Party Planning / Holiday Events

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A Well Planned Party is the key to it's success. ► Helpful Party Planning Articles

► Party Services

A successful party means your guests will have memories to last a lifetime. That's the idea right! 1st you have to decide if your going to plan the whole party yourself or if your going to hire a party service to help with the event. A party service is an industry that furnishes supplies and personnel to meet the needs of party hosts. A party services is typically a local company or agency.

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► Types of Parties

What Type of Party do you want to have? The most common holiday parties are Christmas, St. Patties Day, Halloween, Easter & 4th of July. Maybe your thinking more of a marketing party for business. That's when you host a social event to display and demonstrate products to those gathered, and then take orders for the products before the gathering ends. This type of party is known as "Party Plan." Or maybe your interested in hosting a ever-so-popular personal party. Examples would be Birthday Party, baby showers, housewarmings, congratulations parties, family re-unions, bridal showers & even going away parties.

If your a traditional type of person, then I bet you would love our Theme Party section. It gives you some great ideas on planning a theme party. The best part is- you can have a theme party at any time of the year. You just pick a subject you like and run with it! Yep, you base your whole party of the love of what ever it is you pick your theme to be & your on your way to a great party.

If your a bit of a free spirit then we know you'll love planning a party from our Weird Party section. Did you know that our holiday calendar has a list of unusual holidays that people actually love to celebrate? Well it sure does! Visit our list for the most popular Weird Holiday Parties and it will give you the date to celebrate, the traditional way to celebrate it and a few extra tips too. These holidays are real National Holidays that are a bit strange but gives you a great excuse to have some wild fun.

List of Parties: If you look at our list of parties; it lists everything from Tailgate Parties, to Dinner Parties, traditional parties (like tea party) to superbowl sunday parties.

It's Time to make some Decisions: Here's what you need to think about

What is your budget?

Everybody has a budget and the best way to see how far your money will go is to make a list of all the things that cost money. On the list put the most important things at the VERY TOP and write down the cost of each one. Once you reach your spending limit- then see how many things are left on the list. Can you do without those things to pull off a great party? If yes then full steam ahead. If No then you need to either save up more money and have the party at a later date or have others go in together and split the cost of the party. At last resort- pick a different type of party.

How many people do you want to invite?

Are you wanting a nice quaint party of 6 to 8 that could easily be seated at one table or are you looking to invite 12 to 24 people which would require a more buffet style of eating?

Where do you want to have the party?

Remember you need to pick a place that will accommodate the number of people you are inviting. Will everyone fit in your living room or will you need to reserve a conference room somewhere? Maybe it's warm weather and you would like your party outside?

When do you want to have it?

Make sure you give yourself at least 3 weeks ahead for planning the party. Think about who you are inviting too. What shifts do they work? Give the guest enough time to request off from work if they need to. Will you be having your party on a week day or the weekend?

Invitations • Wedding Invitations • Internet Invitations

You may be having a party that doesn't require Invitation and a simple ring of the cell phone will do. But if you do want to send out Invitations then we have a few tips. Invitations don't always have to be paper and ink. Use your imagination and come up with something unique and different. This section will give you some pretty unique ways to invite guest. If your interested in wedding invitations; we list some intereting facts about that too.

Let's talk about Decorating Ideas & Party-Favors:

Pick a theme color: Parties come in all colors and the party looks more organized if you decide on a color.

Tablecloths: You can use fabric from the fabric store, plastic or paper tablecloths from party stores. Make sure your tablecloths are not to long. You don't want your guests snagging on it and pulling the whole thing off in the floor.

Will your table have assigned seating? This is something to think about too. If so I bet you can come up with some really cool ideas for place setting cards. Visit our place setting card ideas

Kids Tables: Many restaurants put buckets of crayons and coloring pages out for kids. You could steal from this idea and do it too. Maybe add a few other things to the bucket if your party includes children.

