Don't allow things to spiral out of control.
If not, unless you're past the point of no return... this simple little list will help you. How do I know? Because it's helped me, numerous times.
It's back to the basics here.
I'll work from the outside, in - meaning: we'll start 4 weeks out and work from the outside in, right to the day of the party.
4 weeks before your party...
Choose a date, time, your theme and a location. Then sit down and think about who you want to invite, and create your guest list. Your next step is to figure out what you want to do for your invitations; snail-mail handwritten invitations, or computer printed invitations, printing company generated invitations, or Evite invitations.Cater-Hater Tip: When executed purposely, a party starts as soon as your invitation arrives. As well it should. Don't you think that; after spending all of that time and hard work planning everything (down to the last detail), it would be nice to know that most of your guests are highly anticipating attending your party? If your answer is "yes", seriously consider sending handwritten invitations. These days receiving anything in the mail, especially something fun that's not a bill, is a real treat. Your guests who don't know that you're planning a party will be surprised as soon as they see the envelope. Impress them!
3 weeks before your party...
It's time to send your invitations out. If you've hired a professional printer to make custom invitations for you, or if you've gone to your favorite local Hallmark card store to buy invitations - you've likely thought ahead and purchased your postal stamps. Because everything can be so conveniently done online now, if you haven't bought postage stamps, it's time to stop by your local post office to buy them.Now is also the time to take make the time to hone in your thoughts, gather recipes, to move forward toward creating your menu. I've created a printable party food serving guide to help you with you quantities, so please feel free to click on the link (that says "party food serving guide") to use it.
1 week before your party...
Call all of your guests who haven't RSVP'd, if necessary. If you've decided to order some or all of the food from a restaurant or delicatessen, now is the time to place your order. If you have "party OCD" like I do, you probably placed your ordered around 2 weeks ago. If that's the case, now it's time to place a follow up call to the place preparing the food to ensure that everything is running smoothly and almost ready to go. For OCD me, this means - usually checking on my cake order.The day of your party...
Now it's all about the last minute details. It's time to set and decorate your food buffets (when it's my party at my house, I've usually done this 2 or 3 days before my party date). It's time to place the linens on the guest tables and then head to the kitchen to begin your last minute food preparation.Cater-Hater Tip: You're more than likely going to be quite busy, so I suggest that you send a trusted friend or family member to the go inspect and pick up your cake and any other food that you may have ordered from an outside vendor. If you can swing it, ask to have it delivered no later than 1 - 1/2 hours before your party starts.
Ding-dong... your first guests have arrived!
Time to give yourself a once-over in the mirror, turn on the music, grab a few cocktail napkins and the tray of cocktails and soft drinks that's been on standby (add ice at the sound of the doorbell), and head straight for the door (unless guests have been cued to enter elsewhere) so that your party can begin.Have a blast!
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