I love nothing better than a celebration! But sometimes all the details of party planning can leave you feeling overwhelmed! But not for long…I’m here to offer you a quick guide to party planning made easy – soon you’ll be planning a fabulous event like a pro!
So let’s get started with planning the perfect party easily!
What is the occasion for the celebration?
Knowing who or what you are celebrating is the first BIG step…it sounds like a no-brainer, but holds so much valuable info about the basic party plan!
Is it a bridal shower? An anniversary celebration? A kids party? The reason for the celebration helps you move easily to the next steps…
When will you be hosting this celebration?
This one is pretty straight forward. Before you can proceed you need to set a date! Consider when most of your guest will be able to attend and when it would be most convenient, as well as the next step!
Where will you be hosting this celebration?
Will you be hosting at a venue, or at somebody’s home, or a local park? Consider the number of guests that are going to be invited and if there will be enough space for everyone.
Now we can move on to the budget…
Budget
One of the most important parts (if not the most important part) of perfecting party planning basics easily – is determining the budget. Setting a budget early on in the basic party planning stage is very important. It allows you to allocate set amounts for different categories of the party. This allows you decide which things you would like to allocate the most funds for.
If other people are contributing toward the event, try to establish what they are going to contribute so that you know what the total budget is you will have to work with.
The main categories that you should consider when planning a party are:
- Venue cost (if applicable)
- Food
- Drinks
- Decor
- Entertainment
- Favours
- Photographer (if applicable)
After these basics of your party have been finalised…
Choose a theme
Let’s move on to the theme for this event…
When it comes to deciding on a theme – it may be obvious, or not at all! If the latter is true, I find it helpful to start with a colour scheme – often ideas for a theme will grow from there (for example – the person you are celebrating loves pink and girly – design your theme around pink with some metallic accents and feminine tones such as lace, feathers or crystal…and so on!)
Pinterest is an absolute goldmine for ideas…😉 Other places for great inspiration are magazines, books and blogs (like this one!) of course or even previous events that you’ve attended! Go on, scroll through those photos on your phone – I’m sure you’ve got some valuable inspiration hiding right there!
Send out invitations
Once you have figured out your what, when, where and theme – you can move on to sending out invitations.
For a more formal occasion (such as a bridal shower or wedding ) I personally like to send out printed invitations, however for a less formal occasion (a kids birthday party, for example) I think that an online invite is perfect!
I know that a lot of people like to send out electronic invitations as it helps keep on top of the RSVPS – if this works best for you, I’m all for it! Honestly it’s about personal preference. For electronic invitations Evite and Paperless Post are great – other great options are Etsy or Minted (for those of you lucky enough to be able order from them!) Or alternatively, why not design your own invite with Canva or PicMonkey?
Time for the finer details…
Here I suggest going back to your categories under your budget and filling in the details.
This means booking a venue (if you’re using one), deciding on a menu, ordering food and a celebration cake and planning and purchasing decor accessories (think tablecloths, chairs, cutlery and crockery, cake stand, flowers…)- all the finer details which make a party special! Tip: That means thinking about your guests and what will make them feel special too!
Visualise your party – is there anything you’ve missed or overlooked?
A little bit more about the details…
Venue
Book and pay the deposit for the venue as soon as possible so that it is secured and you can take it off of the list of tasks to do.
Food
Consider whether you will be outsourcing the eats, or catering yourself – you might also consider delegating some of the food responsibilities to other guest. Is there a friend who was a particular “speciality”? Why not ask them if they would be willing to make it for your event? (Even if you reimburse them for it) For my son’s one birthday party, friends of ours offered to bring a plate of eats – I gratefully accepted and they brought the most delicious pecan nut pies – something I definitely wouldn’t have had time to make myself with preparing so many other dishes!
Drinks
What drinks will you be serving? Hot or cold? China and glass or paper? Can you purchase these in advance? Are you asking anybody to bring drinks along…you get the picture!
Decor
Make a list of items that you already have or are borrowing. Next make a list of items that you still need – where will you get these? Lastly, list the items that you need to purchase, and make note of anything that you need to DIY.
Entertainment
Music is great for ambience – consider setting up a play list ahead of time! Tip: Why not ask each guest to send through a title of a special song and compile a list of everyone’s favourites?
If it is a kiddies event (or even if you are planning something to keep the kids entertained at your event) things like a jumping castle, magic show or kiddies games are great options! Some other great ideas are a bubble blower, a balloon twister (think cute sausage dog or pretty flowers!) or even a face painter.
Favours
Often times I make the party favours myself. This is great as in most cases you can also do it in advance! If you need to purchase any packaging or supplies, try and do that well ahead of time, so that all you need to do on the day is put the favours on display! Otherwise make sure to order your party favours in good time too!
Photographer
Last, but not least – if you plan on using a photographer for your event – make sure to book them well in advance too! Another great ideas for photos is to have a few Instax (or similar) cameras that your guests can use to snap shots of the occasion!
One last thing…
Consider the layout for your event ahead of time!
Where will the eats go? Where will everybody sit, or won’t there be formal seating arrangements?
Having a basic plan will save you a lot of time on the actual day of the party and setting up will go so much quicker if you have a basic idea of what you are planning to put where!
Click here to download my free party planning printable!
And now that all the planning and hard work is done – you get to sit back, enjoy the party and have so much fun! See how easy it was to plan the perfect party? Party planning made easy! 😉
What is your favourite part of planning a party?
