Birthday parties can be a real challenge to plan and throw. You have to balance the needs of the birthday person with the needs of party guests. Part of the difficulty is that many people don’t like birthday parties. They don’t like the idea that they are getting older and the idea that they are one more year closer to death isn’t something to celebrate. With children you face another problem: kids are crazy about birthday parties. It can be difficult to control a group of children at a party and very difficult to entertain them for more than a few hours. If you are like me you do not look forward to planning and throwing a birthday party even if it’s yours!
However, you need not be a master planner to figure out how to put together a great birthday party. If you want to throw an easy, hassle-free birthday party follow these 10 tips:
1. Plan the party with a friend or relative. There is no reason why you should have to do all the planning yourself. As parties require a great deal of time and energy to plan, a single person should not have to do it all. Get someone you trust to help with all aspects of the party.
2. Send internet invitations. It takes a great deal of time and energy to make and send invitations and these days invitations can be expensive. However, with the simple click of a button you can send the same invitation to everyone online. Nowadays you can get very creative with them as well, from the simple to the fantastic and it’s usually free! This will greatly lessen your work load.
3. Plan for simple goodies and decorations. There is no reason to make lots of different goodies when most people will be happy with cookies and cake or even just ice cream.
4. Choose some basic background music for the party. Do not choose music that you like or which only a few friends will like. The music should provide a relaxing or festive atmosphere for the party.
5. Only invite people who get along with each other. This might seem like a strange suggestion but a party at which people hate each other will be a problem party. You have enough to deal with as it is–you don’t need a fight.
6. More important than elaborate decorations is a clean home. Most people don’t think about it but the best environment for a party is a clean, clutter-free home.
7. Have the guests prepare some sort of written description of how they feel about the birthday person. However, don’t do this if you think that the person will be terribly embarrassed.
8. Keep the length of the party to two or three hours. Longer parties tend to trash your house and take day of clean up; additionally, they require you to plan more activities. If you want to go easy on yourself don’t prolong the party.
9. Have a good time at the party. If it is your birthday party forget about the plan and the schedule. Lose yourself in the fun of friends and family members. If you planned the party, once it has begun, don’t sweat the details, have a good time! You deserve it.
10. Keep preparation time for the birthday party to a maximum of five or six hours. Often people spend days preparing for a birthday party. While this might show lots of dedication, it isn’t fair or necessary to put your life on hold for someone’s birthday party. Take the time to put together a fun, quality party but let the guests do the rest.
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