Party Planning Basics

During the planning of my birthday party to try to figure out the best way to have a rockin’ 40th, I realize how very daunting and time consuming and fun it can be all at the same time.

Coming from a big family, parties are in my blood. We went to them or had them almost every weekend for a fair amount of my life. And I would not change that for the world. It has provided me with a lifetime of memories and some knowledge about what I like and do not like regarding parties and overall planning strategies that I am excited to share. 

Here is the formula I find best to use when planning. So let us get to planning!

1. Determine your budget
2. Write your guest list
3. Visualize and Pick a theme
4. Pick a date
5. Pick a location
6. Coordinate the food
7. Send invites
8. Plan the details 

Getting Started 

This is a VERY IMPORTANT first step to help keep you organized through the planning process…..Get a notebook to write everything party related in! 

If your phone works better for you, perfect. I use my Notes app to write down ideas if I don’t have my notebook on me and transfer over later.  However, I prefer the pen to the paper so my notebook is my party Bible. 

If it helps get you in the spirit, decorate the notebook cover and title it.  Make sure to leave the first couple pages blank so that you can use them to summarize the party details. For each section, I leave a page or a couple of pages to take notes or write details. I also use paperclips to separate the sections to help move through the pages quicker when coming back. 

Budget

Figure out what you are working with from your cash flow scenario. Be honest with yourself about what you can spend. This will help you determine important details like what type of party that you will have and where.

Write that magic number down in your party notebook after the first few blank pages. Also form a list of items that you would potentially need to spend money on. This list can change over time so do not feel it is set in stone. 

Some of the items to consider would be:  venue, food, decorations, invitations/stamps, alcohol/beverages, And don’t forget about the cake (or form of cake) and candles!

If you are lucky, you get by with a little help from your friends and you identify a few people that would be willing to help you with the party so there are more resources to pull from.

Guest List

Next you want to figure out who you want there. Do you prefer a more intimate group with maybe just your closest group of friends/family? Or is it important for you to have old friends and new? 

Just start writing all the names down of any and every one you want to celebrate with in your notebook. Do not worry if the list is too long or too short, just write. If you are not sure if children would be a part of the day, just add them too in order to give you the correct number of people possibly attending. We can always take them off the list later. 

As far as deciding if you want to have children to be part of the event, consider these couple factors.  They will add more people to the list and therefore more to feed or limit the ability to invite some. However, it will open the door for some of your friends to be able to come to the party. Often times if I can’t bring my kids, the less likely I am going to be able to attend and that is the reality for many of your family and friends as well. They may still find a sitter because they want time away, but now they don’t HAVE to miss it because they can’t find one. 

You really should have an idea of how many people will be there and budget in order to move on to the next steps of location and food. These factors will determine whether you have a backyard potluck party, reserve a hall and cater, go to your favorite local bar or restaurant.  

Visualize and Pick a Theme 

Envision what would make your ideal celebration. What style are you looking for? Do you like swanky? Fun? Elegant? Whimsical?

Planning yourself?

Close your eyes and start thinking about what your ideal party would be? You don’t need a ton of details, just a launching pad. Is everyone dressed up? Are there a lot of people? Is it at home? In a bar? Are there decorations? 

Planning for someone else?

Ask the guest of honor what their ideal party would look like. Often times we think we know but it could be totally off.  If it is a surprise, try to put yourself in their shoes and think like they do make the party right for them!

THEME

Now that you have visualized the party, start considering if what you want can be part of a kick-ass Theme! 

Depending on if you have your heart set on something specific, the theme does not have to be determined until later in the planning process but it may factor into your other party planning and can dictate location and food. 

For example, if you are wanting something super elegant, you are less likely to pull it off at the local dive bar. Or if you want a luau, you might opt for a house party or something at the park. Knowing the theme can also assist in creating some beautiful invites and making fun food choices. 

Here are just a few of my fave go to themes: (more to come later in another post). 

• anything tied to a specific time period – the 20’s, 50’s and 80s are super fun and fairly easy to get guests into. 
• Luau
• a party based on a color scheme 
• Pimps and Hoes

Location, location, location

In general, you should know your budget and have your guest list ready prior to picking a location. There are sooo many factors to consider when choosing your location, however, these 2 are the most critical. 

