party planning 101: the basics for a great event

In my pre-mom life, I had just found my career niche.

But planning an everyday party can present its own challenges. 

Step One: Figure out the what, when, where (in that order).

Step Two: Decide on a theme and get some inspiration.

Step Three: Set a budget. 

• Food and drinks
• Plates, napkins, cups, utensils
• Decor
• Activities
• Location (if applicable – a rented location, for example)
• Invitations (if applicable – see below)

Be sure to budget in a gift, if the party is for someone else’s special occasion.

Budget: Nunya business – i.e. the bride reads my blog

Step Four: Organize a guest list and send invitations.

It’s helpful to send out invites as soon as you nail down the details, so people can RSVP and schedule the date in. In most cases, I go for Paperless Post or Evite (not affiliate links or sponsored), because they have pretty and free options, and it makes it easy to organize RSVPs in one place. If you want to go old-school, by all means, send a paper invitation (just remember to budget for those + postage if needed).

Invites: We sent Evites

Step Five: Plan a menu and itinerary.

All great parties have food and drinks. They range from salty to sweet, from themed foods to your tried-and-true party standards to a potluck. It might include a full meal or just finger foods. 

Decide on a game plan as well. Will you cook? Semi-homemake it? Ask for help? Order out? Take into consideration which option will help you stay sane. Maybe you prefer to cook while someone else helps with the decor. Or perhaps ordering a cake and focusing on the activities sounds preferable. 

And then go through your schedule for the event. Keep it loose – it can totally change, depending on the circumstances. But consider the flow of how you want your party to go. Include in this the planning of activities. Will there be formal activities? Games? Advice or sharing for the new mom/bride/honoree? 

Food: We asked party attendees to bring appetizers to share, which narrowed down my responsibility to dessert.

Activities: We decided on a few simple icebreaker activities and some giving of advice and sharing for the bride-to-be.

Step Six: Hunt down supplies.

Another fun part is shopping (although that’s debatable). Great sources for party supplies include:

• Dollar store – great for inexpensive decor and tableware
• Target – because it’s good for everything, duh
• Party store
• Five Below
• Walmart

You can also opt to delegate tasks to friends. Luckily when it’s a special occasion, people are usually keen to help out. Ask people to bring finger foods; someone else can coordinate the games or activities; others can come help or purchase other supplies.

Supplies: I gathered many of the supplies from Target and Dollar Tree. 

Step Seven: Set up. (And delegate as needed!)

Finally, bring the whole thing together. I like to leave my schedule fairly open the week before the event, so that I can prep items for the party itself. (That might include filling balloons, early decorations, picking up last-minute food or supplies, or any other incidentals that pop up.) 

And seriously – delegate! People who ask to help usually genuinely want to help. Don’t make it a one person show if you can help it. 

Set-up and delegation: Another bridesmaid coordinated games, and two others helped decorate. All that said, I was able to coordinate the party by purchasing only decor, tableware, and dessert. 

To sum up and simplify, here are the steps (feel free to Pin!): 

The party came out gorgeous (here’s the post with the details), and we were able to encourage our bride before her big day.

Need a little more help? I’ve created a free printable just for your party-planning needs. Simply print out, and use it to help keep you organized.

Lastly, check out my Pinterest board “To Plan” for more party inspiration:

What other questions do you have about planning parties?

I feel like an expert now, so go ahead and ask me while I’m on a roll 😉

Photo Credit:

1 – Kelly Neil on Unsplash

2 – Karly Gomez on Unsplash

3 – Sofiya Levchenko on Unsplash

4 – Rhianon Lassila on Unsplash