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Party Planning Tips for Hosting a Potluck Party

| Article, Party Planning, Theme Parties | February 12, 2012

Party Planning Tips for Hosting a Potluck Party

The words “potluck party” probably conger up visions of your grandma or the old ladies from church having a party; however, in today’s busy times having a potluck can be a great way to get together with friends without anyone having to do too much of the work themselves.

Just as you are busy each day dealing with getting the kids to school, going to work, shopping, running errands, taking the kids to their own activities, so are most of your friends and family. But, if you want to get together and enjoy each other’s company for a day or evening, having a potluck party might be just the answer. A potluck allows the work of the party to be spread amongst many guests and a get together is much easier to plan this way.
However, to have a successful potluck, you need to do a bit of pre-planning upfront to ensure that not all of your guests all bring the same food, or the same type of food, to the party. While your guests might have no idea what they will bring, try giving each of them a category and ask that they choose something. Even going with random suggestions of drinks, main course, desert, or salad can help to ensure that you have enough variety in your foods so that everyone can enjoy their meal.

In addition to the course suggestions, there are a few other things which can make your party go much more smoothly. They are:
1. Ask all of your guests to prepare their dishes in advance and bring them in need of nothing more than a simple reheat in your microwave or oven.
2. Ask all of your guests to bring their dishes in containers which are easy to handle and will fit within the table space you have.
3. If you will be having a lot of people for your potluck, remind your guests that they do not have to feed everyone there, a normal family or 4 or 6 meal-sized portion of their food will be plenty. Most people will only take a small amount of the choices to be able to sample everything they want without being over-full.
4. Let your guests know that any simple dish is fine. Many people love to try other people’s family recipes and these work nicely for a potluck party.
As the potluck host, you will want to set up the table for all of the food. This should include both linen as well as potholders for your guests to set their hot dishes on. In addition you will want to have some extra serving platters, bowls, baskets, and serving utensils available as not everyone will come with their dish ready to be served.

One important thing which you do not want to forget is the beverages. You can either provide these as the host, you can ask everyone to bring their own, or you can have one person who will only be bringing the drinks.

In addition to the above, as the host of the potluck you get to choose what you will bring to the party. If you are hosting a large party, simply providing the location, plates, and silverware, should suffice. However, if you are having a smaller get together, then you will want to provide a dish as well. Many times the host will provide the main course, such as a turkey or roast, and ask the guests to bring along other foods such as salads and desserts.

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A Party Planner’s Guide to the Best 4th of July Celebration Ever

| Article, Party Planning, Theme Parties | February 11, 2012

A Party Planner’s Guide to the Best 4th of July Celebration Ever

If you are looking for something special to do for this year’s 4th of July celebration, throwing an awesome party can be both fun and rewarding for you, your family, and your friends. 

Ever since the first 4th of July celebrations in the late sixteenth century, parades, festivals, feasts, and fun have been the norm.  Today, a celebration usually starts with a party at someone’s home or a local park, and then ends up with watching the community fireworks go off at the local community park. 

If you would like to have a 4th of July party this year, the first thing that you will want to decide on is the location you will have it at and the time your party will start.  While clean-up is much easier if you have your party at a local park, there will be many other families trying to have their celebrations at your local park as well.  For this reason, you might choose to have your party at your home and go to the park later in the evening to watch the fireworks.

You will need to send out invitations to your 4th of July party as soon as you know where it will be held.  Your invitations are the first sign to your guests of what your party may bring.  By either printing or purchasing some theme invitations you can start to set your party’s theme even before the big day.  This will help your invited guests to begin to get excited about attending your event. 

Once you have your initiations you should fill them out by hand, or print them on your computer, and make sure to include your phone number on them.  In addition, if your party will be held outside make sure you let your guests know this so they can bring the appropriate clothing for the event. 

Decorating for your 4th of July party can be one of the most fun parts to the day for you.  With a red, white, and blue patriotic theme you can really go all out with streamers and Balloons.  Your plates, cups, napkins and tablecloths can be red, white, or blue or a nice combination of all of them.  In addition, add some American flags in appropriate areas to show your patriotism.  Hanging a large American flag near your front door or garage is a very appropriate thing to do for the 4th of July. 