If you are looking for the most cost effective way to party a house party is your best bet as long as the house or yard is big enough to support the guest list. Just make sure that you understand that a house party can be a lot of work. You are responsible for getting the house “party” worthy and cleaning up afterwards. This type of party is BY FAR my absolute fave! It is so much more relaxing to me and gives me more of an opportunity to have a longer time to spend with my peeps and therefore enjoy their company. 

Another cost effective location option is the bar. Everyone buys their own drinks, people can come and go as they please. You can sometimes get a special party room or spot to set up shop at depending the location. I have spent many a birthday celebration at my favorite local spot and the party was as amazing as any other.  

Restaurants are similar to bars. People can be responsible for their own food. You may be able to get a small party room for free or with guaranteeing a certain amount of people will be buying food. If you can get a room, fantastic. If not, it may be hard to get around to all of your guests. This is a better option for a smaller group. And you could always purchase a couple of appetizers for the guests.

Another fun option is a park. You can rent or reserve a pavilion. You can use the outdoor space for games and fun. There are a few different food options as well.

One of the most popular options is renting a hall. This goes pretty far across the spectrum in cost and in space. Here is where i suggest looking, a city rec or senior center, a local service or social club such as the VFW, Kiwanis, American Legion, a church hall, a hall at a friends apartment or condominium complex or even hotels. 

Lastly there are several other random super fun places to hold you party like the bowling alley, pool, museum, karaoke room, vineyard, a local paint or pottery locale. There options are truly endless.

The best part about having a party that is not at home is that although you have to set up and clean up, you don’t have to prepare the place and clean it top to bottom. For some people that convenience outweighs the rest!

Maybe you have a locale you just have to have the party for whatever reason, ie it personifies you, you absolutely love the way it looks, it is your dream spot, it has sentimental meaning, etc. If that is the case, GO FOR IT! Just make sure that you fit your budget and list to fit your destination. Be realistic about what you will be getting with that. 

What Do you Do when picking a place?

Once you have an idea where you want to have the party, contact the location ASAP to get the details of how many people they allow, what they provide for the cost and any additional costs that you may have to consider with them, such as security and bartenders. Check to see if they have the date you are considering available and any dates around that time frame that might work for you. 

After you determine if that location will be your dream spot, you NEED to call to book it.  I would recommend 5-3 months ahead depending the time of year you are looking. For example, my birthday is in June, therefore, if I want a party any time near that with it being a major party season, I would want to contact a specific location in February but no later than April. The same for parties held in December.

Food

Food can be a huge undertaking.  A few things to consider when determining the food situation is the time of your party, how much you have to spend, what the location will permit if it is not at home and how many people will be attending.

There are several food options for addressing food at the party.

If you would like to limit the cost for food, you can have the party later and make it only apps and desserts. I absolutely LOVE party food! Apps and dips are what I live for people!

If you are having the party around dinner time, you should offer real food.

If you do not have a big budget for food consider a restaurant or bar. People buy thier own food if they want it and you can choose to order a few items to share.

The most cost effective way to have food is to just make it a potluck where everyone brings a dish. This is the new normal so don’t be scared, just ask. 

Here are some simple but cost effective menu ideas:

• Pasta
• Tacos
• Chicken
• Sheet pizza

If you have a bigger budget, you can have it catered. Or have a few get of your favorite things. But make sure to have a couple items that will your guest would like too. 

Details:

Naw that the most important parts of the party have been taken can of, now it is time to move on to the small details that can make a big impact.

Invitations

Time to send out those invites! If you are thinking about a specific theme, make it fun and embrace the theme.  It is best to send them out about 6 weeks out, especially if it is the summertime or around holidays so people can put it on their calendars right away. We made the mistake of sending ours out in 3 weeks as we scrambled to secure our location and it caused MANY people to decline. 

Also, I am absolutely horrible about paper invites. I prefer to just make a Facebook invite and call it a day but really you should diversify your efforts.

I realize that I have several family members that do not use Facebook or just don’t use if for events. For those people, I text them a screenshot of the invite. If I know they are not savvy to texts, I call them personally or do send a paper invite if I have printed them on time. Honestly a birthday party is not quite as formal and it is the new norm. However, your best chance of having people come to the party is by sending invites to the home. At least for those of us in our later years that have not depended on social media the majority of our lives.

On to the decorations…

Again, if you are doing a theme, stick with that for decorations. If your budget doesnt allow to spend a lot on decoations, just snag a couple items and move on. Decorations and fun and set the tone but they are absolutely not worth breaking the bank over.

Lastly, Pinterest is your friend for ideas! Use it and start a board with all your party fun ideas.