Top 10 Tips for Planning Your Party Like a Pro

GABS — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:42:45 +0000

Entertaining people in your home is always wrought with a bit of stress and anxiety. Simply getting everything ready before the party is enough to make most people pull out their hair. And, the self-doubt and worry about last minute details is enough to send most people over the edge of comfort. However, planning your party does not need to be this way. Here are ten time tested tips to help you plan the best party with the least possible pre-party stress.

Tip #1 – The best thing you can do for yourself is to write down a master party shopping list and a list of what needs to be accomplished around your home before the date of the party. Get out a calendar and mark off some time to shop and clean your home.

Tip #2 – Enlist the help of your spouse or children in the process of cleaning and de-cluttering your home for the party. While they may not do the “perfect” job that you would, you can always go back with a quick vacuum or dust cloth and finish up the job later.

Tip #3 – When your guests arrive they will need a place to hang their coats and place their purses. One of the easiest things you can do is to clean out your entry-hall coat closet for them to use. If you have a bunch of stuff in there, then you should either find it a new home or box it up until after your party is over.

Tip #4 – When you shop, think about if you will want to send home leftovers with your guests. If you will, then you should pick-up some inexpensive containers which you can send home food in and not have to worry about retrieving your plates or bowls at a later date.

Tip #5 – It is also nice to plan for enough leftovers from your party that you will not have to cook or prepare food on the day after your party. Let’s face it, the day after your party you will be exhausted, and by not having to cook you can relax and enjoy the day with your family.

Tip #6 – When you go to the store to purchase the non-perishables for your party, you can leave them in the grocery bags until the day before the party. Rather than unpack everything and put it away in your cupboards where people might mistakenly eat it, you can simply leave everything in the bags and keep them in an out of the way place until the day before the party. (I highly suggest looking at everything the day before and making sure you didn’t forget something at the store which is vital. This will keep you from having to make emergency store runs on the day of your party when you have other things to do.)

Tip #7 – If you are having an evening party near the Christmas holiday season, you might want to get together ahead of time with your friends and organize a cookie exchange. By doing this you can have tons of different cookies to offer your guests, even though you only had to make one kind of them.

Tip #8 – If your guests will be drinking wine, it is a great idea to use some inexpensive wine glass charms. This will allow your guests to always know which glass is theirs and keeps them from using too many other glasses. Put the charms on before your party to save time when you are serving your guest’s drinks.

Tip #9 – One of the best things you can do when planning your party is to ask other people to bring food or beverages. Many times people ask what they can bring, and you should take them up on their offers. Not only does this cut-down on the budget for your party, it also allows you to spend less time cooking and more time with your guests.

Tips For Giving Baby Showers

GABS — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:58:29 +0000

Baby showers are parties thrown for friends that are pregnant. This practice has significantly changed over the course of the years and has gradually become more and more elaborate and planned.

Baby showers can make an expectant mother feel more secure in the fact that her friends are all pulling for her and giving moral and financial support. Usually the baby shower is organized by non-relatives. But today, there is isn’t abnormal to find family members, support group members, church friends and pretty much anyone except the expecting mother.

Inviting the Guests

Who should you invite? Usually, the guest list will only include those nearest and dearest to the expectant mother. It wouldn’t hurt if she gets a first look at the guest list so that she can suggest who should be invited. If you are planning a surprise baby shower, you will have to do a little research on who should be attending instead of running the list through the expectant mother.

If the child is not a firstborn, you may opt to keep the number of guests down to the closest to the mother. Firstborn baby showers tend to have a larger guest list since it is, after all, the mother’s first time.

The thing to remember is that the nature of baby showers is intimacy. So, for any baby shower party, try making the gathering one of intimate friends.

You could use informal ways to invite these guests: email, phone and others. Invitation cards and other letters are the best way, however, as they provide a tangible, traceable evidence of invitation. Plus, it is the most sure and formal way to invite a person – and in many cultures – the only way.

What About the Guys

The nature of the party is probably going to tend towards the feminine side; if the organizers of the party have a provision for this, then inviting men would be fine. It also depends on the men, since the party may dwell on topics such as pregnancy, children, and other motherly topics, they might not be that excited to join. All in all, it depends on the preference of the organizers.

Venue

Anywhere! As long as it can keep with the placid and fun nature of the occasion, any place would be fine. The more usual places on baby shower lists are backyards, formal halls, restaurants, and basically any room that has the amenities to make a baby shower successful. Just make sure the venue is not crowded and stressful to the mother-to-be. It also pays to make sure the venue is set long before the actual baby shower happens.

When to Throw a Baby Shower

Usually this is one or two months before her due. The baby shower is the perfect time to get your friend baby needs and stuff she may not have had time to purchase yet. It has to be well-timed though – not too close to the due date, and not to far as to whittle down the excitement.

Baby showers are a pleasant surprise to expecting mothers. It takes a lot of the stress of expecting a child off of their minds and provides a means for friends to show support and concern (and of course, baby gifts) to expecting friends.