There’s lots of reasons why people throw parties. Corporate Events, birthdays, bar mitzvahs, teambuilding exercises, promotions, and sometimes even just to impress. Some people throw parties just to have a reason to get together with their friends and catch up, while others do it to have an excuse to celebrate a night away. Whatever your reason for deciding to throw a party, there’s one thing that you absolutely care about, and that’s making sure that you throw the best party possible. Your friends and family will remember the party that your organize, and will hold it as precedent for the next time you invite them over. So how exactly do you orchestrate this ideal party? What is an ideal party anyways?

At Pop Events, our lives revolve around planning the very best parties that we possibly can. That’s why we’re here to walk you through the process, and turn you into a party planning guru of epic proportions.

PLANNING THE PARTY

Location

The very first thing that you should do, is figure out where you’ll be hosting this party. It may be tempting to simply do it at home, but for parties of a certain size, this becomes an almost unreasonable expectation. Depending on the size and comfort of your backyard, you may choose it as a hosting option, but this is extremely dependent on the size of your party.

If your house is out of the option, think about potential venues that you can book or host at. Places such as restaurants, bowling alleys, movie theaters, or even public parks are possibilities, but usually require booking in advance. Making these reservations beforehand can save you a lot of headache, but means that you need to have a pretty good idea of attendance numbers at least a week in advance of your party. Sending out RSVP cards can simplify this process.

If you don’t want to book a venue on your own, take a look at our options over here.

Time and Date

The time and day on which you host your party will really depend on what the party is for. If it’s a birthday party, most people try to have it on the day of the birthday itself. If this party is for your birthday, hosting it on the day off could mean lots of free drinks coming your way, and other people helping organize the party. If, however, you can’t host it on the day off, or it’s a party that doesn’t correlate to a specific day, any weekend evening or night is usually the best bet. Throwing a party on a work or school night means you’ll be cutting it short, and that never makes for a good party formula. For certain types of events a brunch or afternoon party might work even better, such as an engagement or baby shower.

The time of your party should be focused on the availability of your guests, so it’s usually best to ask around before starting to plan it. Once more than half of your guests have confirmed that a certain night works for them, go ahead and start planning the party.

Also, try and set up a rough timeline for how long the party will go. If your venue is only booked until midnight, let your guests know this. That way, they can plan ahead in terms of rides, after-parties, and so on. If the party is at your home, and you intend to keep it going until everyone leaves, let your guests know! You don’t want anyone to worry about leaving to late or too early, and a time layout will help with that.

Theme

Strictly speaking, a party doesn’t have to have a theme. You can just keep it simple and classic, but sometimes a theme can add to the effect of the party, especially when you’re hosting a venue. A theme can add some excitement for your guests, who now have to put some creativity into their costumes!

Your theme can really be anything, but try not to make it too complicated. You don’t want your guests to have to go out and buy costumes, so think of themed outfits that they can construct at home. An all black or all white party is very easy to do for both you and your guests, while an era themed party (such as the 50’s) will already require much more preparation.

It doesn’t have to be all about the clothing either. The decoration of the room, and even the way you name the party can have a huge effect on its theme and feel. Setting the ambience of the room with different decorative techniques can make your party feel a multitude of ways.

For example, if you want the night to feel very classy, decorate the room with custom lighting and draping.

Themed centerpieces, or even themed characters can help set the mood of the party, turning a basic gathering of friends into a magical night to remember.

Guests

How many people can you name off the top of your head? And by people, we mean ones that you’d invite to a party you were planning. How many did you think of? 20? 30? 40???

No matter how good your memory is, it’s always easier to remember who to invite when you have a fully-fledged guest list, because it allows you to gauge every other aspect of your party. Let’s say the venue has a capacity of 50 people, or perhaps if you’re throwing the party at home, you can only fit in around 40 people. Inviting more than that could mean a lack of space, and without a guest list it’s incredibly easy to lose track of who’s coming, and who isn’t.

A guest list will also help you cater your party to a certain standard. Let’s say, for example, that you’ll be hosting your party at Dave and Busters, because you have a lot of people that you want to invite, and you want to provide them with a variety of entertainment.

This venue has multiple sections inside it, such as a huge gaming area, a dining area, a dancing area, a theatre, and a bar. Let’s also assume that you’ve booked out the entire venue, and you have each of these areas at your disposal. Using your comprehensive guest list, you can identify which guests will be more likely to spend their time at the bar, which ones will want to stay in the dining area, and which will be more inclined to spend their night gaming.

By breaking down your guest list into sections, you can easily gauge how much space you need to book, which spaces you need to book, and what kinds of services you should try to provide.

Budget

This is your party. That means that you get to decide the budget, since you’re the one fronting the cost. And the cost of a party can rise pretty dramatically, after you account for the venue cost, decorations, catering, bar services, loot bag items, and so on.

Depending on the reason behind your party, you may consider asking your friends to chip in for the cost of the party, especially if it’s a joint event. If not, you can focus on cost saving techniques that can make for an even better party.

The number one best way to do this, is to have all your friends chip in for an excellent catering service. This way, they can all decide what kind of food they want, how they want it prepared, and any other minor details that they might obsess over. If you’re looking to take on the full cost yourself, you can have full control over what type of food is at the party, and especially the theme of the food!

Catering will save you a ton of time when it comes to making food, taking away all the hassle that comes with prepping food for dozens or even hundreds of people. For a much lower price than you would spend preparing food on your own, you can have a professional company come in and feed all your guests. And for some added fun, you can even have your very own bartender!