foods you are going to have. Either cater get the heavy work foods like the meats from a caterer or do everything by dividing the cooking chores amongst the family cooks. Remember, if a family member is not a good cook, don’t task them with cooking chores. Maybe they can run the clean up committee or something like that.

Tips and Tricks No 3 – Think Disposable Products.

Don’t try to use the best china for your party. Sure this may be what you’ve been saving it for all of these years, but accompanying the lovely flatware is a load of extra work. If you can, try to use paper plates and utensils for the party.

Afterwards, have the not so good cooking family member run the clean up processes around the home. If you have ample trash bags, this could really be a very simple procedure.

Another little benefit for using plastic and disposable flatware table service, is that you don’t have to worry over anything becoming chipped and dented as a result of dropping it during this time.

China as you know is very fragile.

Tips and Tricks No 4 – If you are exchanging gifts keep it fair.

If you are exchanging gifts, it is best to have some rules attached to them. It is so unfair some people feel because they have felt cheated. This happens when someone else gives you a “cheap” gift when you gave them something of higher value.

Some of the rules you should consider are: a minimum amount you must spend for participants, where the gifts could be purchased from, and there really is nothing wrong with working from a list of possible items each person would want to receive in the exchange. Then all things being equal, your guests should not feel embarrassed or upset for a “cheap” gift.

The important fact that people should keep in mind is that Christmas is more about giving than receiving. If you follow the four former tips and tricks, it is almost guaranteed that everyone including you will have a great time at your party as a result of proper Christmas party planning.

There you have it, 4 of the best tips and tricks in very clear steps for you to take and use. If you would like to get more easy solutions, in an actionable formula, just go download a copy of “Low Budget Party Planning” today.

40th Birthday Party Planning

Dear Party Friend,

40th birthday party planning should not take alot of the fun that you’d like to have at the event away from you. Most likely you’re going to have a great time, but everything has to go over smoothly. Sometimes, that can be a bigger problem than you would think.

To make this party go off as smooth as silk requires about a month’s lead time to prepare for everything. The types of things you’ll have to remember are recorded below. In fact, it would be a good idea if you just printed off this article and used it as an ad hoc checklist for the event.

Start with 30 Days Lead Time
1. To start your preparations make sure you have at least three to four weeks good planning time. That means, if it is around a holiday and the mailed invitations you are sending get stuck in transit, that will just put you behind. Sometimes you cannot plan around those dates. I mean some folks have birthdays every year on December 30th. This means the mail won’t reach many guests because of the annual shut down in the United States.

Plan On Double Checking Detail
2. Always check your details once and then double check them again to make sure you did in deed take care of that item. There are so many details that, even the professional event planners “forget things”.

Two Days to Go – What do you do now?
3. Two days away from the party is the time that many last minute items need a going over again. The smaller tasks for the most part should just about be done. Be sure to do things like check your camera for batteries, film and flash memory as those little details tend to get forgotten.

Firm Up The Rentals
4. Make confirmation of any rented equipment or halls that you are planning to use. You never know just how these things will work out until you actually pick up your items from the vendor or you are at the banquet facility. Make sure garbage bags and extra containers will be on hand in case you need them. Many banquet halls will charge extra or keep your security deposit if they have to “clean up” after your party.

24 Hours and Counting
5. One day prior to the big event means that you are in the final preparation mode. Ensure that all bathrooms are cleaned and if you need to replenish the toiletries, please do so at this time. All decorations should be in the final touch up mode to. Don’t try to do them the day of, because the stress and tension will more than likely sink your clear thinking.

As a final tip, before you retire this evening make sure that the clothes you plan to wear tomorrow for the party are all set to go. For the birthday person, you may have to slip behind their back to ensure that some “festive” attire is ready for them to wear. Pictures always look better when we have our best clothes on.

By following these simple 40th birthday party planning tips, you should have a grand affair.

Now Enjoy!

Use a Party Planning List

Dear Friend,
The right party planning list can be the best tool in making your next party a night to remember. Isn’t that what you want? That is to make your party the best possible event for the time and money you invested to get it there.

Speaking of things that will be needed in order to make your night awesome, you should leave no stone unturned. You can start in a very organized manner by making a party planning checklist. Now depending on the type of event you are organizing, you may find the need to invest in party planning software.

DEFINITION: Party planning software are computer applications that keep everything you do for the event in one centralized place. This is of immense value as you can imagine. Depending on the type of event you are creating, you can have between one to a million different details. And guess what? Everything hinges upon how well organized you keep things. From your budget to cost overruns, to the entertainment, to signing contracts and keeping deadline in tact, the software solution may be for you. Especially if you are frequently the hostess or organizer of thee types of events.

We alluded to the fact that your budget us critical to the success of your event. No sane person wants to have a party go bad. Where the guests leave disgruntled and upset with you no doubt because you organized the event.