The typical menu for a 4th of July celebration is hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, deviled eggs, potato salad, and anything else you might have at a family barbeque.  For desert you can make a wonderful creation using red and blue Jell-o or a simple white cake with red and blue icing. 

No party is ever complete without some music, and the 4th of July is no exception to this.  However, mixed into your regular dance tracks should be some more traditional patriotic American music as well.  Songs such as “America the Beautiful” and “The Stars and Stripes” are meant to be played on the 4th of July and will be enjoyed by all. 

Make sure that during the daytime hours you take some time out to take photos of your guests in places such as in front of the American flag.  These photos can later be printed or e-mailed to your friends and family as mementos of the day.  In addition, they can be shared with loved ones who were not able to attend the event itself. 

A great ending to a 4th of July party is a trip downtown to your local community park to watch the local fireworks.  If your city or town allows it, take some sparklers and safe fireworks with you for the kids to enjoy while you wait for it to be dark enough for the bigger fireworks.

Most important of all is to enjoy your 4th of July celebration and remember that it is about spending time with friends and family as well as the independence of our country.

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Star Wars Birthday Party

| Article, Birthday Party | January 27, 2012

Star Wars Birthday Party

Even though there hasn’t been a recent film release, Star Wars remains a popular favorite among fans new and old. Kids of all ages from 2 to 52 find the world that was created by Star Wars creator George Lucas to be an infinitely fascinating world in which to allow their imagination and fantasies to take flight in that galaxy far, far away. If your special birthday girl or boy is a fan of these films this is the can’t miss party theme to add to your perfect birthday party list.

There are many ways you can go that will bring the theme to light in a way that allows everyone to have fun. First of all, you could have a classic Star Wars event with the original Episodes (IV, V, and VI) showing one after the other throughout the party. This is perfect for an overnight or all day sort of party as it allows breaks in between the showings and plenty of time to incorporate some serious snack making or pizza ordering without interfering with the DVDs being played in the back ground.

If you want to take things a step further you can also have your guests come dressed as their favorite Star Wars characters from all six films. If you are truly adventurous you can do a back-to-back showing of all six films though this makes for a very long weekend sort of event. Perfect if your birthday falls on around a 3-day weekend such as Labor Day or Memorial Day. Otherwise it’s a great idea but you may want to break it up into two years’ worth of celebrations.

If you are friends or your child’s friends are a creative bunch you can have a session where guests speculate and create tall tales about what happens between Episodes III and IV as well as what happens to favorite characters after Episode VI. This is a lot of fun and creates a sort of role-playing atmosphere for the party that can be a huge amount of fun.

If this isn’t enough activity and you want a little something to wear the kids (big or small) out you might want to invite your guests to a Jedi training academy of sorts. Set up an obstacle course for everyone to follow and a series of exercises similar to what Luke went through in The Empire Strikes Back. The winner can get some Star Wars themed award for giggles and a little added entertainment.

Most bakeries are likely to have a great form cake on hand or in inventory for Star Wars because the theme remains so popular. If not however. There are great cake ideas online that work beautifully for a Star Wars theme with home made birthday cakes. It’s really great if you can try one of these because it will be something a little different from what everyone else who does a Star Wars themed party will have. Of course you could always go with a background of stars and the original Star Wars logo painted in yellow. Simple and yet completely appropriate.

If a Star Wars themed birthday party is anywhere on your wish list for your birthday or your child or significant other’s birthday by all means make your best effort to make this a fun and memorable event. May the Force be with you.

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Over the Hill Birthday Party Ideas

| Article, Birthday Party | January 27, 2012

Over the Hill Birthday Party Ideas

While there are many people who treat the 40th and 50th birthday as a time to mourn there are others who elect to use this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate. Life goes on and there is no better way to celebrate that fact than with friends and family. An “Over the Hill” birthday should be one that brings together both in a roaring fashion. Hopefully some of the ideas below will get your wheels turning for a grand plan for your own over the hill birthday celebration or that of someone you love.

