Planning Parties That Fulfill Your Vision
It doesn’t matter how experienced or inexperienced you are. Sometimes a random get-together ends up being the most knock-down drag-out amazing event you’ve ever been a part of. Sometimes something planned for a year gets deflated by the weather. Life has an unpredictable quality to it, and in variable situations like parties, that’s very evident.
In order to throw parties that match your vision, you need flexibility, you need preparation, and you need the right attitude. A multi-million dollar party can implode if it is planned with the wrong attitude; just look at Fyre Festival. Likely, you’re not renting out any private islands for a festival, but you get the idea.
While you can’t control everything, you can certainly control some things. Following we’ll explore several tips for the beginner to help you have fun planning a party, and see your vision for the event come to fruition.
- Not All Parties Are the Same
If you’re having a graduation celebration, that differs from a party celebrating a promotion, which differs from a bachelor party, which differs from a newborn party.
Whatever sort of party you’re having, you want to design festivities, time-frames, décor, snacks, drinks, and guest invitations around said party’s theme. Flowers and foil balloons are more appropriate than a keg at a newborn party.
- Something Always Goes Wrong: Anticipate
Maybe the power will go out. Maybe the neighbors call the cops. Maybe the pizza burns in the oven. Maybe a guest trips into the refreshments table incidentally and causes a huge mess. Parties are full of situations like that. Sometimes all those things happen in the same night at the same party.
You’ve got to expect things will go wrong and affect damage control in advance. Put plastic down near the refreshments area for ease of cleaning. Use plasticware for the same reason.
Plan the party on a weekend to avoid annoying the neighbors. Have secondary snacks, songs, drinks, and the like for the worst-case scenario. Think what might go wrong, and if you can get ahead of such circumstances, do so.
3. You Need to Have Fun as Well
This is perhaps the hardest piece of advice on the list. If you’re planning a party, you’re naturally going to obsess, even minimally, over the details. That’s going to make you an accidental party pooper.
You’ll be running around trying to fix everything when nothing needs to be fixed. You’ve seen one of your aunties do this, in all likelihood. Don’t be that way. Advance prep and contingency plans help you reduce stress.
- Continuously Up the Ante as Possible
The idea of a perfect party is to keep everyone engaged and festive. To that end, you want a “cascade” of things to happen. First the snacks, then the drinks, then the better drinks, then the entertainment, then the fun activities, etc. Keep guests entertained!
A Party to be Remembered
Up the ante continuously as possible. Don’t forget to have fun. Be flexible and expect the unexpected. Match party themes to the purpose of the party. This isn’t all you need to know about hosting your first party, but following these steps will help things proceed closer to how you imagined.
