Proper Preparation Prevents Party Plight!
So you have your date and your guest lists, and a ton of ideas, now HOW are you going to actually pull this party off?!? Well here are some tips to help get you started. Also if you haven’t read my previous post about The 5 W’s of Party Planning, it’s worth a read. This post is the Bonus content for that one 🙂
Say it with me…”party planning doesn’t have to be stressful!” There can be a harmonious balance between the dreams of planning and the realities of execution. But at the end of the day party planning is as much about time management and planning ahead as cake, food and streamers. So here are the tools and tips I use to help me make a plan, stay on track, and not freak out!
- Start a Pinterest board! (make it secret if you don’t want people to see what you are planning). It is such a great visual tool to help solidify your ideas, remember you are not there to recreate in perfect detail the party planning efforts of professionals, this is INSPIRATION, so survey (look at what is out there), select (pick things you like), and explore (make version that is true to you).
- Keep track of your decisions somewhere, Trello, Google doc, paper list, just make sure to write it down, it will help you avoid over planning or “scope creep”.
- Make some schedules. Write out a “week of” prep schedule and a “Day of” schedule, the more you can pre-plan the easier it will be, even if the schedule explodes, trust me!
- Make the plan visible! Seriously post your schedules and your to do list in the kitchen! If you can have a column for “tasks that you can help with” all the better! I used to get such bad decision fatigue that I could never delegate anything to anyone, it was just easier for me to do it myself than try to think of what they could help with. if you can make the list of things people can help with ahead of time, it will help free your brain up for all of the other things you are juggling. You can even turn your “week of” schedule into a family task board! I have so much I could say about this so stay tuned for a visual planning post coming soon!
- Make a budget, this comes more easily to some people than others. If this feels like a challenge, keep it simple; 3-5 categories, break up your total evenly, then do a gut check and see if you really want to spend equally in each category. Your categories may look like (food, decor, entertainment, venue) This will at least get you a better ballpark and give you a good jumping off point. Then be sure to keep an eye on your spending in a note pad or google doc.
- Figure out your invitations (Old school paper and snail mail vs. Evite, vs. Facebook event or Social blast) we like Zazzle, and Minted for digital and printed invites, but really there are so many that can fit your budget and design abilities. Canva is a very easy platform that allows you to customize just about anything and it has invitation templates!
- Start your shopping early so that if you forget something you have time to go back.
- Time management is key, just know that if it is your first time doing something, trying a recipe, hand making a decoration,, you should give yourself more time than you think you need! Oh and never make a new recipe for the first time the morning of the party, just don’t do it!
- Do as much ahead of time as you can. There are so many ways to prep everything from food to set up leading up to a party, heck cake freezes! Oh and if you need a really good cake recipe, check this one out!
- Limit your freak out! When stuff goes sideways (usually at least one thing will) stop and take 5 seconds to freak out silently. It’s ok to feel stressed and overwhelmed when something goes wrong, that is totally normal, but give yourself a limit. DON’T SPIRAL! And try not to freakout AT anyone if you can. Then take 3 deep breaths and remember why you are doing all this. Parties are about the people! <3 Everything is figure-out-able! You have got this!
I hope this helps! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions! Happy party planning and you’ve got this!