Party Planning Tips and Shortcuts Everyone Should Know
Planning a party, especially your first party or one for special occasions, can be time consuming and super stressful. Everyone wants to do a great job but digging through dozens of websites can just leave you with more questions than answers. Here we’re going to go over some of the best party planning tips and shortcuts everyone should know – no matter what party you’re planning!
The first party planning tip you need to know? Relax. You can’t plan a fun party if you’re not having a good time. So take a deep breath, let it out, and let’s get started!
Plan Ahead for a Stress-Free Enjoyable Party
You need to plan ahead if you want to avoid stress, anxiety and a bad party.
Ask yourself these 5 questions:
- What’s my theme?
- What time of day is my party?
- Am I serving Alcohol?
- Am I serving Food?
- Will there be dessert?
Your theme needs to be picked out before you start shopping for party supplies; from your theme you’ll also be able to extrapolate what time of day you’re having your party. From there you can move on to deciding what foods and drinks will work for that time of day, figure out desserts, décor and everything else to make sure your next party is as stress-free as possible.
Quick Tip: A good host(ess) knows when to sit back and relax!
Don’t ask your guests to bring food to your party, it’s tacky. Pick a theme and stick with it – and whatever you do, don’t throw a party trying to please other people!
Packaging is Everything
Even if you’re going with a lot of premade stuff, it doesn’t have to LOOK like it! There are so many ways you can package and present food, drinks and everything else to get that stylized look. When it comes to decorating food items, things get super simple.
Quick Tip: Planning Parties? Invest in jars! Jars can do so much for just about everything!
Finger foods are king at most parties – put foods on a stick or go crazy decorating toothpicks with pompoms and other stuff. As an alternative to savoury shish kebabs, stack sweet and colourful treats on wooden skewers instead.
If you do go savoury, don’t be afraid to go with premade – just make sure you’re putting some effort into presentation. Buy a fancy serving plate, put little toothpicks in them so they don’t have to get their fingers dirty.
Décor Shortcuts
Got kids? Have them help you decorate! Always supervise the little ones when they’re working with hot glue guns and sharp ended scissors.
At Arm’s Length: Keep all of your decorations in the SAME place when you buy them; this way when it’s time to start decorating you know EXACTLY where everything is.
Give Yourself Time: You’re going to want to give yourself 3 weeks of lead time to start buying your decorations. Don’t plan everything at the last minute, and if you forget something write it down and get it as soon as you can! If you’re going DIY, start doing it 3 weeks ahead of the party.
Like with just about everything else in life, planning ahead is going to make your life so much easier and give you a better party. Making your treats ahead the night before, taking a few minutes before guests start to arrive (30 minutes to an hour is best) and not being afraid to enjoy your own party are the keys to success. Each time you find a shortcut, take advantage of it!
Created kindly by http://www.partysuppliesnow.