I like to visit with my friends and I like to cook and when I put these two things together it is called a party.
I have never thought of myself as an event planner but I do love to plan parties at my home and I have become quite efficient at it.
Trust me I am no Martha Stewart and lets face it most of us are not.
The important thing is do what you love.
If you want a theme party do it, and if you want an intimate dinner then have at it.
You are in the driver's seat.
The important piece is to plan.
Never be afraid of too much planning but do not let the planning take away the fun.
Stay flexible.
WHO ARE YOU GOING TO INVITE? Your guest list will be the determining factor in almost every decision that you have to make while planning your party.
If you have to rent a location for your event you will need one large enough to hold all of your guests.
The number of people you have will determine the amount of food, how many chairs and the number of gift bags to prepare if that will be part of you event.
So sit down and make a list of potential guests.
SET THE DATE: The date of your event will depend on a couple of things.
If it is a birthday or anniversary type event then you are controlled by the date.
If it is just a party the date may be controlled by the locations availability.
If the event is at your home then you are in control.
Pick what ever date you want.
I have even gone as far as check with some guests a couple weeks in advance to make sure they are available on a certain date.
I really like success! WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE YOUR EVENT? Location is usually the area of the least control.
Some locations require a reservation a year in advance, so you can not wait until the last minute.
Researching locations 18 - 24 months in advance may help relieve a lot of stress early on.
I you are having the party at your house then you just need to deal with the family.
So weigh your odds early on! WHY ARE YOU HAVING THE PARTY? Do you what to have a theme part or just a get together with friends? Last year my daughter turned 23.
We do not have any family around so a family birthday party is kind of dull.
So I decided to have a get together with friends.
I did not want to call it a birthday party because we did not expect gifts so I decided to have an International Party.
The party would be a small party at my house, no decorations required but all food had to be from a different country.
WHAT IS ON THE MENU? When it comes to menu planning I usually go with things that I can prepare ahead of time.
This I learned the hard way.
It is much easier to take something out of the freezer and throw it in the oven, so prepare ahead of time.
I have had so many events where I was exhausted by the time guests arrived that I could not even eat the food that I had worked on all day.
Now I plan it so that I have a shower and a nap before the first guest arrives at my house.
It is not that hard with planning!