My favorite idea for a great Over the Hill birthday party bash is a roast. You see them on television all the time. They are irreverent and quite hilarious. This only works if you have the type of friends and family to pull this off and not be offended by the things being said but can be a ton of fun with the right audience. Have a great meal and allow all the guests, who are interested at any rate, to get up and deliver their ‘toast’ to the guest of honor. If you want a night of laughs this is definitely the way to celebrate your life and the friends you have (at least those that you had yesterday anyway).

You could do an AFI sort of theme in which you have films or slides showing of various events throughout the guest of honor’s life. This is a great way to pay tribute to someone that has meant a great deal to you when planning a birthday bash to be remembered. Have a red carpet sort of theme and allow guests to pay sincere tribute to the birthday girl or boy by extolling their virtues. This is another great celebration that is a lot more sentimental in nature than a roast but along the same lines when it comes to decoration and meal planning.

For another funny over the hill birthday party idea look to the past. If your birthday girl or boy is a relic you can give the party an Old West or Gold Rush theme. A party such as this can be a great deal of fun to plan and even more fun to attend. Set up a Wild West saloon and have everyone come dressed for occasion. This is a great photo op for most and if you plan things well the theme can be one that will go down in memory by every guest, especially, the guest of honor. Be sure to keep the drinks flowing and make the food portable (finger food is almost always a good plan for adult birthday parties unless they involve plenty of space for sitting down to dine).

Of course there is the standard Grim Reaper type of over the hill birthday party. There are things of course you can do to make your party stand out from all the rest but that will require a creative spark and knowledge of the guest of honor to pull off well. Use what you have to work with in order to create the perfect celebration of life or death in the new century. Of course if you are truly brave you can make it an out of this world experience and go with the black but give the party a supernatural theme. The sky is the limit when celebrating milestone birthdays and nothing is too outrageous depending on the personality of the guest of honor. Just remember that over the hill doesn’t mean not long for this world and life, at all stages, should be celebrated and honored.

A great over the hill party can be had for the cost of very careful planning and a great group of friends and family in order to help pull things off. If you are lost for inspiration hopefully the ideas mentioned above will help at least point you in the right direction if not solve your party planning woes.

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Bring the Barbecue to the Birthday Party

| Article, Birthday Party | January 25, 2012

Bring the Barbecue to the Birthday Party

Grown ups deserve to celebrate their birthdays too. Birthdays are after all a celebration of life and one more year on the planet. It makes sense however, that grown ups would like a little something more substantial than the typical cake and ice cream and childish fantasy theme for their celebrations. This doesn’t mean that grown ups have forgotten their fantasies however and this leaves a lot of room for interpretation on the theme of barbecues when it comes to a great birthday celebration.

You can go the Cowboy way when it comes to a birthday party barbecue and throw a shindig that would make old “W” proud. Texas sized ribs, hamburgers, steaks, hot dogs, and country music for all. Be sure to wear your cowboy boots and have gingham table clothes for this event that should be a family friendly way to go. Don’t forget to bring all the “fixin’s” or ask the guests to pitch in their best dishes in true southern tradition. This is a great way to go for those with big families that want nothing more than an excuse to celebrate their lives together.

If the cowboy way doesn’t exactly ring all your bells and whistles there is always the notion of a Caribbean barbecue. This is a party that would make Jimmy Buffett proud. Speaking of Buffett it’s probably a good idea to bring some of his music along to set the tone and there are plenty of other Caribbean or island inspired musicians to get you through the evening. Caribbean Jerk is a great rub or sauce for the chicken or fish you throw on the grill and you can make do with other traditional Caribbean fare for your dining pleasure and that of your guests.

