We all have talents in our family and one of mine is organization and party planning. It's fun for me and I really enjoy it. So I have been the main planner for my Mom's big party.
This thing has turned into the size of a wedding reception. We will have close to 100 guests, catering, music and dancing.
I went through the instructions from my previous post on Party and Event Planning - Laying the Foundation and came up with the following list:
- What is the purpose of the event? The purpose of the event is to celebrate my Mom and to make sure she knows she is loved and appreciated.
- What do I want the tone or mood of the event to be? Relaxed and fun, but beautiful at the same time. Party casual dress, safe environment for all my Mom's friends, and a great party atmosphere.
- What is important to me? That my Mom has the best time of her life. That she is celebrated and knows how much we all love her.
- What do I want for my guests? I want them to be well taken care of. I want them to have a good time. I want to have some surprises, and to provide a beautiful and fun environment.
- How do I want to participate in the event? I want to eat and be able to participate fully in this event. I tend to take on too much leading up to events so I am exhausted at the party. I want to relax and have fun at this one.
Starting the Planning
Now that I have a foundation for the event I can start planning. The first thing I like to do for a party is put together the guest list. This helps me understand the approximate number of people, which leads me to how much space, food, and drinks I will need.We have a huge family. Our baseline of guests is 32 right now, and that is just my siblings and their families. My Mom came up with a guest list of 60 something people, so we are up near 100.
Guest list: Approximately 100 people
Theme: I struggled with this one. Was going to do Old Hollywood since my Mom grew up in Hollywood but, I have settled on no theme. I will write about this in a future post.
Colors: Bright teals, corals, and pinks
Filling in the details
I like to create nice invitations. The invitation sets the tone for the party and lets your guests know what to expect. My niece created a gorgeous invitation which sets the tone perfectly for this party. I hand address the invitations per old Emily Post rules. There is something about receiving a more formal invitation that is properly addressed that creates anticipation. I love hearing the guests excitement when they RSVP. It keeps me motivated.We have rented a hall, and it is huge. I think we could easily seat a few hundred people there. We will need to make the space more intimate.
I love teals, corals, and pinks and hadn't used these colors for a party before. I found a great palette at The Perfect Palette (I found it on Pinterest and followed the links).
We will also add in a touch of black and gold to make the party shine and make the colors pop.
So far we are having white tablecloths, teal blue table runners, gold centerpiece vases, black accent vases, and pink and coral flowers on the tables.
I have found a lot of items on eBay and others at floral supply stores. I will post pictures and where to buy in a future post.
The party design is coming along. My biggest concern at this point is whether I should have put in an order for the flowers. I need to plan out what I need for a party of this size. I usually just go to the flower supply and pick out what works with my color theme, but I need a lot of flowers this time.
Time will tell if I made the right decisions. More in a coming post!
So how are you celebrating life? Leave me a comment below.
Laureen
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