Party Planning 101, Part 2

Hopefully you have your invitations all made out already and you’re ready to start shopping! Wait; don’t go grab your keys and wallet just yet. You need to stop and make another list. You’ve got your budget in mind, right? And your theme? OK! Now, you need to make a list of what you need and what you plan to spend on those things. Do you need a cake? How much are you going to spend on it? Decorations? Are you going to rent a cotton candy machine?

Once you have made your list, look at your calendar again. If you’re planning a party around a “party season” (May is wedding season, September is birthday season, and July is peak BBQ season), you may need to start on getting your rentals and ordering food or cake first. Peak seasons often fill up with reservations fast, so get yours done before you’re left to start from square one again. Even if it’s not really a peak party season, it’s best to call around and see if there’s a list for the date you planned your event and put a deposit down on what you need. Make sure you keep all your receipts, phone numbers and info. This may be a time to invest in a folder, envelope or notebook to keep everything together.

Now you can grab your car keys and start shopping. Before you go, though, make sure you have printed out coupons or ads to get some good deals. Party City offers a $5 off coupon for signing up for their email. Also, they have a lot of sales on cups, plates and napkins during those peak party seasons. I usually buy my cups when they are on sale, buy 1 get 1 free. Napkins are also great to grab on sale as are plastic forks and spoons if you want them in matching colors. The one thing I would skip in matching your theme is plates. It has been my experience more than once, that when you buy cute plates to match everything, all they do is match. They never really hold your food very well and you end up using more than you planned. It’s better to hit Costco or even Target for some quality paper plates. You guests might thank you for it. One thing you always should buy is disposable table cloths. Even if you only use them on a few tables, they will save you so much clean up time! You can get them anywhere these days and they are a time saver and life saver too!

Find an area in your house to stash your purchases until you need them. Large reusable bags work best in a corner. Keep everything handy in case you are shopping and find a better deal on something and have to make a return. One year I bought a lot of decorations at Party City that I then found cheaper at the dollar store and had to dig stuff back out to return.

Once you have bought most of the items you need, it’s time to get those invites in the mail. I suggest at least two weeks prior to the date, but you can do it as early as one month. Think about what else is going on during the time of your event to decide when to send invites. If it’s during summer break, earlier may be better as people are planning their vacations and checking their calendars for back to school. You can even send out a “save the date” early and then follow up with an actual invitation. I like to plan my “save that date” invite via Facebook and then mail out invitations closer to the date.

Now that you are getting your shopping done, I’ll let you be. Next time, we’ll talk about how to put it all together to make sure you have a successful party!