Epic parties aren’t defined by the number of guests or the budget – they’re defined by exceeding the expectations of your guests. Above all, parties are an opportunity to celebrate life with friends and family. This will be the first of a series of posts to walk you through the party planning process and help you throw an epic party.
The Four Ps
Without getting too technical, all parties consist of four elements, the four Ps: Plan, People, Place, and Pizzazz. An epic party can’t exist if one or more of these elements are missing.
Pre-Party Planning
Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Q&A Session
Before planning anything, you’ll need to be able to answer some basic questions, namely:
- Who (if anyone) is the party guest of honor?
- When (date/time) will the party be held?
- When do I need to send out the invitations? *For a major event (like a wedding): Date from b. minus 2 to 3 months (e.g. If I’m planning a party for August 15th, I’d write down June 1st here). * For larger scale parties: Date from b. minus 1 ½ months (e.g. if I’m planning a party for August 15th, I’d write down July 1st here). *For smaller scale/intimate parties: Date from b. minus 2 weeks (e.g. if I’m planning a party for August 15th, I’d write down August 1st here).
- Where will the party be held?
- What’s the purpose of the party? This is the “why” of the party.
- How many guests will I invite? This is dependent on where the party will be held.
- What’s my budget? I like to give myself a range, especially at this stage, since I haven’t developed any elements of the party yet.
- Will I need help? If so, who can I enlist to help with what?
This exercise should take about 10 minutes.
Create the Guest List
Make your list and check it twice. Depending on the occasion, your attendee rate will range anywhere from about 60% (for, say, a 1-year old birthday party) to 80% (for a more formal occasion, such as a wedding). Keep this in mind when you plan your list. Here’s how I set up my guest lists.
1. In Excel, open a new workbook.
2. Click on the “Tables” ribbon and click the down arrow on the “New” table icon. Then click the “Insert Table with Headers.”
3. Type in the following headers across row 1:
- Salutation (optional) – You can include this for more formal parties or events.
- First Name – The first name of the person you’re inviting. If you’re inviting a family, you can enter the last name here. For example, let’s say you’re inviting the Thomas family of two adults and two children. You can enter “Thomas” in this column.
- Last Name – The last name of the person you’re inviting. If you’re inviting a family, can enter the word “Family” here.
- Email Address – If you’re opting to just do a mailed invite, you don’t necessarily need the email address, but it doesn’t hurt if you have it.
- Address
- City
- State
- Zip
- Invite? – When you’re first creating your list, enter everyone you know you’ll be inviting and those you may or may not invite. In this column, you can enter a “Y” if they are definitely on your invitee list, an “M” if they may or may not make your list, and an “N” if they are not in your list. After you first compile your list, you can start changing some Ms to Ns or Ys depending on the party space capacity.
- Adult Count – This should be the number of adults associated with that guest or family.
- Children Count – This should be the total number of children associated with that family. Let’s say you’re inviting the Douglas Family, which consists of two adults and three kids. You would enter the number 3 in this column.
- Attending? – As you receive your RSVPs, you can update your spreadsheet with a “Y” if attending, an “M” if they may be attending, or an “N” if they are not attending.
- Attending Adult Count – Enter the total number of adults attending that are associated with that particular guest or family.
- Attending Child Count – Enter the total number children attending that are associated with that particular guest or family.
- Total Family Count – Enter the total number of adults and children attending that are associated with that particular guest or family.
4. To summarize your counted list, click “Data” then select “PivotTable.”
On the next screen, click OK. Now under the Field Name section, click the “Attending?” field and drag it under the Row Labels section. Then, click the “Total Family Count” field and drag it under the Values section. This will tell you the total number of people and the status of their attendance. Each time you update your table, all you have to do to update your pivot table is right-click any cell in your pivot table, click “Refresh Data” and voila. Your total is updated.
Empathy Session
To make your party memorable, it’s essential to take into consideration your guests and, if you have one, your guest of honor. Take at least 30 minutes to create a party that is thoughtful and meaningful to your guests.
- What three things are most important to your guests?
- What are your guests’ main pet peeves?
- If you have a guest of honor, what three words best describe him/her? What does s/he enjoy doing? Hobbies? Interests? Is s/he allergic to anything? What does s/he absolutely loathe?
This exercise should be at the crux of every element of your party. Keep this in mind throughout the entire planning process to ensure that your guests’ needs are taken care of and everyone has a good time.
Ideation
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Now to the fun part. To get started, take a look back at your empathy session. This along with the highlights of the Q&A session will help you determine some initial party themes. I like to limit my theme choices to a top three. Below are some random themes to choose from. Note to the wise: don’t limit yourself to these. The best themes are like little inside jokes that only you and your guests (especially your guest of honor, if you have one) would understand. Children’s themes:
- Character (e.g. Hello Kitty, Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street)
- Princess
- Balloons
- County Fair
- Rockstar
- Color(s)
Adult themes:
- Red Carpet
- Casino
- Wine Tasting
- Cocktail Party
- Luau
Lifecycle Themes:
- Milestone Birthday
- Bridal Shower
- Wedding
- Housewarming
- Baby Shower
Photo Gathering/Mood Boarding
Once you’ve limited your party down to three themes, it’s time to start visualizing the details, specifically the décor, menu, and party activities as a starting point. Granted, you can easily get stuck at this step for hours (even days!) based on the gazillion pictures on various blogs and Pinterest boards.
To maximize your time, pick three décor items, three menu/food items, and three party activities for each theme. These items will help spark your creative juices; they should not be the end-all be-all for your party. Keep these handy, as you’ll definitely refer back to them as you continue along your party planning process. I’d limit this step to no more than two hours.
{Tune in next time when we cover the next two Ps: People and Place!}