You could also go the humorous route for your big day and go the redneck barbecue birthday party route. You will want to use cheap paper plates, cheap plastic furniture, a metal tub filled with ice and RC Cola (r), plastic forks and knives (the Sunday best of course), and typical redneck food such as pigs in blanket, gumbo, fried chicken, and potato salad. This can be a really fun party if all the guests get into the festivities and dress and act the part. It is definitely a barbecue that will be remembered, and talked about.

One of the favorite types of barbecues for a birthday bash however, is the Luau. There is something about those Hawaiians that really know how to do a barbecue the right way from the very beginning. Decorations should be island and tropical in nature. Be sure to use coconut cups for drinks and have plenty of Spam on hand (it’s a delicacy there)! You will also want to be sure to have plenty of leis for all your guests and grass skirts, hula music, and plenty of loud Hawaiian shirts for the duration. In fact, a Hawaiian shirt contest (for the loudest of course) is almost a pre requisite.

A barbecue is a great way to bring friends and family together to celebrate birthdays. If you are a little lost as to what to do to celebrate your grown up birthday or that of a loved one, try one of the ideas above or choose your own unique spin on the theme of a barbecue.

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A Casino Night to Remember Birthday Party

| Article, Birthday Party | January 24, 2012

A Casino Night to Remember Birthday Party

Life is a gamble. What better way to celebrate that gamble than by rolling the dice or playing cards all night? A great casino night is definitely a lot of fun to be had by all. You can choose. Of course you will not be able to use real money for this but can allow each guest their own set of chips or monopoly money to play with for the evening and have fun prizes for the winners and funny parting gifts for those who do not fare so well. The important thing is that you are celebrating the great gamble that life really is in the perfect style for doing so.

Whether you go for a grand James Bond Style Casino event complete with tuxedos and a full and flowing bar or go for a more tropical sort of casual casino theme it is important that the music and drinks flow freely and that everyone has the opportunity to have a great time. Great decorations for your casino night will differ according to the style of casino you are attempting to incorporate. Needless to say gaming tables, a roulette wheel, and lots of dice are sure to please your guests as great party décor. Otherwise go with the sub theme of your party.

Be sure to let your guests know if there is a dress code for the evening when sending out invitations. You may purchase your invitations online quite easily or print your own. Again you will want to go with the method that works best with the theme of the Casino birthday party you are throwing. If it’s an over the hill sort of birthday party you might want to make the invitations humorous with some sort of reference to the fact that lighting the candles on the cake may be a gamble in and of itself. Remember to let your invitations begin the party theme and work from there to build things up.

On the big night you can raid your local party supply store or an online party supply shop for all sorts of gambling related decorations. From fuzzy dice to oversized cardboard cards and hundreds of things in between you can go as elegant as you’d like with your casino night birthday party or go for some of the more ‘party’ themed casino settings that you will find as well. You are only limited by your imagination and personal tastes when it comes to properly decorating for your casino birthday party. With that in mind, make the decorations as fun or as elegant as you can stand.

As for the food, what sort of self respecting casino wouldn’t have a grand buffet prepared. Display your food buffet style and if possible have a catering staff circulating with drinks throughout the room. For your casino night birthday party finger foods are the best. Shrimp cocktail, crab puffs, petit fours, cocktail sausages, meatballs, sausage rolls, pigs in blankets, dips with appropriate bread and crackers, finger sandwiches, and any other great finger food you can think of. Another great addition to your buffet table would be a chocolate fountain with plenty of marshmallows, pretzels, and fruits to cover.

You will want to be sure to have appropriate casino sound effects. While it isn’t possible to have a wall full of slot machines, at least not in my neck of the woods, you can get the slot machine sound effect for a more realistic feeling in your casino or you could skip the slots and keep this a table games only section with great music overhead. The choice is yours and the sky is the limit.

Be sure to take plenty of photographs in order to create a scrapbook of the grand event. Not only will this help preserve your own memories of the evening but it also makes a great gift for the guests who have shared moments in your life and make the gamble worthwhile.

