Party planners can help make the planning of your large event run smoother. With a massive checklist and an arsenal of caterers, florists, disc jockeys and more at their disposal, they’ll be sure to see to your every need. Keep in mind they can be a bit pricey, but for many the benefits are undeniable.

Party Planners can:

• Plan every little detail: From the menu to the favors to the decorations. The party planner will pour over samples and visit with professionals until she has a short list fitting your needs.
• Get a discount on your party professionals: Because she uses certain professionals often, you might get a cheaper price for caterers or musicians through a party planner.
• Have access to linens, props, crystal or other items you might not be able to get otherwise.
• Free you up for other things.

What Does a Party Planner Cost?

If you want to hire someone to coordinate your event, be forewarned, she probably won’t come cheap. Party planners typically charge a percentage, say 10 to 15% of the overall cost of the event. This isn’t the rule though many other party planners charge more than $50 per hour for hundreds of hours worth of work or a “per head” charge rivaling that of a caterer.

The Downside of Hiring a Party Planner

In addition to the cost, there may be occasions where you and your party planner don’t share the same “vision” for the event. When you clash or argue a lot, the party planner may lose enthusiasm for your project or pass it on to someone who doesn’t know you very well.

Things to Keep in Mind When Hiring a Party Planner

• It’s your event – Don’t let anyone else make the ultimate decision. Especially if it’s something you’re not happy abut.
• Beware of “free” party planners – These unsavory planners take kickbacks from the different vendors and professionals they hire if they’re used for your event.
• You should be in attendance when visiting catering halls, auditioning musicians and choosing floral, fabric or other samples.

How to Choose a Party Planner

• Word of mouth is best. Get recommendations from friends and relatives.
• Always research your party planner. Check the Better Business Bureau, do an Internet search and ask for referrals.
• Don’t sign a contract without looking over ALL of the fine print.
• Interview several different prospects and go with the one you feel most comfortable with.
• Ask for an estimate from all interviewees. Don’t go solely based on price, but it can give you a good indication over who to go with.
• Make sure you go over all the tasks you want the Party Planner to handle and all the tasks you wish to handle on your own – before signing the contract – so there’s no clashing later.
• Before making a decision, drop in at one of the Planner’s events. Does everything seem to be running smoothly? Are the hosts happy? How are the different vendors working otu?
• Get a list of the Planner’s usual vendors before signing a contract so you can check them and their references.

A Party Planner can help an event to run smoothly. Hiring someone to take care of all the little details frees up your time and leaves you with less stress. Do your homework though. Don’t hire a Party Planner without knowing what to expect and what to pay. Your party should be a fun event, hiring the right Party Planner is sure to make this happen.

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It’s that time of year again, teens all over the country are making hair appointments and looking for that perfect dress. Many are nervous too, not having attended a formal event before, how does one behave? Are there prom dos and don’ts? Here are a few bits of prom etiquette to help you along:

• You don’t have to have a date to go to the prom. Go solo, or with some friends, there’s no reason to miss out just because someone didn’t ask you.
• Proper etiquette dictates the person who did the asking buys the tickets. So if the girl asked a guy to be her date, she’s the one who is technically to buy the ticket. Many guys prefer to pick up the tab, however. And that’s fine too.
• To give your date time to prepare, you should probably ask at least a month in advance.
• Dress appropriately. Know the difference between tasteful and “over the top.”
• It’s proper for the guy to buy his date a corsage. Let him know a couple of weeks in advance what color you will be wearing and whether you will need a wrist corsage or one for the dress.
• It doesn’t matter who drives, or whether or not you rent a limo. Rented cars aren’t a requirement – you walk if you like too. Just be safe and don’t drink and drive.
• Even if you dance with others, be sure your date gets the first and last dance of the evening.
• When attending an after-party at someone’s house do be respectful. No loud drunken behavior, no destruction of property and especially be respectful of your host’s parents.’

Have fun on prom night. Since most teens are out all night, also be responsible. Don’t behave in a manner you’ll regret later. Relax, have a good time and enjoy your friends.

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After the Prom Giclee Print
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Times have changed. Back in the day we had birthday parties at home and opened the presents towards the end of the party after eating cake. Nowadays this is rare. Many kids have parties outside the home and there’s no time for present opening. In fact, many parents feel it’s better manners to open them either on the child’s actual birthday or after all the kids leave. Personally, I just find it too stressful to deal with gifts at a kids’ party.

Hey – those aren’t your birthday presents!

When my son was two and three, we had his “kid” birthday party on the same day we had the grandparents over for a celebration. Each year the same two kids insisted on opening my son’s presents, which of course upset him. I asked them to stop but they didn’t. Their parents were around but doing other things. It was so stressful I decided I’m not doing it anymore.

Is it bad manners to open up birthday gifts in front of guests?

I don’t think it’s bad manners, it’s gone on for years. I do believe the party flows better when we don’t worry about gifts. After cake kids are hopped up on sugar. Rather than open presents it’s a better idea to send them outside to play a game or let them run around until it’s time to go. I also think the other kids get bored watching one child open a tower of presents – plus all the kids want to play with the new toys and chances are the birthday kids isn’t wanting to share just yet. My vote is for saving the present opening for another time.

