Anne Mcculloch asked:


r/>With Christmas almost upon us lots of you will be thinking about having a party. 

 

Party ideas with loads of accessories to make your party go with a bang!  We will guide you through everything you need to consider to ensure all your guests enjoy themselves. 

“Lets party party!” shouts a friend, but do they realise that a party needs a lot of organising?  It needs more than inviting everyone you know and hoping it will all workout.  The fact is a party requires planning, if it is going to be a roaring success.

First of all get a piece of paper and pen.  Decide the theme of the party.  Is it an adult Christmas party or perhaps it is a kid’s party, maybe all the family are attending. Give yourself plenty of time to plan the party, at least a few weeks.  Avoid trying to throw a party the next day or evening, it just won’t be successful because you just will not have enough time to do everything that you want and you will be left frustrated at its failure.

  

With the theme sorted your next stage is to set a budget.  We would all like to spend thousands on a parties but very few of us can.  So be realistic.  Set a reasonable amount to spend and try and find ways to stick to it.  When the party is in full swing you can tell people where you got the various items at bargain prices!   When writing down your budget  give an amount to each area of the party.  For example, food including the cake, banners, invitations, balloons, table decorations, party bags, outfits (if needed), presents, cost of DJ – if required, etc.  See these are the accessories that need your consideration!  Write a checklist of these items and find out where you are going to get them.

 



Next thing you need to think about is where to hold the party?  Is there enough room at home?  Or are there so many people coming that you need to use the garden?  For example, buy or hire a gazebo or marquee.  Perhaps a local hall is needed?  The local club or Scout hall could all be hired for a reasonable price.  They may even offer to do the catering for a small fee.  As a last resort a hotel function suite could be hired.  It would cost more but the facilities would be much better.  Remember to consider the time of year when thinking of the venue.

 

Planning a party around a theme is easier than doing it any other way.  It may be a year – 1970s theme;  a fancy dress theme;  a murder mystery theme;  a Disney theme for children; whatever the theme the planning will be easier to do if you know these certain things.  For example the cake. 

Try and get other people involved in the planning and tasks.  This will also help with spreading the costs and time.  Especially if a DJ is going to be hired.  A good DJ can cost £100 in 2008 and will probably need to be booked a few weeks in advance.  Around the same time as you send out the invitations.  Ask them to reply that they will be attending the party as this saves catering for 100 when only 30 are really intending to come along on the day!    A word about invitations, it might seem obvious to most but make sure you clearly state in the invitation the following.  The place, date, time, who the party is for, who is throwing it and finally a ‘phone number to contact saying that they will be attending.  Take a note of who you sent the invitations to as this can sometimes cause problems later, believe me!

If the party is for children only, then say parents are also welcome.  Make sure you have contact details of all parents.  Ask if their child has any food requirements ( allergic to nuts, for example), vegetarian, etc.  If it is a children’s party then you are definitely going to need some form of entertainment.  Computer games like a Wii or playstation, or maybe an entertainer, a clown for the young ones, a magician, or comic needs to be considered.  If it is the summer then a lot of people hire a bouncy castle.  I have some reservations about these as accidents can happen if they are not supervised.  If you do hire a bouncy castle then make sure safety is the main priority.  No shoes on, only a few kids on at a time, no ‘carry on’, only kids of roughly the same size on at one time, etc.

Always have a back up plan if the party is outside.  The weather can often control the success of a party.  It is better to have too much of something than too little.  Plenty of food and drink (soft or alcoholic)  can have a major influence on the outcome of a party.

Make sure all the guests get involved.  Circulate the group engage all guest in the party, tell stories of how you organised it etc.  Give them a task if they are struggling to integrate so they feel involved in the whole proceedings.  Once you have made sure everyone is mixing and feeling good then you can relax, a little. 

If you can do all of the above your party will be a roaring success and people will talk about it for months if not years from now.  Lets partyparty will be their greeting everytime they meet you!

For more information on how to stage a successful party and get supplies, visit letspartyparty.co.uk

 

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