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Party Planning Tips for a Successful Italian-American Dinner Party

| Article, Dinner Party | January 24, 2012

Party Planning Tips for a Successful Italian-American Dinner Party

Through the years, the Italian people have always been known for one special thing, which could be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere– their food!  Italian food is one of the most versatile and well loved throughout the world, and this makes it the perfect candidate for the menu for a dinner party.  In fact, rather than simply use the Italian food for the party; you can use an entire Italian theme to make your own Italian-American dinner party your guests will be talking about for years to come.  The best day to plan your Italian-American dinner party is one in which your guests will have a long time to linger around and enjoy all of the food you have to offer them.  In Italy, this day of the week is generally Sunday.  The informal gathering usually starts around one, since many people attend morning mass services, and doesn’t end until the evening time when it is time to take your children home to bed.  Your own Italian-American dinner party can be one of comfort and relaxation.  The focus should be on the food rather than on the table and room decorations.  Your tablecloth should be simple white linen and flowers for the table are unnecessary.   The best centerpieces are a bowl of nuts, some fresh breads, dishes of grated locatelli or parmesan cheese, and simple crushed red pepper flakes.  Your dinner service can be your everyday dishes and even the incorporation of simple plastic dinnerware for the children.  The beverage you will want to serve at your Italian-American dinner party is a simple wine.  Italian people enjoy wine with their meals and the wine is an excellent compliment to the various Italian foods you will be serving.  For those guests who do not drink alcohol, consider having some soda and bottled water available as alternatives. The first course of food for your Italian-American dinner party should be an antipasto made up of meats (ham, salami and prosciutto), marinated vegetables, cheeses such as provolone and mozzarella, and roasted red peppers.  Your antipasto course can be served on a tray or mixed together in a bowl with an Italian dressing poured over it.  The second course of food for your Italian-American dinner party should be a simple Italian soup.  The soup should be served in small bowls so that everyone in attendance doesn’t become too full to enjoy the next courses of your meal.  Generally after serving your antipasto and soup, then comes the main pasta and tomato sauce dish.  The most popular options for your pasta dish are homemade ravioli, lasagna or manicotti served with a meat sauce which may or may not include meatballs.  To accompany your main dish you might choose to serve such foods as sweet potatoes, artichokes, salads or string beans.  While you want the focus to be on your main dish, you also want your guests to have some variety to choose from at all times.  For your desert course at your Italian-American dinner party, you should choose something from the following list:  fresh in season fruits, figs, cakes, cookies or an Italian pastry.  Because your guests will likely be very full, plan to serve desert at least one hour after the main meal, and allow for it to be something light rather than something rich and heavy.  It always amazes me that the above is the typical Sunday for most all Italian families.  How they manage to eat all of this food, week after week, and yet not gain a lot of weight is a serious mystery to behold.  However, for your once in a while dinner party, a traditional Italian feast makes a wonderful, and simple, menu which will be enjoyed by both the adults and children in attendance.  The most important thing you need to remember about hosting an Italian-American dinner party is that it is all about your guests and the food, not about the cleanliness and order in your home.  Cook some good food, and enjoy your friends and family.

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A Professional Party Planner’s Guide for Hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Party

| Article, Dinner Party | January 24, 2012

A Professional Party Planner’s Guide for Hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Party

If you are looking to plan an amazing and memorable party for adult guests, consider the idea of hosting a murder mystery dinner party.  I have had the pleasure of attending a murder mystery dinner party in the past, and I can tell you that we all simply had a blast.

You may be wondering exactly what a murder mystery party is about.  If so, I can tell you that it was similar to a murder mystery dinner theater, except that we as the guests were the actors rather than simply observers trying to figure out who was the murderer. And, unlike professional dinner theater, all of the guests had a much easier time communicating their clues to each other.

When you are planning your murder mystery party, you have two options as for what to do about the storyline and characters.  The first is that you can attempt to create your own murder mystery.  The second, and much more common, is to purchase a kit from your local party store.  The party kit will contain a murder mystery story, a specific number of characters (depending on how many people will be at your party), background information on the characters, costume suggestions for guests, a package of clues for each guest, and usually initiations to the party itself.

