Planning the perfect, stress-free party - part 2

Here are the last five tips to take the stress out of the planning a party and having fun the day of the party!

Write the invites.
The invites should always include a RSVP date and phone number and email. I was kicking myself one night when I realized that I forgot to RSVP to a party and it was too late to call…Thank goodness they had an email address! Also, if you plan on serving lunch or dinner or just snacks, put in on the invite. Then parents can know what to expect.

Pick your menu.

Keep it simple. Toddlers are picky eaters naturally, so pick one of their favorites like pizza, sandwiches or hot dogs. Of course, be sure not to include any thing with peanuts to avoid allergic reactions. If you are just doing snacks – pretzels, veggies and dip, and cheeses are always big hits.

Pick a cake.

Ah yes, the cake. I blew my friends and family away with my caterpillar cake on Jelly’s first birthday. But on her second, even though it was just with family, my cake was a disaster! I wanted a red barn and silo. Well, I used 2 things of Wilton’s red dye and had a hot pink barn and my silo collapsed. But that wasn’t the worst of it. Jelly took one bite and spit it out, “I no like it.” While the grandparents enjoyed this, I was crushed. I swore from here on I would buy a cake…which may not be so true…we’ll see what happens this year.

And don’t forget the candles! Make sure you have candles for your child to blow out…One party we attended the poor kid had to use his brothers number 7 candle…he was only 4. I just had nightmares of how confused he will be when he looks back on the pictures!

Decide now.

Makes plans before the party whether or not you intend to have your child open their presents at the party or after. Sometimes they may feel overwhelmed with all the gifts at once, sometimes they are ready to dive-in. Judge it on your child's personality before the party and save yourself from any melt-down situations.

Write thank-yous.
Even though your child may not have the ability to write, you do! It makes all the difference when you thank someone for taking the time to pick out a present for your child. I even assist Jelly when signing her name. But be specific to the present and how much your child enjoys it. Just a short note goes a long way!

These 10 tips will allow you to have a stress-free, fun birthday party every time!

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Planning the perfect, stress-free party

Planning any type of party can be stressful, I guess that is why people hire party planners, but in reality if you plan ahead and have a game plan…it doesn’t have to be stressful.

Pick a time.

Obviously any party you plan will fall somewhere around your child’s birthday, but be sure to pick a time that agrees with your child and your child’s friends. I can’t tell you how many birthday parties we have attended over nap time, and it is hard. Determine their best time. For babies it may be mid-morning or early afternoon, but for toddlers you may be looking at mid-morning or late-afternoon. Next, determine whether or not you want to serve lunch or snacks. You don’t want to have a party at noon and only serve chips and soda. And last, have an end-time. 3 hours seems to be the going time period for a party. Just make sure you have a time for people to leave, cause you never know how long they may stay!

Pick a theme.

It can be Elmo, Dora, Thomas the Train or something generic, but having a theme will help you coordinate from the invites to the party favors. Once you choose a theme that your child would enjoy, you can begin looking at party supplies.

Pick a place.

Having a party at home is a great way to keep cost down, but you have to spend countless hours cleaning before and after the party…which can be a downer. So, it may be worth going to a place that specializes in birthday parties.

Pick the entertainment.

If you are going to have 12 toddlers running around, it is sometimes best to have something to entertain them. Whether that is at a place that specializes in birthday parties or bringing the entertainment to you, there are magicians, puppeteers, gyms, restaurants, etc. I suggest checking with friends, the local Yellow pages, or the internet. But if you go with someone that you are not familiar with, ask for and check their references.

But it isn’t always necessary to have big entertainment…sometimes (like a friend of mine just did) making a big fort out of a cardboard box and blowing bubbles is all they need to have a good time at the party. Or even a few simple and fun games like the classic pin the tail on the donkey or a pinata.

Pick the supplies.

We have one party supply store within 10 miles of our house, but there is Target and Walmart and the Dollar Store…but themes are limited. That is why I ventured onto the web. I like the choices and being able to browse several stores from the comfort of my home. Plus, if you shop around you can find free shipping and usually spend about the same as driving somewhere and buying the supplies. (Especially with gas prices these days.)

Don’t forget, you don’t have to buy everything in a “theme” to match the party supplies, but coordinating colors with your theme looks nice, an you’ll spend less using solid color plates or napkins.

These first 5 tips are just the beginning, I will be posting 5 more on Wednesday so stay tuned...

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It's a party - WSD style!

I have been a little lax lately on my weekend steals and deals…so in honor of Jelly beans 3rd birthday (which is still a few months away), I am going all out on planning for her bash!

Hubby and I decided that to keep costs down and not to get caught-up in the craziness of birthday parties every year (especially with the possibility of having another child in the equation), we felt it was realistic to have birthday parties spread out to every other year. So,
the first year we had a "garden party" theme and invited all our friends and family and last year was a simple family get-together.

This year, due to Jelly’s fascination with Cinderella and princesses, we have decided to do a "generic princess" theme. After hours of searching I finally found the perfect invites,thank you notes and decorations. And right now, Birthday Direct is offering free 3-day shipping when your order is over $55. And I have to say, I was impressed with how quickly my order arrived and everything looked great!

Next up, party favors. These can be really tricky with 3 year olds…you don’t want to give them loads of candy (unless you want to deal with grumbling parents) and you don’t want to give them small trinkets (choking hazards). In keeping with my theme, I searched the local dollar store and oriental trading. Both pulled some great results, although sometimes the dollar store can be less than stellar, this new one near my house was pretty nice. Then the great thing about Oriental Trading, you can buy stuff in bulk – cheap. I ended up going with OT for that reason. I found exactly what I needed and again regular shipping was fast and reliable.

On Sunday, I am going to share my birthday party planning tips…and if you have some really great party planning ideas…send them to me at hbgbastet (at) gmail (dot) com and I will include them in my posting.

Have a happy weekend!

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