1. Budget-The hubby and I aren't great financial people, even though we try hard sometimes to be, and I would say this is the number one place when planning. I am not sure how I didn't realize this based on our wedding planning days. Sadly, I discovered a little too late that budget should be talked about much prior to event. We started talking birthday a couple months prior to the event with batting some ideas around, but we didn't discuss the money points involved. Budget is definitely going to dictate what you can and cannot do because the one thing parties are forsure is expensive! We didn't have a set amount before I started researching or shopping, and my original plan for a place was way out of price limit when I checked into it. The lesson I pulled away was that you really need to start discussing budget about 5-6 months prior to the actual event. Next year after Christmas is all done, I am going to encourage us to sit down and decided how much extra we can sock away per month and how that averages out. This way I will know when I start researching what realistically I can look at. The other option is to do some research on places prior to creating a budget and then create a budget around a particular item (nifty favors, cool entertainment, off the wall place, awesome decorations, etc) that you feel will make the party. It might be easier to plan a budget with a goal in mind, but some people including myself could have problems making sacrifices based on one element.
2. Decide what is important to make the party a success-Everyone has different kicks, and this applies to party planning as well. This will help give you focus. For example, we decided that we wanted a comfortable, familiar feeling for Gray. This lead us to have the party at home rather than spending money on a bigger place. It saved us money that I got to spend more on decorating and his actual gift, but it limited how many people we could invite. So figure out what you want more than anything and prioritize around those desires. Remember though that there are limits based on time and budget though.
3. Pick a place and activites that fits your child's age, guest list, and budget-There are a lot of options for kids parties now. I found some pretty awesome party ideas while planning at a variety of price points, and I also found such cute activities and themes on pinterest. When it came down to it, many of the things we thought about would have been a bit of a waste. Our guest list ended up being a mix of ages with the kids ranging from as young as two weeks to teens, and Gray really is just getting to the point where he is interacting more. It just didn't make sense for us to have a party filled with activities that wouldn't be enjoyed and a huge waste of time and money. A home party ended up being great because the youngest kiddos ended up being entertainment for the older ones, and being in a smaller, kid friendly space allowed the adults to relax a little be and have a chance to talk and mingle as well. Also remember your guest's needs when planning and make accommodations as needed. We went to another first birthday party the following weekend that was a rec center pool area. This party had equal parts kids and adults, and they rented the whole indoor facility for a couple of hours. This was perfect for their event. If you live in the NRH area, then I would definitely suggest their rec center-excellent facility. For example, I should have made sure to have two separate places for changing diapers and feeding schedules. If I had thought more about my next topic, we might not have had the mishaps we did.
4. Plan your before time based on what needs to get done-This is definitely something I didn't pay much attention to. Once you find a place, you have to think about what it is going to take to make it party ready. This might dictate what you can and can't do. If you decide to have your party at home, make sure that you budget in time for cleaning. If you are getting crafty, you should also factor that into the time as well. Part of why we had the party at home was so I could connect with my inner Martha Stewart a bit, and unfortunately, that doesn't work as well when you suck at house cleaning. Since it was possible that I might not return to my current school and needed to consolidate even if I did, I brought a lot of my school stuff home at the end of the year. So, I wasn't just wrangling with our normal messiness. I needed to completely clean out our middle room and reconfigure it to adjust to our needs. That really too me a full week out the two weeks I ended up having after we got out of school. I really should have anticipated this and started prepping that room at the beginning of May, but procrastination got the better of me. I was also doing the craft projects at the same time, and we ended up working on things up until the start of the party, which is total no bueno. It would have been nice to have had a chance to relax some beforehand. Hindsight 20/20.
5. Know your limits-The only person can really tell what you can and can't do is you. I have recently seen the term pinterest guilt pop up, and several articles have talked about people (especially working moms) having problems dealing with feel less for not being able to get those perfect pinterest parties and activites pulled off. Pinterest is great for encouraging creativity and finding ideas that you might not have tried beforehand, but I can't lie and say it wasn't a bit of a bane of my existence for party planning. I see all kinds of ideas, and I want to do everything. Lucky for me, I have a great partner who reminds me regularly that I do have limits. As much as it sucks to admits flaws in ourselves, take a realistic look at those pins and make sure you are up to it in time, sanity, and money; otherwise you are setting yourself up for failure. Think about what you are good at, and pick a few favorites. Better to do a few things good rather than a ton halfway.
6. It is okay to be semi-homemade-I don't know what craziness I had cooking in my brain when I thought I had when I was coming up with party ideas. I had the fantasy dreams that I could cook-up amazing homemade party you see in the party planning websites in just two weeks. I kept saying I would start things once school slowed down or was out. Needless to say, I was a bit more than upset when my husband did some dream dashing by pushing for me to pick a party theme with pre-made stuff. I really wanted something original, but original takes lots of time and making from scratch. Picking something that was already made ended up being a great thing for me, even if we had a similar party to someone else. It does give you a jumping off basis for your projects as well. As you can see, a mix of the two can yield lots of cuteness.
7. Be ready to deal with hiccups and sacrifices-Whoever came up with the advice learn to let things go was brilliant. I learned this when we planned the wedding, and I had to relearn it with the party. Any big event is going to have its issues; you have to learn to just roll with the punches. I am horrible at taking on too much to chew. When you are hitting a deadline, then you need let go of things go and concentrate on what is absolutely important. If those things take less time, then you can go back and add some finishing touches. We ended up giving up somethings I really wanted last minute, but the party wasn't any worse for wear it. If something happens, then just work with it instead of getting upset.
Well, I think that pretty much sums it up. Time to go onward into a new adventure. Hope my hindsight is helpful for someone's foresight.
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