Party
Preparation Tips
There's
much more to a good, effective party than meets the eye. It's coordination,
planning and preparation. How you throw a party is up to you an
every last ounce of your creative juices. However, if you do plenty
of preparation and coordinating, it will show through at your bash.
Here are some general tips for pulling off a successful party
1. Invitations. People have hectic, busy schedules
nowadays. Send out some invitations (catered to your theme) a couple
weeks early. If your guests are particularily busy, maybe you want
to send out save-the-date invitations a month in advance and then
send reminders a week or so before with more details.
2. Extra people. Do you need a couple extra hands
for the party? Think about designated drivers, people to work drink
stations, people to help with cooking. Maybe you want to even have
a friend who you can call in case you run out of club soda 3 hours
in? If so, start looking for them 4 weeks in advance. Friends may
be eager to help out man the bar or be designated driver, but you
don't want to end up empty handed if they're busy. Hired help may
require a month advanced notice.
3. Shopping. Do your food and beverage shopping a
week before. This way, you'll have time for setting up or cleaning
around the house. Buy soda in cans and not large liters. If you
have leftovers, they can be stored away much easier than a liter.
4. Furniture and breakables. A day or two before the
party, if you value your furniture free of spills, then move it
out. Any breakables, store the away for a couple days. You may want
to lock these things up. Create an environment where people can
walk around as they please and you don't have to worry about them
bumping into valuables and breaking them. Consider arranging the
furniture so everyone can comfortably converse with one another.
If you're planning a large party, you may want to think about putting
half as many seats out as there are people, forcing your guests
to wander and mingle.
5. Food schedule. Figure out how early and in what
order you have to start cooking if you will be serving food. If
possible, give yourself a buffer between when you will be finished
cooking and when people are starting to show up. Even 20 minutes
will help you cool down from the cooking marathon.
