Party Planning Checklist

Planning a casual party might seem an easy and natural thing, but oftetimes it requires more work than we thought. If you don't know exactly what to do to plan a fun party, this checklist will help you. This checklist is quite general, and can be used for all kinds of casual parties: a promotion, a birthday or any other kind of important time in a person's or a family's life. You can also throw a party just for fun! Children might or might not be involved in your party, but we have thought of that possibility and included some directions concerning children in this checklist, but it is not meant to plan a child's party. You won't need more than two or three weeks to organize your party, but if it falls on a major holiday, give it a little more time, as people are very quick to plan activities for these days. We have written this down for you so that the tasks are all already laid out for you. We certainly hope that it will be useful for planning a fun time with your friends and family.

Tips

You will do most of the work during the week preceding the date of your party, because this is when all the food is prepared and the cleaning is done. But you can still prepare some other things more in advance, and you will certainly appreciate the time you will save if you start planning early.

If you need to rent any items, reserve them at least 10 days in advance. To save time on food preparing, you might want to throw a potluck party. In this case, what you do need to plan is who brings what kind of dishes; you wouldn't want to be stuck with five chocolate cakes and no apetizers.

Let your guests know at least two weeks in advance so they can plan their groceries. If you chose to cook yourself for everyone, don't buy the food more than a few days in advance, as you will want to use the freshest ingredients possible. If you have access to a farmer's market, splurge and go buy your produce there. It will make a difference in the quality of the dish.

Think about ways to keep the children occupied, as well as games for the adults in case the party starts to crash. Adult games are a good way to rekindle a boring party and can help with bonding. It will sure help with having fun!

This Party Planning Checklist is for anyone who wants a simple, practical way to get things done without missing steps.

• Avoid forgetting - keep all your Party Planning essentials in one place (external memory)
• Save time - start from a proven Party Planning structure instead of a blank page
• Stay on track - track progress, come back later, and keep momentum
• Coordinate with others - share the list and divide responsibilities
• Learn the process - follow the steps in a sensible order, even if it's your first time