You can keep things in order by first making sure you use a good party planning list. Lets say you are hosting a Halloween party. You want to have everyone come in Star Wars themed apparel and costumes. It would be more meaningful if your event was staged in at a venue that had a galactic or outer space type set up. That would be awesome. Perhaps everyone could gain entry if they new the password. The password you could use are words one of the characters in the movie use. Perhaps Luke Sky Walker or Darth Vader lines would be suitable.

The next concern you need to plan in advance with is pertaining to the food. Will you serve appetizers, a buffet or just finger foods. Will there be beverages, pop, soda or alcohol. Maybe your budget has sufficient room for a wet bar where a bartender on staff would mix up all types of drinks for your guests. This little list is not meant to be exhaustive. But we do hope you think in terms of budget first, invitations (guest list is essential), venue third and type of entertainment last. You do have to think about the purpose for which your guests are assembling.

As you can see party planning list helps you simplify the process. But don’t let this article fool you. It is a lot of work for some people. That is why others will use the services of a professional party planner. These people as a profession are creative and are able to listen to your needs to deliver the type of event you want. Entertaining large groups (50 or more people) should lead you to consider their services.

Food Party Planning

Dear Friend,
Food party planning skills are essential when it comes to hosting an awesome get together, This is something that depends on who you know and how organized you can stay in order to pull it off. If you simply want to invite some people over to watch the Super Bowl, you could go to the trouble of planning just the basic activities. But why bother?

For example, no matter what, you always want to work from a party planning checklist. This has proven over the years to be the wisest way to stay organized and on top of the many activities that will be thrown at you.

The first item from which all other decisions will be affected by is that of how much money are you working with here. If you have large budget, you still need to know this before you start trying to organize the event.

It does not matter if it is a bachelorette party, retirement party, birthday part, whatever, they all need someone to organize with food party planning. This would make it successful.

Using a checklist may seem like a lot of work. But it is less work compared with trying to keep all of these details in your head (and stay sane). Your vendors, that is those who will cater the food, the drinks, the wet bar, the music, the decorators, the party favors, all of these people and businesses want to get paid. They are performing a service in order to get your business.

Don’t be surprised if you have to sign a contracts for your event. Food party planning is big business. Recently, a bride was getting married. She had a difficult time getting the deposit to secure the caterer. This just shows how tough times can be for many people. Approximately three days prior to the event, she called the caterer, and asked for a massive discount. The caterer tried to work with the customer and offered her 10% off. But then the bride to be had her mother go purchase all the table linens, flatware etc for the reception. She was very displeased when she saw her bill because she was still charged for “table service” even though she purchased her own goods.

The vendor has to get paid. They provided the food, drinks, and would have been the linens. The moral of the story is to make sure you stay organized by using your party planning checklist. Knowing what the budget was and what the contract stipulated is important for everyone involved.

Another item on your checklist should be the site of the event. If you are going to use a private banquet hall, or a church reception area for your event, that should be noted. The prices and services will likely vary. So, you want to start sooner rather than later and get price quotes. How many should you get? That questions comes up often. You should get at least three to start. The odd number just allows you to have a built in tie breaker should it come down to two locations with the same prices.

Quotes often mean you have to place money down in order to secure a place for the party. If you have three top choices that are all open for your most desired date, save yourself some money and select only one to contract with. The contracts are legal and binding in most states. Always check with your lawyer or other legal counsel should you have questions. It might not be a bad idea to have your lawyer review your contract before you sign it anyway.

What has happened is that many vendors have lost money. They either held the property for a customer that did not show up. Or they lost money by having the customer flat out not pay them. You’ll probably have to put down a money deposit when you sign the contract. I’ve even had to give my credit card imprint to secure the property for a certain date.

Party Planning Tips

Dear Friend,
Home party planning tips are essential when it comes to hosting an awesome get together, This is something that depends on who you know and how organized you can stay in order to pull it off. If you simply want to invite some people over to watch the Super Bowl, you could go to the trouble of planning just the basic activities. But why bother?

It does not matter if it is a bachelorette party, retirement party, birthday part, whatever, they all need someone to organize the event in order to make it successful.

Don’t be surprised if you have to sign a contracts for your event. Recently, a bride was getting married. She had a difficult time getting the deposit to secure the caterer. This just shows how tough times can be for many people. Approximately three days prior to the event, she called the caterer, and asked for a massive discount. The caterer tried to work with the customer and offered her 10% off. But then the bride to be had her mother go purchase all the table linens, flatware etc for the reception. She was very displeased when she saw her bill because she was still charged for “table service” even though she purchased her own goods.

Party Planning Checklist Essentials

Dear Friend,
Having a sound party planning checklist can help you in your quest to have a great event. All around the world, people get together for parties. You can be in South Africa, New Zealand, Montreal, New York or Dallas Texas, and you will find people love to get together with others to have a good. Some do it to celebrate a success. A mortgage burning party, a wedding reception is nothing more than a big themed party.

In college things used to be much easier. You’d simply invite over a few friends. Have someone bring drinks, or pizza and you’d be partying. That was very basic. As we’ve aged and gotten on in life, the expectations of the guests are higher. The demands on their time and yours has increased greatly. This means that not everyone will be able to join in on your event.

