How To Plan A Birthday Party For Adults: The Ultimate Party Planning Guide
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A birthday party is a special occasion that should be celebrated in style. If you are planning a birthday party for adults, you may be wondering where to start. Dont worry we have you covered!
Find everything you need to know about how to plan a birthday party for adults. We will cover everything from choosing the right venue to decorating your party space.
So whether you are throwing a milestone birthday bash or just want to celebrate with friends, read on for tips and ideas that will help make your party a success!
Summertime Birthday Party Ideas
Halfpoint/Getty Images
I’m a summer baby. It is always hot and sweaty out on a mid-July birthday. All people want is cool and refreshing food and drinks to take their mind off the heat. So, if you’re hosting a party during the summer, this menu will help you put everyone in a fantastic mood so they can enjoy the part from start to finish.
The Ultimate Childrens Birthday Party Planning Checklist
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Whether its a get-together for your family or a backyard bash for all of your childs friends, a party is the most fun way to celebrate a birthday. And with a bit of planning, you can create a birthday party that your kiddo is sure to remember forever.
Wondering where to start? Weve got you covered. Here, youll find a step-by-step childrens party planning guide to help you throw the perfect birthday party for your little one. Follow these 8 simple steps to make sure your party goes off without a hitch.
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Whats Included In The Party Planner
This instant download includes ten pages of the best party planning printables:
- Birthday Party Menu Planner
- Ideas and Brainstorming
Birthday Party Brainstorming
Brainstorming is the first step of the planning progress. Whats the party theme? Write down all your creative ideas on one page. Pick a time of the party, event space, date, and budget.
Be flexible with your brainstorming session as things may change during the next phase of party planning.
Guest list
Use this page to keep track of your guest list and their RSVPs and contact information. Here you can also write down any dietary needs your guests may have. Keep up with your guest count here.
Activity planner
What activities will you have on the day of the party? Will you have a schedule of activities or any party prizes? Write them down on this activity planner.
Budget planner
Making a budget is essential to party planning or maybe you dont have a budget at all. Regardless, its always a good practice to keep track of event expenses. Once you get a budget, then you know how much to spend on party supplies. Its always a great idea to leave some wiggle room in your budget for those unexpected additional costs that come up.
Birthday shopping list
This shopping list includes four sections including food, decor, beverages, and party favors. Theres plenty of space on this page to include everything you need for your next event. Be sure to include what party store you will shop at for supplies.
Menu planner
To-Do List
What Items Are Needed For A Birthday Party
Take this list with you to any local party supply shop near you and youll pretty much have everything you need to host and decorate your celebration.
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Decide On A Direction
There are so many directions you can go with childrens party planning. And if you dont choose one early in the planning process, it can make it hard to narrow down your options as the party gets closer.
Think about what direction you want to go with the partys look, feel and theme. For example, do you want to have a theme based on something your child loves like outer space or soccer? Do you want to go with a theme inspired by their favorite book or movie? Or do you want to keep it simple and just choose a color palette of your childs favorite colors?
Choose a direction now to make the planning process easier later on. After all, your decorations, activities and refreshments will all be fueled by the theme you choose.
Deciding When And Where To Have The Birthday Party
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A Month Before The Party
- Before setting a date, check with your childs “must-have-BFF’s” to make sure they are available.
- Choose a theme with your child’s suggestions or make it a surprise featuring a favorite character or activity.
- Remember to consider time of day when booking a venue and whether you will need to include a meal.
- Book an entertainer such as a magician or face painter , if desired.
- Document the day by asking a friend who enjoys taking photos or book a photographer.
- Order hard-to-find theme-related decorative items for things like a photo booth or party favors .
- Create a timeline for the party. Be sure you don’t make it too long or too short for your planned activities.
- Order paper invitations – be sure to confirm the delivery timeline and plan in advance accordingly. Or, see next.
- Save money and time by creating an online sign up 3-4 weeks in advance. Genius Tip: An online invitation is a simple and quick way to collect RVSPs for your celebration!
Collect birthday party guest RSVPs with a simple sign up! SAMPLE
The Morning Of The Party
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Choose A Date Time And Location
The next step is to lock in the date, time and location of the birthday party. If youre hosting the party at your home, you can choose whatever date and time work best for you. If you plan on hosting the party somewhere else , youll have to see which dates are available. Reach out early so you have the widest selection of options to choose from.
How Much Food Do You Need
If you’re worried about drinks then you’re probably also worried about food. You don’t want your guests to leave your party and go looking for food after. This article will help you plan how many portions you need for appetizers, entrées, and dessert. Then, of course, there’s always the most important thing: the cake!
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Design And Send Birthday Invitations
Once youve set the date, time and location for the party, its time to send invitations to your guests aim to get them in the mail about 3 weeks before the party.
Custom birthday invitations are a great way to create personalized invites that reflect the theme and look of your childs birthday party. You can choose a template that matches the party theme, like a mermaid-inspired template for your underwater-themed birthday party, or start from scratch and design the invite yourself.