In addition, many kits come with a guide that you can follow to have a fun and successful party; and some even come with gifts to give to the winners of the game.  Some guides let the party host know how the murderer is; other kits let that be a surprise.

When you are throwing a murder mystery dinner party it is vital that all of your characters attend and come on time as well.  Let your guests know this ahead of time and require a simple RSVP for the evening early enough in the planning process that you can always find new characters to attend if you need to.  The worst thing that could happen is that your murderer will be absent from the party – and how horrible would that be!

Once you know for sure who will be attending your murder mystery dinner party, then it is time to deliver to each person the information on who their character is, their costume suggestions and their specific background story to share with the other guests as part of the game.  As the evening progresses your guests will be providing each other with information which has come from your kit.

It is common for a murder mystery dinner party to start out with each person introducing their character.  Then, between courses, each person will again speak about their character and give hints which will be needed to solve the murder mystery.  When you run your dinner in this fashion, you can count on your dinner lasting about two to three hours, and your mystery to be solved during, or directly after, your desert time.

The murder mystery dinner party I attended was a mob hit in Italy.  We came to the party dressed as stereo-typical mob characters from the old days, and our location was in a local Italian Restaurant.  We had all of the characters you can associate with the mob, and we shared our information and hints with each other between courses.  Our murder mystery dinner party lasted about three hours and our murderer was given a small prize for the amazing acting they did that night.

A murder mystery dinner party can be a great escape for you and your friends to play one night while the kids are out of the house.  The only real limitation on the evening is your own imagination and that of your friends and relatives who you invite.  This is definitely an informal party and one which you will want to invite everyone you know to attend – especially the “odder” people in your life.  To your party!

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A Pirate of a Birthday Party

| Article, Birthday Party | January 24, 2012

A Pirate of a Birthday Party

Pirates have for a very long time been a source of great fascination for children. This is why a pirate themed birthday party can be one of the most interesting and entertaining party ideas on the planet if you are willing to pay careful time and attention to the planning process. There are things you will need, of course, in order to pull the pirate’s party off without a hitch and the most important is a lot of patience and the ability to organize well, plan for contingencies, and be flexible when the big event finally arrives. If you can do all these things with style and grace then a pirate’s life really may be for ye.

Set the stage with the invitations. A great idea to use for the invites is a pirate’s map. Let “X” mark the spot, give the date and time and remind everyone to dress in their pirate’s best (make a costume contest a part of the festivities). This lets everyone know the theme ahead of time as well as the fact that they should show up dressed for the occasion. I suggest making a cute rhyme in a pirate’s voice to go along with the invitation. Something like

Ho ho hum and a bottle of rum Our good lad “name” turns nine So come ye to the Weatherly’s And have a mighty fine time.

For decorations you will want to make the party room or the exterior of the house, wherever you are actually having the party look as much like a pirate’s ship as possible. It really is best if this sort of party can be had outdoors in order to provide great places for burying treasure and hiding stuff. If that isn’t possible however, you’ll just have to get creative inside the home.

Party games for a good pirate party are almost limitless. You can begin by handing a clue and explaining that there is a treasure map that has been divided into four pieces. The first clue will take you to the first piece, which will then have another clue that will lead you to the next piece until you find all four pieces. This buys a little time for getting things ready for snacks, cake, ice cream or other adventures that may occur later and gives the kids an objective. Once they have all the pieces you can tell the story of the lost treasure and then allow the kids to go on a massive hunt for the treasure. You could of course have teams with two different treasure chests if you want to make it a competition or race though both teams will win their treasure in the end. You could also, for younger kids, have a nice rousing game of pin the peg – leg on the pirate or a game of walking the plank if you have a swimming pool and are certain everyone can swim (though swim trunks are highly encouraged for this rather than pirate’s costumes) and there is an adult waiting at the bottom just in case.

Whether or not it’s a pirate’s life for you, chances are quite good that throwing an excellent pirate themed birthday bash will make you the mom of your little one’s dreams – at least for a day and will give the neighborhood and, of course, all your guests something to talk about until the next great event takes place.

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