How To Throw The Perfect Party!

Entertaining, Food & Entertaining, The Holidays

Birthdays, holidays, weddings, graduations, and many other social gatherings stress people out when they are tasked with planning them. With a little structure and foresight, you can jump into your next event without the dreadful feeling of being overwhelmed.

It seems like every gathering has become a major production these days (thanks, Pinterest!) and who doesn’t want their events to seem effortlessly executed? It’s fully possible with a little planning and creativity. In this post, I’ll go over the basic steps I use for planning family and social events. They can be adapted to just about any situation.

Collect Your Thoughts

This may seem obvious but the first step to event planning is to write out a basic plan of attack. You can use your phone, a piece of paper, or whatever you have handy for this step though I personally recommend using Google Docs. The reason I use Google Docs is that I can access it from anywhere (on my phone, a computer, or a tablet), add photos for inspiration or links to supplies, and with a few clicks of my mouse, share it with other people.

At this point, your goal is to get the basics down such as date and time (or approximation until you get that nailed down), guest list ideas, possible themes, and any ideas you may have for what you want (decorations, food, etc.). Remember those free writing brainstorming exercises you did in English class? This is just like that. The ideas don’t have to be detailed at this point. That part will come later.

If you need a little more structure, think of the 5 Ws. Who, what, when, where, and why.

Who is the event for and who should be invited?
What do you want it to be like?
When is the best time to hold it?
Where can you hold it?
Why are you having it?

Once you get some ideas down to give you direction, it’s time to get to the detail work.

Who or What Is The Event For?

This is your starting point for everything else and as such, is the most important. The guest of honor or occasion is the center of attention. Throwing a birthday party? It’s all about the birthday boy/girl! Bridal shower? Whatever the bride wants, she gets! Christmas party for friends? Christmas themed! This will help pull everything together from the guest list to the menu.

If your event is for a person, hone in on what they would want. Let’s say it’s a child’s birthday party. Do they love a particular movie, band, or activity? Focus on them to get your theme. Remember, the event is for the guest of honor, not the person throwing it.

If your event is for a holiday, notable occasion, or celebration of something special, your focus should be on that just as if it was a person. Holidays can be tough if you want something unique but with a little creative thinking, even that is possible.

When Is The Best Time To Hold It?

The timing of an event is more critical than many people realize. Holding a birthday party for kids in the middle of the week on a school day (even if their birthday is that day) would be a disaster since it would be likely that most guests would be unable to attend. An office Christmas party on Christmas Eve? Not nice to the employees who would like to spend that time with their families.

When looking at timing, you’ll need to consider any outlying factors. You wouldn’t hold a Christmas party in August, would you? Likewise, a birthday party should be near the person’s actual birthday, generally within a week or two. Things like bridal showers have more tradition surrounding them which gives you a timeframe to work within. 2 months to 2 weeks ahead of the wedding is preferred.

The time of day is also important. Events in the evening tend to be more formal while morning or early afternoon events are generally more laid back. Just like the date, the time will also be dependent on who you want there. For example, an event with children attending shouldn’t go too late into the evening.

Your guest list may also determine timing. For instance, if the mother-of-the-bride can’t make the bridal shower, you may want to move the shower to a better date or time to ensure she can.

Guest List & Invites

This is something you’ll want to nail down early so you can get invites out and give people plenty of time to get it on their schedule.

Depending on who the party is for, they may already have a guest list in mind. If it’s a surprise party, try to put yourself in their shoes and think of who they would want to share that event with.

A couple of things to consider when making out the guest list are to try not to leave anyone out that they want there and consider any issues you may run into between guests. If Aunt Nancy and your sister Sarah can’t get along, it may be best to only invite one of them (or neither) to avoid any issues on the day of.

Timing will depend on the event. For something big like a wedding, you’ll want to get them out 6 to 8 weeks ahead of the date with “Save the Date” cards going out up to a year ahead to help plan for travel. Events such as baby and bridal showers generally require 4 to 6 weeks’ notice. Birthday invites, depending on the time of year, should go out 2 to 6 weeks ahead of time.

If your event is at a busy time of year such as during the holiday season, the sooner you can get invites out, the more people will be able to fit it into their schedule. The same goes for if you’re having people come in from out of town who may need to book flights and hotels.

Returning to our example of a child’s birthday party, for my daughter’s 18th, she made out the guest list. For my son’s first birthday, however, we will be choosing who to invite as he’s a bit too young to have an opinion just yet.

Use Your Theme

To make an event look polished and professional, find a solid theme and stick to it. I’ve done plenty of events and a good theme not only makes the event look great by tying everything together but also lowers your stress levels concerning planning.

For example, I recently did a bridal shower for one of my best friends. She loves Nightmare Before Christmas so that became the theme. This gave me a color scheme and characters to work with. Despite having less than 2 weeks to pull it together, it looked like we’d spent months planning everything from the decorations to the games because everything tied into the theme.

Conclusion:

Putting on events no matter what the size is always stressful but, with a little organization and planning, you can cut down on that and enjoy yourself. Even for small events such as your child’s birthday or a party for friends, if you follow these steps, you’ll find it gets easier, and before you know it, you’ll be effortlessly planning events for all the major gatherings in your family!

How do you go about planning events such as birthday parties and holiday gatherings? Please share any tips you may have below!