Whether it be a birthday party, dinner party or a good old-fashioned BBQ, we’ve all been involved at some point in time in organizing a party. Here are a few tips on how to plan a party that will help take the stress away.
How to Plan a Party-Budgets
One of the first things you need to determine is how you are going to pay for the party. Will you be footing the bill alone or will you be asking people that are attending to help pay for some of the cost? Generally speaking birthday parties and dinner parties are usually paid for by the hosts. Keep in mind with dinner parties that most guests will bring a host gift and/or wine that you can serve. But if you have your budget determined ahead of time it will be easy to add the other elements based on their cost alone.
How to Plan a Party-Location
Factors to keep in mind when selecting a location are; is it easy for people to get to, how much it’s going to cost you to rent, and the overall appeal of the location. If it’s a casual party, i.e. a BBQ, chances are you can host that in your backyard or in a city park. For kids parties it’s often fun for the location to be at an attraction, a movie house or perhaps even a beach (make sure you have plenty of chaperones on hand for beaches).
How to Plan a Party-Attendees
How many people you invite to your party will usually depend on your budget (if you’re footing the bill) and your location. One thing to consider with attendees is how they will mingle with each other. I’ve been to several parties where people tend to congregate in groups because of their familiarity with each other. Your goal is to get the attendees to mingle with each other. So having a common goal like everyone’s children in the same school would be one way that mingling is likely to happen. For dinner parties don’t sit couples next to each other. Spreading the group around the table will help ensure new conversations and ones that are likely to include several people.
How to Plan a Party-Theme
Of course birthday parties themes are generally dictated by the location selected. If your party is for grown-ups (perhaps a Halloween party) make sure you set a theme that’s easy for the attendees. A couple of decades ago murder mystery parties became very popular. Party attendees were sent their characters information ahead of time so that they would have a chance to enhance their role. The rule of thumb with themes is not to make it too complicated for people to participate.
How to Plan a Party-Invites
This is the nervous part. You’ve done all your planning, selected your venue and you’re now ready to invite people. I always recommend that the invitation process occurs in stages. First you want to send out the general invitation informing people of what exactly it is that you be doing. Asking for RSVP’s is recommended. But bear in mind very seldom will everybody that said they were going to come actually show up. Next schedule a couple of reminders. The first one could be a couple weeks prior to the event with the last reminder being a day or two from the event. Again always ask for confirmation of attendance. I’ve talked about EventBrite in previous posts. It’s a free web-based event management platform where you can set up your event and actually send invitations out automatically. It will also track the RSVPs.
How to Plan a Party – The Role of the Host
For most birthday or casual parties the role of the host will most likely be you. So it’s important for you to remember that you will have duties and responsibilities to carry out throughout the event. Not that you won’t be able to have a good time and socialize with your attendees. But if you intend to partake and perhaps consume alcohol throughout the event then you might want to consider having someone else oversee things as they unfold.
Of course there are many more tips on how to plan a party and the ones above are intended to give you a general framework. Basically the message here is organization. Don’t leave things to last-minute and don’t expect that just because you sent an invitation to someone that they will automatically attend. Know your budget and what you need to do to keep things in line. Following a few of these tips on how to plan a party will help you create a successful party and have a bit of fun doing it.
Related articles
- Children’s Birthday Party Planning – It Doesn’t Have to BE This Hard (plananevent.org)
- In Charge of Planning an Event? – How to Get Started (plananevent.org)
- 4 Brilliant Engagement Party Planning Ideas (plananevent.org)
- Planning A Party? Spruce Up Your Party With A Bit of Decor (plananevent.org)
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