Party Planning Tips II

When planning your party it?s always best to take the course of least demand on your time and budget without compromising the look, feel and fun you envision. The first and foremost step in planning is giving yourself plenty of time to carry out the action items in your party planner organizer time line.

If you have little time to work with solicit the help of experienced party planners as well have friends and family who are time efficient and know how to work under tight time constraints. Gather your party planning committee early. Hold a motivating meeting and have prearranged tasks and deadlines assigned to each person. Ask these for time saving suggestions and above all have everyone take notes. Appoint those who make the most useful suggestions as the key person to follow thru on suggested action items.

Creating The Guest List

Once you have put together your guest list it?s time to give more thought to the menu. Write down your initial thoughts regarding hors d'oeuvres, drinks, the main course, desert and party favors. Keep in mind that some will be allergic to nuts, soy and food additives such as sodium, and glutens. When making your guest list and consulting with your planning committee it is important to address these issues well in advance.

Sending Out Invitations

Nothing is more crucial to a successful gathering than the timely delivery and reply of invitations. This can be approached in different ways depending on the type of party you?re throwing. For family gatherings in the home and other less formal gatherings a quick list of invitees can be drawn up and these can be contacted by phone. A guest list roster makes this task much easier. Your roster should take into consideration your guests travel distance, health, physical limitations, diet, consumption capacity and allergies.

Formal Affairs

For more formal or extravagant parties you need to carefully assess the number of individuals you will invite. Write up an initial guest list and review it with your planning committee to make sure no one is overlooked. Do not send out invitations until you have given more thought to your budget, menu and the location of your gathering keeping in mind that some of your guests have special needs, limitations and such.

Giving Guest Due Consideration

If you?re using a public or private facility determine the kind of wheel chair access and van drop off points. The best time to send out invitations is at least four weeks prior to the event. Most invitees will RSVP within a two-week period. For those who have not responded, send out a final reminder via email, phone call or postal mailing.

Now it's time to set up your timeline checklist so that none of your vital party planning action items are missed.

The next article ?Party Planning Tips III? will discuss setting up your "to do" list in timeline fashion.

Marcus Angelo Askew is the founder of Fimark's Event and Party Planners, an event planning media network at http://party-planner.fimark.net Mark designed and developed Fimark's Party Planner network to help those researching planning solutions, organizing techniques and decoration recommendations get instant access to practical event planning information, tools and software.

Fimark.net is the home of the award winning Fimark Family Reunion Planner, a family reunion planning organizer for reunion planners who wish to implement a more organized approach to planning and executing a successful family reunion. The site at http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net offers reunion planning tips, tools and free reunion planner evaluation software.