Flowers and arrangements on tables: Parties usually always has some type of center piece on the table. At the end of the party you can always raffle off the flowers on each table or give them away as parting gifts or party drawings.

Make sure your decorations are safe: If your using candles make sure they are melted in the holder so they don't fall out and start a fire. Better yet, use the battery candles instead.

If alcohol is being served: it's a good idea to have adequate lighting on any door steps or stairs inside. You can do this in a decorative way.

Table Setting: Are you having a dinner party? Visit our Table Setting page to see what a correct table setting looks like for a formal dinner party.

► Party Games and Party Activities:

Party Games are not suitable for all parties but most parties play games in some form or another. Below we give you game types that are posible at your party.

Children's party games: Children's parties not only have party games but great game activities as well. Popular examples are (Pinata: A piñata is a brightly-colored paper container filled with candy and/or toys.) and (Pin the tail on the donkey)

Common Party Games: This page will give you examples of games commonly played at parties. Many of these are board games that can be played by a large number of guest, groups or teams.

Bingo: Bing is a game of chance in which randomly selected numbers are drawn and players match those numbers to those appearing on 5x5 matrices which are printed or electronically represented and are known as "cards."

Adult party games: Adult party games range from drinking games to parlour games and most of us are familure with the white elephant gift exchange that's popular at christmas parties but can be enjoyed at other parties too.

Door Prize Games: At a party or gathering, a door prize may be awarded to one or more persons attending, via a raffle or drawing. Prizes can be small things such as pens, bookmarks, & buttons or they can be larger, more expensive, items like gift baskets, Peju Wine, plants or cash. Adult parties, business parties and clubs alike love to give door prizes. Prizes are usually related to the theme of the party. If the party is a playful party then prizes are fun and playful as well. A good example of a door prize game is "Numbers on the bottom of chairs" This is a popular way to give away a door prize. Just draw a number & the person sitting in the chair with the correct number wins the party prize.

Raffle: A raffle is a competition in which people buy numbered tickets for a chance to win a certain prize or prizes. It is often held to raise funds for a specific event, charity, or occasion.

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► Party Food, ► Beverages and ► Traditional Holiday Food:

A party just wouldn't be a party without food now would it? Part of the fun in socializing is eating. In fact many parties are based on the food itself and offer plenty of it. But don't let that scare you. Always remember the golden rule... "You don't have to have tons of food to put on a good party. Just make sure you have good food for the party."

Have fun labeling your food:

Halloween parties and Pirate parties are the most popular parties that name their food as part of the party theme. For Halloween dishes like witches fingers, Dead Head Cheeseball, Spooky Spider Dips and goblin stew are popular choices. For more great recipes visit our Halloween Recipe section. Are you having a Pirate Party? Names like "Ye ol' bucket of bread" for a Swashbuckling (pirate) party is just perfect. Favorite foods served at pirate parties are recipes like Skull Cheese Ball Ideas and Crunchy Bones. Visit our pirate food section for food facts and more fun recipes.

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► Food Allergies:

We always run across someone who is allergic to seafood's or nuts. Save yourself some heartache and skip these food if you can. If you do decide to serve them, make sure you label them so guest who have allergies can skip eating these foods.

► Vegetarians

Yes more and more people are becoming vegetarians so make sure you include dishes that cater to the Vegans. You want everyone to be able to have something to eat. You can't go wrong with a raw vegetable platter with dip! This will do just fine. (dips) (vegetarian recipes / vegan recipes)

• Types of Sandwiches , Types of Soups

• Have choices for non-drinkers: Make A Non-Alcoholic Cocktail

• Traditional New Years Food • Traditional Valentines Food

• Traditional St Patrick's Day Foods • Traditional 4th of July Foods

• Traditional Easter Foods • Traditional Thanksgiving Food

• Traditional Halloween Food • Traditional Christmas Foods

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Where can I buy party supplies?

Every Holiday deserves a party right?! Get ready for your next party by shopping for the latest supplies to make your holiday a real hit. You'll find fun stuff for children and adults.