The most important thing we have is T I M E. Ben Franklin once said, “Doest thou love life? Then do not squander time, for this is the stuff life is made of.”

Those words are very profound. Look at them closely. They offer to you the reason why we need to get together with others even more. Because life is limited to the time YOU have and that is it. When it is over, it is OVER!

The party planning checklist can help stream line the process and keep you on task. This can be boiled down to three major decisions you have to make as the organizer.

1. You need to decide the type of party you are organizing. Is it for a retirement event? Is it a graduation? A birthday? A wedding anniversary? These are very obvious questions but you would be amazed at how many thousands of people just rush off in a million different directions.

If you are throwing a party and will include adults and children, just what activities will you have on hand for the children? Children have active imaginations. They need something to do that won’t be boring. Or you need to have enough activities to go around for the amount of children that will be there.

If you are having mixed guests, will you have food appropriate for all involved? The reality of many peoples health challenges are that millions have dietary restrictions. You surely cannot think of everything and make accommodations for all of them. But you can make your selections of foods favorable for the majority and have alternative dishes or foods for diabetics for example. Low to no salt, minimum sugar and spices sounds bland. But if the majority of your guests cannot eat the foods, this makes for a boring party.

2. Your second major decision is how you will invite your guests to the event. Some use online databases others will use a service called evite. It is a hugely successful website that manages your invitations, RSVP’s and helps you coordinate the event. You should check it out if you want an easy way of doing this.

If you are going to go the mail a paper invitation or get on the phone route it is often best to make a guest list. This will save you time, irritation (oh, I already called you, sorry you cannot come), and ultimately money. Lets be honest here. No one has an unlimited budget for parties. Even if you did, it would be better to spend it wisely and with prudence.

3. Your third major decision is with regards to where your party is going to be held. Renting a hall or banquet facility will have to be budgeted for. And you may not be able to get the space on the day when you want the event. So, your initiations must be delayed until you lock down a date.

If you are going to use your home, will it accommodate the guests and their children? If you need wheelchair access, is your home already configured to handle that demand? And don’t forget the dreaded clean up. Hiring this out may be the best decision you’ll ever make.

There is so much that is involved in having a good time. It is a lot of work for some people. Others know the power of delegating tasks from their party planning list to the right people. Nevertheless, there is a lot more that we need to get into before your big event, but with the information above, you can definitely get started. Plato said that is the most important thing, the act of getting started.

Home Party Planning Ideas

Dear Friend,
Home party planning for special holidays, events or occasions, require the same amount of attention to detail and effort as do throwing huge themed party. What you need to keep in mind, is that your guests, will spending their most precious resources to attend the event – T I M E. So, make it a grand affair.

In order to make the event as memorable as you possibly can, start with some home party planning basics. These are just simple skills that you must do, in order to have a great time.

At the top of the list, should be a party planning checklist. This checklist is nothing short of your life-line for the party. If you have a well designed checklist, you are virtually 80% done. You read that right. If you have a checklist that you can rely on, you will be able to work from that list and accomplish all of the essential tasks, that must happen for everyone to have fun. And isn’t that what this is all about anyway? Having FUN!

Some of the occasions for which people celebrate the most are often tied to national holidays. These are days like the 4th of July or Independence Day, St Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gra, Labor Day, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday and more.

You may notice that there is a definite trend toward throwing themed parties. Now, what themed parties ultimately do, is make it all about the occasion. Halloween Parties are “themed”. Valentines Day parties likewise have at the core the reason for the occasion of the gathering. This makes it so simple because every detail you coordinate should tie in with the theme.

No matter what, you’ll have to think somewhat independently when it comes to the food for the event, the venue of the affair, whether you will have it catered or if you suggest everyone BYOB (potluck) etc. You’ll still need to put out a guest list or make some type of public advertisement meant to notify the people that you want to attend your party.

You can do it all on your own. Or, if you are wise, why not let others pitch in and help. Someone could serve as the party chairperson, and others could just fall in and make it happen.

When it comes to throwing themed parties, you’ll already have a way to have built in fun. In the case of a Christmas or Hanukkah Party. You’d normally have certain types of food dishes. These are prepared in certain cultures only during the time of the year for which that holiday is celebrated. You would also have traditions about gift giving and the rules of when to open presents or not.

One little suggestion is that if you are throwing a Thanksgiving Party, why not make it festive. All you need to do is make an invitation on thanksgiving themed paper. Could be parchment looking. Or even a scroll. Then you could use one of those old gothic looking fonts or old English fonts on your word processor. You probably never get a chance to use it (because the script is so hard to read).

Next tie the invitation with some string or yarn type material and deliver them to your guests. Do you see how by doing the little invitation a little differently, you are setting the tone for the party already. You are off to a roaring start! These are just a few suggestions that you could employ. They may seem a little silly and far fetched. But you know what? People just love these parties and so will you. Especially if you follow just a few of the tips to make your home party planning event fabulous.