How To Plan Your Next Get-Together
You’ve wanted to host a get-together for your friends and family for quite some time now, but you still haven’t gotten around to it. The planning makes you a little nervous, and you wonder if you can manage everything. You’re making this more complicated than it needs to be. Read on for some quick tips to help you plan your next get-together.
An Occasion
Perhaps you want to choose a special occasion for your get-together. In that case, you might settle on a birthday or anniversary, either your own or someone else’s. You could also host a holiday party or celebration.
If you want to be a bit humorous about it, you could choose a commemoration of some kind, like National Ice Cream Day or National Cat Day. You’d have some beautiful opportunities for themes in that case.
How To Plan Get Together: A Guest List
Next, make your guest list. You’ll need to determine how many guests you can handle and how far you want to extend your invitations. Be a little careful here. You don’t want to hurt feelings by leaving someone out, yet you still need to set limits and stay within your budget.
Your budget will largely determine how many people you can invite. If you can afford it, you might stick to immediate family members and your closest friends or broaden your list a bit. Send invitations by email, or simply call people to let them know. If your party must remain small, don’t post it on social media until afterward.
A Venue
You’ll also have to decide on a venue for your get-together. If your guest list is small, you might have everyone gather at your home, especially if the weather is nice and you can spend time outside.
Otherwise, you might rent a room at a local hall or restaurant or a picnic shelter at a local park. If you plan to be outdoors, have a contingency plan for bad weather.
A Theme
When you’ve taken care of the occasion, guest list, and venue, you can decide on a theme for your party. This might be guided somewhat by the occasion, but there is plenty of room for creativity. You might choose a historical era like the 1950s and have your guests come in costume. Alternately, choose a movie or book theme, or center the piece around a favorite activity of the guest of honor.
Use your theme to plan decorations, your menu, and other details. You might choose to reveal it ahead of time and receive input from your guests, or you can keep it a secret for the element of surprise.
A Menu
Finally, carefully plan your menu. After all, your guests will be hungry, and they’ll be ready for a special treat. You don’t have to get fancy, though (unless you want to).
You might serve a full meal, but you could also stick to appetizers or a dessert bar filled with delicious yet easy desserts. Just be sure to make enough to go around and consider hiring caterers if cooking isn’t your strong point.
If you plan carefully, you might just find that you enjoy your next get-together immensely. So get started!