Organizing Special Occasions: Weddings, Parties, and Events
Backyard weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, and more. There are so many events that take place in our lives, but how do you start organizing special occasions if you’re the host? It can be overwhelming to plan everything, but this guide can help.
Checklists Will Be Your Best Friend
When organizing special occasions, there are so many moving parts, from guest lists to menus to decorations and more. Making lists can help prevent you from getting to the week – or day – of the event in a complete panic because of something you forgot to do or buy. What kind of lists should you consider making well ahead of the event?
The Guest List
Depending on the size of your event, you may want to start creating the guest list early. For a child’s birthday party, it may just be a matter of finding out how many children are in your child’s classroom. But for a wedding or other larger celebration, it can take time to ensure you have everyone on the list that you want to invite. Make the event eco-friendly by issuing digital invites with online RSVPs.
The Menu
You will spend more time in grocery stores, craft stores, and party outlets than you could even imagine. But having a clear idea of what will be on the menu ahead of time can make it so that you can watch for sales on food items you know you’ll need. Of course, you can always leave that in the capable hands of a caterer!
Décor, Party Favors, and other Non-Food Items
Depending on the type of party you’re hosting, your décor needs may be minimal or extravagant. Again, planning ahead for things like color themes (or for birthday parties, décor themes like dinosaurs, superheroes, Disney princesses and the like) can make it easier to start collecting what you need to pull off the “BEST PARTY EVER, MOM!” award.
If you’re having a more adult (or even teen) party, you might want to consider things like a photo booth and photo props, a dance floor and DJ, and fairy lights. These are all great additions to a wedding reception as well.
Consider whether you’ll need to rent things like a bouncy house or chairs and tables.
While you’re making lists, make one of all the people you think could help you with the party prep.
Set a Budget
Organizing special occasions can get ridiculously expensive. Set a budget ahead of time for the max amount you’ll want to spend. Include a cushion in that budget for unexpected costs. For example, let’s say you’ve planned a huge outdoor event and it’s suddenly going to be a very rainy day. Will you need to order tents or quickly reserve an indoor venue you can move to? Once you know your total budget, you can start planning the big costs first. Are you catering? Hiring a photographer? Renting equipment or booking a DJ? Make sure you’ve earmarked enough for those things (including the likely required deposits) before working your way down to decorations and door prizes.
Consider Logistics
If you’re hosting an event at your home and there are a lot of people coming, where are they going to park? Will alcohol be served, making it likely that you might need to collect car keys or determine designated drivers? Do you need to talk to your neighbors or your local council about noise ordinances? Are there any regulations that you might need to be aware of if you’re hosting the event at an outside location like a local park? Most of these issues can be addressed with a simple phone call or two, but for a lot of us, a phone call is not that simple, and every little thing does add to the time required to plan successfully.
Another logistical consideration is out of town guests. Will you have guests who need accommodation? Can you get a group discount at a local hotel? Will you need to prepare your guest room and do some decluttering at home, too?
Managing Your Time and Stress When Organizing Special Occasions
While we don’t always have the luxury of planning well in advance, the more time you can give yourself when organizing special occasions the better.
Social Tables remind us that, “At the end of the day, parties are all about bringing people together and having fun. Keeping this in mind throughout the process and using it as a compass as you make your major party planning decisions is a foolproof way to throw one of the best parties of all time.”
This means not trying to do it all yourself. Ask for help. Ask for advice from friends and family who have previously hosted events. Delegate tasks that are difficult for you.
Organizing special occasions can be so gratifying, but there is a lot of work and stress involved. Hopefully this guide can help you plan successfully. If you need help getting your home ready for an event, we’d love to help.