Once youve perfected your invitation design, make sure to include relevant details, including the name of the birthday boy or girl and the date, time and location of the party. If you want to collect RSVPs, include contact info for that, too.
VistaPrint Tip
Want to take your birthday invitations up a notch? Package your invites incustom envelopes and seal them with a sticker. This way, the party starts as soon as the invites hit your guests mailboxes.
Y Planning Checklist 1 Day Before:
Its almost time, keep going!
- Go grocery shopping. Or hire a TaskRabbit or grocery delivery service to do it for you.
- Pick up your bakery order. Youll probably be in a hurry when you do but try to remember to take a peek inside the boxes before you drive away to make sure everything is there and looks how you pictured it would.
- Prepare tip envelopes for party entertainers and staff. To give you an idea of how much is appropriate, childrens party entertainers usually expect $15-$20 in tips each while wedding vendors like chefs often see anywhere from $50 to $100 an event, on average.
- Place catering orders . The same applies to your fast food options like sandwiches or pizza. Again, double check the companies ordering rules beforehand.
- Prep your event space. If its at your home or a private residence, hire a maid or clean the party areas and restrooms yourself. If youre renting a space, double check your contract to see if youll be responsible for cleanliness at any point. Here are some cleaning tips to get your house party ready in an hour or less.
- Prep non-perishable food items.
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Organize Your Birthday Party Decor
You cant have a festive birthday party without some decor. Take a look at the space where youre going to be hosting the party and then figure out what decorations you need. For example, if youre hosting the party at your home, you may want to have more decorations, like streamers, balloons and tablecloths that reflect the partys theme and that really make your house feel special and celebratory. If you have a lot of wall space to decorate at a restaurant, or are hosting the party in your backyard, consider ordering a custom banner or a few posters to hang.
Just give yourself plenty of time to get your decorations before the actual party date. If youre planning on buying the decorations in a store, you want to give them time to order anything thats out of stock and if youre ordering decorations online, youll want to give yourself time for shipping and delivery.
Y Planning Tips 1 Week Before:
A little running around now will save you unnecessary headaches the day before or of!
- Order baked goods. Cakes, cupcakes, or pies should be ordered now. Some bakeries will require more or less notice depending on your preferences and their schedule so be sure to triple check their ordering instructions ahead of time.
- Follow up on RSVPs. Then use event planning software to share your final guest list to your caterers, party helpers, or anyone else involved in the planning process.
- Create and begin sharing your party hashtag. Check out these event hashtag trends while youre at it.
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Printable Party Planning Checklist
This party planner checklist is a little more colorful than the rest.
Another birthday party planner. Please note that the actual checklist is the same on all planners and only the design changes.
Even though this is a kids birthday party checklist we are assuming that an adult is doing the planning so this checklist was designed for you and not for your child!
Chalkboard birthday party checklist
Feel free to change the party planner template to suit your needs. You can add additional bullet points before you print. If you want to start planning earlier or later then just adjust the dates.
What Does A Successful Party Look Like
Using a party planning checklist and creating an event timeline are just some of the many things you can do to make sure everything goes smoothly. Even if you dont have any experience with party planning, you can still throw a memorable get together.
At the end of the day, parties are all about bringing people together and having fun. Keeping this in mind throughout the process and using it as a compass as you make your major party planning decisions is a foolproof way to throw one of the best parties of all time.
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Set Aside Time For Setup
As youre planning your kids birthday party, youll want to make sure that you set aside time on your calendar to prep for the party. If youre hosting the party at your house, block off a few hours the night before the party to get everything set up and decorated. If youre hosting at an off-site location, try to get there an hour or two before the party to get everything ready.
And if you think youre going to need help with setting up, make sure to ask people ahead of time. Your friends and family members will likely be excited to helpjust give them enough notice so youre not scrambling at the last minute.
One To Two Weeks After
- Get out that list of gifts and send thank you notes!
- Select some favorite photos from the party and make a keepsake book for your child.
Dont sweat the small stuff, as they say. At the end of the day, having a great attitude is one of the best gifts you can give your guests and the birthday celebrant! Here’s to happy planning and a wonderfully memorable party for all!
lives in Charlotte, N.C., with her husband and three daughters.
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Y Checklist 1 Month Before:
With all the major decisions out of the way, now all you need to do is sort out details!
- Send invitations. If youre interested in going green and sending paperless invites, check out services like evite, Paperless Post, Greenvelope, and Minteds online invitations.
- Order food & beverages. If youre not working with a chef, youll want to put in orders for alcohol and non-perishables now.
- Hire a chef. The popularity and demand for professional chefs is expected to grow another 10% by 2026.
- Purchase or make your decor. You can also always borrow decor from other peoples parties and style it in a way that puts your own personal touch on their products. Or take inspiration from these summer event decor ideas.
- Plan activities. You can choose anything from dancing to board games to trivia competitions. And Pinterest has a lot of interesting party activity ideas to inspire you.
- Enlist party helpers or hire event staff. Whether youll have family in town or need help serving food to hundreds of corporate guests, make sure you have people ready to lend a hand before, during, and after the celebration.
