All of the party----None of the stress :)

Who can turn down their child when they ask for a birthday party? And yet, actually planning the party can cause us parents enough stress that the thought can make us want to run the other way. And yet we never do, so the next best thing? Have a few tips and tricks in your pocket to relieve your stress.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting a series of my favorite party planning tips and stress relievers. Most of my clients are parents of children. Keeping that in mind, most of my tips will be geared towards planning for the younger crowd.

Date & Time

It may not be the first thing that pops into your head when you think about event planning, but the first decision is of course, the date. You may not be able to set it in stone on the first day, but it is an important starting point so write it down. There, Step one complete.  That wasn't too bad right?

On to step two, Time.

This is more important than you might realize. I have found that a party with a well-considered time is a party that runs smoothly. The time should depend on the age of the kids who will be attending, and the food you want to provide. Unless you want to provide a meal, keep the time between the “normal” meal times. Parties held from 10-12, 130-4, or even after 630 are less work because there isn’t the assumption of a full meal. Now, if your sitting there thinking you can’t invite guests without food, don’t worry, I didn’t say no food, I just said not a full meal. You will still have plenty of opportunity to pull out the horderves, cake, juice boxes, and snacks. What you won’t have to do is order pizza for the kids, salad and sandwiches for the adults, and figure out who is allergic to what, just in case. Now, if your plan is to head to chuck e cheese, you might want to make it for lunchtime, but otherwise keep it simple and pick another time.

Also important to time is age. The five and under crowd do better in the morning. A 10-12 party will ensure you have bright fresh guests and a birthday boy/girl who isn’t overtired from excitement. Once your past the nap stage it opens up more time, In fact from at that point an early afternoon party will give you more time to prepare in the morning before everything gets started. As far as evenings go, keep it to the 8 and up crowd. Parents have different opinions when it comes to nighttime parties and sleepovers. Keeping parties earlier will avoid disappointment when that special friend isn’t able to come. Now, when kids are older they will love the later party. Start at 630 and you avoid dinner, but still have plenty of time for the main entertainment.

So, quick recap...
• Avoiding meal times reduces the amount of food you need to prepare
• 10-12  – Great time for the under 5 crowd. Everyone is fresh and ready for action.
• 130-4  – More time to prepare in the morning. More time = less stress
• 630-?  – Over 8. Even the thought of a late night party is fun.

What are your favorite party planning tricks? Put them in the comments, I would love to hear all about them!  Next week, Where?  Some of the best places to party in the north state.