May Day! May Day! Organized Party Planning!

Next to December, May and June seem to be the busiest months ever! With Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays and graduations among the numerous events, party planning skills are essential! I myself am in the process of helping plan my brother's wedding (which of course will be a topic for a future post). In the meantime, here are some party planning survival tips.

Get out your appointment book! If you don't have one already, consider purchasing a nice planner. I highly recommend one that gives you a week at a glance but still has a lot of room to write down daily appointments and tasks. Anything less is not sufficient in my opinion. While we are on the subject, make a habit to write down all personal and business reminders and appointments in this book. Keeping separate books is too confusing and may lead to forgetting something important!

Make a timeline! Once you have a date or even a targeted month for your party, write down all the necessary to do items. I recommend starting backward from the date of your planned party. For example, start with what you need to do that day (ex. pick up cake, decorate, meal preparation). Next, write down those tasks that need to be done in the days, weeks and months before the party. Create a deadline for each task and write it in your planner like you would an appointment. People tend to think they have more time than they do in reality! The last thing you want to be doing is to be scrambling around last minute! Check out http://www.partyspot.com/ for planning tips and checklists for a variety of events!

Pick a theme! I find that picking a theme for your party is quite helpful in the planning process. It helps narrow down decisions when selecting decorations, favors, food, etc. Speaking of which, great places to purchase party supplies online are http://www.orientaltrading.com/ and http://www.factorycard.com/.

Delegate! Don't be afraid to ask for help! If you have a large event to plan and have trouble finding willing friends and family members, hire a professional organizer or party planner. For large events, the fee is often worth it as the knowledge they possess can often save you money!

Unleash Your Organized Me!