How to Plan the Perfect Party with Ease

The holidays are finally behind us, now is a time when many people plan an elaborate party, cookouts and fun get-together. How do you plan the perfect party? There are many key points to consider when planning your party to make it go smoothly. You don’t want to under-plan and then have to be rushing around serving drinks, cleaning up, and not getting a chance to visit with your guests. That is why it is essential to take care of these details beforehand; and that is what a good party planner does.

Plan the Perfect Party

• You really need to hire your own little staff for party day. It is much more affordable than you can imagine. Your first employee is your bartender. Be shrewd. You probably know someone whose son or daughter would be happy to bartend for a very reasonable price, maybe even free as a favor to you. Or, you can also barter. It worked years ago. Why not do it now, and save yourself a bundle. You have something I want. I have something you want. You scratch my back. I’ll scratch yours. In other words, you can offer to babysit in exchange for a night of bartending, or even waitressing. 

• When it’s time to plan for entertainment, take a look at your guest list. If it’s a party with the girls, consider mimosa’s and Ladbrokes bingo to keep the girls entertained. 

• Those are the next employees you will need. And again, you can ask a favor, barter, or find a student who is looking to make an extra buck and will do it cheap. You will need at least one hostess and bus boy for every ten people. Think of the time and effort that will save you. All that time you would be serving food, drinks, and cleaning up after your guests, when you could be enjoying yourself and mingling with everyone. So many party throwers end up not enjoying their own parties. After all the money they spend to plan a great party, they don’t even get to experience it. That is what careful planning will get you. Most shy away from it because they think it will be too costly.

• If you absolutely cannot afford another dime over what you spent on the supplies and you cannot find people to do it as a favor, another idea is to do buffet style as opposed to a sit down dinner of any kind. This can still be very classy and elegant, especially if what you choose to serve has a great presentation. You want foods that are delicious, beautiful looking on the table, and easy to eat without spilling. Keep those three things in mind, then go on the food network website and find a handful of foods that fit the bill. Make sure to try them beforehand to make sure they taste as good as they look; and don’t pick anything too difficult or expensive to prepare. Some fun additions for a less formal Party, such as a child’s birthday party, a graduation party, family barbecue, or other casual-type outdoor parties, are snow cone makers, home popcorn machines, and/or cotton candy makers. You could hire another staff person to run all three of those, or one for each.

• It is actually a great idea to prepare all the food for the party, clean the house, and have everything set up and ready to go the day before, that way on party day all you will have to worry about is getting yourself all beautiful for your big day.