When you are planning a party for someone, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed and like you are going to overlook something. The bigger the party, the more planning that needs to go into it. To help simplify the entire process for you, the following blog post offers a checklist of some of the main points that you need to cover off to ensure that you get it right. It is divided up into time order to help you move through each step at the perfect moment.
Two Months Before the Party
You should begin planning the main aspects of the party six weeks before, but even further in advance if you want to be certain that you are going to get everything sorted in time. Most obviously, you should pick the date and time of the party. There is every chance that this may be dictated by a certain special event such as a birthday or an anniversary. In all likelihood, you are going to pick a weekend to maximize the number of attendees. Next, think about where the party is going to take place. You need to choose a place that is convenient for the majority of your guests. For those who are traveling longer distances to be there, you need to give them plenty of notice, and perhaps even suggest accommodation options. Perhaps you want to go for something extra special, so you could start looking into a party yacht rental for celebration. Your next details to look into include deciding whether or not there is going to be a theme, whether you want people to wear costumes, bring anything etc.
Build up your guestlist, being as thorough as possible. It is better to create a list that is too long and start discounting people along the way. While you have a pen and paper out, start writing a potential shopping list that features all your catering options. If you need help with the planning, now is the time to put together a party planning team – either made up of friends and family, or you could hire some professionals if you are really getting stuck. You are also going to need a clear budget to ensure that you don’t end up spending more money than you have.
Six Weeks Before the Party
Now is the time to start making an outline of how the party is going to play out. What time will people be eating? When will the entertainment begin? Are you restricted by how long you have in the venue before you are kicked out? Depending on what you have planned, you can now begin gathering together all the equipment that you need for the party. For example, are you going to need loudspeakers and projectors? If you are planning on having the party at home, do you have enough chairs for everyone to sit on? For more complicated equipment, you are going to need to give yourself extra time to source it.
Confirm your booking with the venue and look into booking any other aspects of the day such as a restaurant or bar. Book the other aspects of the party such as the entertainment, decorations, food delivery people etc. Tick each one of these off on your checklist one-by-one. You now need to send out your invites. While you can create a page on social media that lists all of the key details, some people prefer to do it the old-fashioned way with paper invites. While the latter option is more complicated, it provides a nice touch that cannot be replicated elsewhere. If you are planning a party in which people can buy tickets for the event, now is the time to start any online and offline promotional activity.
Two Weeks Before the Party
You are now hurtling towards the end zone of your party planning mission. So, now is a good opportunity to call up your vendors to ensure that everything is still on track. You may find that you have to iron out one or two issues during this time. It is better to make the call now rather than risking anything going awry. Essentially, this helps to give you peace of mind. You may need to head out on a shopping trip to pick up anything that you haven’t already ordered, which can range from food and drink to decorations. You may want to pay a visit to the venue to discuss where everything is going to be put, as well as ironing out details such as parking.
One Week Before the Party
Most everything should already be in place now, but you may have some extra details to take care of such as planning a party playlist if you are going to do the DJing yourself. If there are still any guests that you haven’t yet heard back from, you may want to send them out a reminder. There is every chance that they would like to come but forgot to reply. You may also need to pop back to the shops to pick up anything that you may have forgotten.
On the Day Before the Party
At the venue, this is the stage when you will be putting up decorations, testing the sound equipment, arranging the furniture etc. Even if you have hired a party planner to take care of these details, you still want to supervise them to ensure that it is all going smoothly and the way that you would like. If you have any last-minute perishable goods, you will need to buy them today. You can also do a practice run of the party to ensure that it all goes as smoothly as you like.
On the Day of the Party
It’s time to party! You will just need to set up all the last-minute details and get ready to welcome your guests. While you still want to keep everything running smoothly, don’t forget to enjoy yourself as well!