The “family party”

The exception is the family party when grandparents and cousins come. We always have a barbecue for our son’s birthday since it’s in late spring. Grandparents and aunts and uncles like seeing kids open presents. We always save this until the very end just before everyone goes home.

When do you open birthday presents?

What do you do? Do you feel it’s impolite to open gifts in front of others or is it just a matter of preference? Take our sidebar poll (to the right) and add your thoughts in the comments.

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I was always told you never attend a party or social event at another person’s home without bringing a gift of some sort. Now, you don’t have to go out to the fine crystal section of Fortunoff’s but a bottle of wine or sparkling cider is always nice. I also like to bring baked goods. Candles make good hostess gifts as do flowers.

Should you bring a hostess gift? The answer is no, you don’t HAVE to, but it’s bad manners to do otherwise.

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Today I’d like to feature an email from a regular reader.

Dear Deborah,

How far in advance should I send out party invitations. I want to give people enough time to plan, but don’t want to send it so early they forget about it.

Thank you for your answer,

Lisa M.

Hi Lisa,

Party invitations for informal events like birthday parties or barbecues should be sent out a month to three weeks in advance. For little kids, two weeks is fine. For weddings, anniversary parties and more formal events, six to eight weeks is the norm.

Thanks for writing!

Deborah

If you have a question regarding parties feel free to send it to deborah.ng@b5media.com and I’ll be happy to answer it to the best of my ability.Or we can put it out for discussion among our readers!

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Over the next few weeks I’ll share some ideas for going green with your party planning and what you can do as a hostess to throw an environmentally friendly party.

If you have ideas of your own, please email them to me via the email link by my name. I would love to hear what you have to say!

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It’s a good message about making sure your guests are safe from walking out the door with too much alcohol in their system. I would hate to ever be responsible for someone causing a wreck after leaving a party from my house. Be a responsible host and make sure your guests have fun but can also drive themselves home safely.

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1. Who should I invite?

• If it’s for a kid’s birthday party, your child can choose to invite all girls or all boys.
• If you are planning a party with females and males, try to make sure it is balanced, meaning don’t invite 10 girls and 2 boys.
• Only invite as many guests as you can handle. You want your guests to be comfortable, so make sure you can accommodate the number of people you have invited.
• A rule of thumb for a dinner party, is to only invite six to eight. If you invite any more they may not all be able to fit around the table.
• Invite a group of guests who you know all get along well. Unless it’s family and you may not have a choice, lol! Just alert them ahead of time that you would like them all to be civil. If you are inviting couples, it’s best not to invite 3 couples who spend a lot of time together and one couple that doesn’t know anyone. Instead, invite 2 couples who you would like your guests to get to know better. That way, no one will feel left out.
• For a wedding shower, invite only those who are actually invited to the wedding. This may seem like a no-brainer, but I have witnessed someone being invited to the wedding shower and not the wedding before and they were a tad bit insulted.

2.  What are my host duties? 

• Invite everyone 2 weeks before the party date.
• Make sure you give everyone accurate directions. Check for any road closures or construction and make your guests aware of these. They’ll be in a better party move when they arrive if they didn’t have to take a detour they were unaware of.
• Make sure your house is presentable, especially areas like the bathroom, living area and kitchen. Your whole house doesn’t have to be spotless, but make sure the areas that your guests will be using are clean and presentable. Also, make sure there are at least 2 rolls of toilet paper and fresh hand towels in the bathroom.
• Introduce everyone to each other.
•  If your party is at night, turn on your porch light or a few inside lights that face the street.
• Give everyone a tour of your house and let them know where everything is so they will feel comfortable.
• Be sure and mingle with everyone. Make your rounds and make sure everyone has what they need.
• Let your guests know what will be going on during the party and the order of events. You may want to put this on the invitation.
• Clean up as the party is going on. Do not wash the dishes, but pick up trash and put dirty dishes in the sink (rinse if you’d like).
• It’s okay to ask your guests for help. Most guests like to be involved in the party and help when they can.
• Attend your own party. Make sure that you are not stuck in the kitchen the whole time. Plan well so that you can have fun too!

3. How long should I wait to start the party if some guests are late?

• As a rule of thumb, don’t wait longer than about 15-20 minutes. It’s not fair to the guests who showed up on time. If you are serving a meal at your party, be sure and make the guests aware of that ahead of time and how important it is to be on time so that the meal doesn’t get cold. No one likes a cold meal, unless it’s supposed to be served that way.

4. Smoking or non-smoking?

• If some of your guests do not smoke,  it will most likely be offensive to them. Let your smoking guests know where they may smoke. It may seem awkward at first to mention this, but they will appreciate it later when they need a smoke.

5. What do you do if the part is over and some guests won’t go home?

• Usually when you start cleaning up and putting away the food and drink, they will get the hint. If that doesn’t work try these phrases:
• “Would anyone like some coffee or snacks to take with them?”
• “Thank you for coming. I had a great time and can’t wait to do this again.”
• If you are really good friends with the guests, you can be completely honest with them and say, “Alright you party animals, it’s time for me to turn in. I hope you had a great time.”
• For a child’s birthday party, start handing out the goody bags. That’s usually a sign for everyone that the party is over.

There are actually many more etiquette questions that relate to each individual party type that I will cover as I talk about the different parties. These tips should help get you started in the right direction.

Ciao!

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