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 is the second part of a series of posts to show you how to throw an epic party. Check out part one here.
The Four Ps
In my first post, I covered the pre-party planning process where you answered the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of your party. The answers to these questions form the foundation of your party.
The next couple components to any epic party are the people and the place. Now’s the time to finalize your plans and reach out to your guests.
Finalize Your Party Theme
Armed with your photo and mood boards for each theme, it’s time to make your final selection and choose that party theme. You can use the tool I created below called a weighted decision matrix to help you select a theme. For simplicity’s sake, let’s call this the Party Theme Decider Tool. This tool is actually pretty useful to help make decisions beyond choosing a theme – I recently used it to help my husband pick a new car! But I digress…
First, go through the list of requirements and rank what is least/most important to you (note: 1 means it is not at all important to you, while a 10 means it is very important). Then, go through each theme and rate how well/poorly you think each theme meets the requirement (note: 1 means you think the theme will perform horribly, while a 10 means you think the theme will perform extremely well). Next, multiply the importance score by the theme requirement score. Repeat this process for all themes and requirements, then add the Purpose, Guest Interest, Guest of Honor, Date/Time, Location, Size, and Budget totals for each theme. The party theme with the highest value is the winner.
Let’s take a look at an example:
Party Purpose: | 1st Birthday for My Niece | |||
Requirement(1= will perform horribly; 10= will perform extremely well) | Importance(1= not at all important; 10= very important) | THEME 1:Circus | THEME 2:Luau | THEME 3:Casino |
Does this theme jive with the purpose of your party? | 9 | 10 | 9 | 1 |
PURPOSE TOTAL: | 90 | 81 | 9 | |
Does this jive with your guests’ interests? | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 |
GUEST INTEREST TOTAL: | 24 | 48 | 30 | |
Does this jive with your guest of honor’s interests? | 8 | 9 | 7 | 1 |
GUEST OF HONOR INTEREST TOTAL: | 72 | 56 | 8 | |
Does this jive with the date/time of your party? | 4 | 10 | 6 | 8 |
DATE/TIME TOTAL: | 40 | 24 | 32 | |
Does this jive with the location of your party? | 5 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
LOCATION TOTAL: | 45 | 45 | 45 | |
Is this theme appropriate for the size of your party? | 3 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
SIZE TOTAL: | 24 | 24 | 15 | |
Can you realistically accomplish your vision for this theme with the budget you’ve allotted? | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
BUDGET TOTAL: | 56 | 56 | 35 | |
TOTAL SCORES: | 351 | 334 | 174 |
In my example, I’m evaluating party themes for my niece’s 1st birthday in party. After running through each of the requirements, it looks like the circus theme is the best fit for my party.
I’ll be the first to admit this is way dorky, but it really does help in choosing an appropriate theme.
A quick side note: Don’t just toss your second and third place party themes; you can always use them for another occasion. If you’re old school, print these out and save them in separate file folders. For online savants, you’ve got multiple options. If you have a Pinterest account, save each theme with corresponding images for later view. Or, you can use Evernote as your cloud-based filing system.
Finalize Your Budget
Source: “Cash Machine” by Tax Credits is licensed under CC by 2.0
Now that you’ve chosen your theme, it’s time to finalize that budget. Take that estimate you established in step 1, and apply the following basic categories and budget allocations. Here’s an example using a party budget of $750.
Item | Budgeted Amount | Budgeted % of Total | Actual Amount | Difference |
Décor | $150.00 | 20% | ||
Games | $60.00 | 8% | ||
Supplies | $75.00 | 10% | ||
Food & Beverage | $262.50 | 35% | ||
Dessert | $112.50 | 15% | ||
Miscellaneous | $90.00 | 12% | ||
TOTAL | $750.00 | 100% |
The budget allocations should be updated based on the areas you want to emphasize in your party. Let’s say we’re planning a dessert tasting party In that case, I would reduce the Food & Beverage amount and shift it to the Dessert allocation.
Send Out the Invites
Source: Eat & Drink Chalkboard Holiday Invite by gakemi art+design
When you send out your invitations depends in part on the formality and/or size of your event. For a huge event like a wedding, you should aim to have your invites out 2 to 3 months prior to your big day. For something like a milestone birthday or family get-together, invitations should be sent out about 4 to 6 weeks before your party. For “everyday” parties, shoot to get those invites out 2 to 3 weeks before your party date.
This is your opportunity to give your guests an initial sneak peak of your party theme. If you have the means, you can have a custom designed invitation created for your occasion. Check out Etsy and search “custom invitations” as a starting point. For a more cost effective yet still customizable option, you can use an online printing service such as snapfish.com to create your invites.
Here are some options of how to send them out:
- Mailed invitations: If you have the budget to do so, it’s always nice to send a printed invitation to guests. Who doesn’t love receiving a card in the mail? Plus, you’ll have a keepsake to remember the awesome party you planned.
- Emailed invitations: This is the de facto standard for most parties, as it is free and quick to send out. I typically use evite.com for a quick and dirty invite, but if you have a custom designed invitation, try celebrations.com. This site allows you to upload your custom image to create a more personalized email invitation.
- SMS/Text invitations: If you’ve decided to throw a party at the spur of the moment and you need an immediate response, you can always opt to text your friends and family. You can use the standard text option, or one of the myriad of apps out there such as WhatsApp (free for first year, $0.99 each additional year) or GroupMe (free), build a group chat and fire away.
- Combo: As a marketer, I know that the chances of getting a response increase the more a person sees “the offer.” If you’ve opted to do the mailed invitation option, it would be a good idea to follow up the mailed invite with the email invite. For example, if I drop my invitations in the mail on Monday, I would create my email invitation on Sunday and email it out on Monday, a week after the mailed piece went out.
You’ll want to make sure that the option you choose to send out your invitations matches the tone of your party. e.g. a mailed invite is more traditional and formal than an email, while a text is more for a casual get together.
RSVP
In the invitation, ask guests for a reply within 4 weeks of the party (for a casual “everyday” party, request a reply within a 1 ½ weeks of the party). This will give you a good enough headcount to purchase enough supplies and plan your food and beverage menu. Another marketing tip: it would be a good idea to give your guests a variety of options to reply (e.g. mail in, email, phone, text); this gives them the opportunity to respond in whichever way they feel most comfortable and gives you a better chance of getting a response, saving you time later.
{Tune in next time when we start covering the fun little details – Pizzazz!}