 It's Your Party You Can Do What You Want To... 
From school graduations to weddings and anniversary parties, May is often the start of the "celebrating milestones" season.
With that in mind, I thought I would share a few tips from event planner Yvonne Lowe of Y Lowe Signature Events, LLC to help plan your next shindig.
#1 Why On Earth Are You Throwing A Party?
Yvonne says her biggest and best advice is to ask yourself why you are having the event in the first place. And the answer should be more than just, "because he's graduating from high school." You want to get to the heart of the reason. Everyone that gets married doesn't necessarily have a wedding - some decide to elope or go to a courthouse. Stating the reason behind why you are having an event will play into every aspect of the planning--from the size of the event to the location--so take time to think about your answer before you do any planning. (Yvonne often has a questionnaire three pages long for her wedding clients!)
#2 It's Not All About the Money - But Sometimes It Is
You must come up with a realistic budget. Your budget will play into every aspect of your planning, from determining the number of guests you can invite, to where you can have the event to what type of food you can serve. Food is often 50% of the budget (surprising many a novice party planner), so if your reason from #1 was to have as many people celebrate with you as possible, think about changing the affair to a buffet (rather than served meal), or a lunch or brunch to cut costs.
#3 Location, Location, Location
Even when people spend weeks evaluating the perfect location, Yvonne says they often overlook some critical issues. A few to keep in mind:
- The acoustics of the room, particularly if you are having live entertainment;
- Available electricity and noise regulations, if you are having a band;
- Permission to use hanging decorations;
- If the layout of the room will allow for a dance floor and room for all of your guests to eat when they're not dancing.
#4 Make It Unique, Make It Yours
One of the best things you can do when planning any party is to make it personal to the honoree. Here are some of Yvonne's favorite ideas to help get your creativity flowing and even save you some money:
- To save money on invitations but still convey elegance, try using pingg. It's evite meets Martha Stewart designs. Or for a truly interactive mail experience, try paperlesspost.
- Mix fruits & veggies with the flowers for decoration (purple or green cabbage with flowers can look amazing!) - it saves money and looks different.
- If you're a wine lover, create your own bottles, complete with personalized labels, and give them out as people leave. (Check out carafewines.com)
- For the appetizers at a kids' party, try serving mac & cheese in oversized spoons or sliders instead of full-sized hamburgers. An unexpected presentation adds a memorable twist.
- Hire your local high school jazz band or "Glee" club for the musical entertainment - you'll save money AND involve your community.
- Make your theme part of the entertainment (For Cinco De Mayo, have a mariachi band; for a "Dancing with the Stars" theme, hire a school dance troupe)
Remember, you want your guests to walk away and really remember your event. For more inspiration to make a memorable party, check out some of Yvonne's favorite sites:
http://party.lifetips.com/
http://www.party411.com/
http://www.shindigz.com/
For more great party ideas, contact Yvonne at 301-850-4273 or yvonne@yloweevents.com
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