How to plan the perfect party from a professional events planner

Silly season is in full swing baby and the party invites are flowing left, right, and centre. Whether you're planning a New Year's Eve party, a birthday bash, a bachelorette or bridal shower, a house warming party, these simple tips and tricks can make a world of difference.

I plan corporate events and conferences for a living and by planning large scale events with hundreds of participants, multiple speakers, catering for various dietary requirements, I've managed to pick up a few skills along the way that has made party planning in my personal life feel like a breeze.

Theme

The best parties have themes and as far as I'm concerned, no party is too big or too small to have an interesting theme. Themes are a great way to set the tone for a party. For example, each year I have a few close friends over for drinks on New Year's Eve, purely because we never make any other plans and have no interest in going out. The theme for this event is the 'Reject's New Year's Gathering', it's silly and unserious but it makes the event fun. For my twenty-seventh birthday the theme was 'Dress as me' and it was so much fun having my friends dress as my different eras from 'High School Jordan' to 'Horse Girl Jordan' to 'Cruise Ship Jordan' and the photos of everyone in dress up turned out amazing.

Themes are a great way to create an 'aesthetic' or 'vibe' for your event and can honestly make the whole event feel more elevated and put together. It helps people understand what sort of event they are attending and even gives people a guideline on how to dress (e.g. my twenty-eighth birthday is tropical themed, wear Hawaiian shirts or florals, easy peasy).

The best part about having a theme though is leaning in. If you want to be a great event host, you want to create an event where people can lean in and have fun. By having a theme or a dress code, it's a fun way to create the vibe of your event.

Invites

Now I know that hardly anyone is going to the effort of posting out or hand delivering a gorgeous invite on crisp stationary (unless it's for a wedding). However, a great invite can also create a great atmosphere for your event. I personally still use Facebook Events as it has all the features I need. It sends an invite to my friends, allows me to upload images, write a description, post updates and track attendees. Although Facebook is considered kind of daggy nowadays, I still find it to be the easiest and most convenient place to communicate events to my nearest and dearest.

But how can you dress up a Facebook page? By creating a custom invite and banner of course! Using Canva, you can easily design a gorgeous banner and invite with the huge range of free templates.

If your event is smaller and you don't have the need for an entire Facebook Event, you could always text out the invites to your attendees and manually track RSVPs. The simple act of whipping up a template invite on Canva can very easily elevate your event.

Agenda

What is an event agenda? Basically a timeline of what will happen when at your event.

For example:

4:00 pm - Welcome Drinks

4:30 pm - Nibbles and Social Hour

5:00 pm - Group Toast and Photos

5:30 pm - Sit Down Dinner

7:00 pm - Wrap Up and Sunset Drinks

Now it may seem a little over the top to have an agenda for a small gathering or party but an agenda is so helpful in guiding the event to ensure you get everything you want out of it. There is nothing worse than being at an event and standing around having no idea what's going on.

The agenda doesn't have to be a formal document that you strictly adhere to. It's more of a loose guideline to have in your head in case you find the party of event start to lull or lose direction. Also this agenda doesn't need to be shared with guest, moreso a timeline for you to keep things clear in your mind.

Food

Something that will always ensure you throw a good event or party is by having good food. People love food and can get upset if they come to a party and their isn't adequate catering. This doesn't mean sourcing michelin star catering or spending hours upon hours in the kitchen, slaving over the stove top. If you're hosting a casual gathering in your home, this could be a matter of putting on some ready made pizzas and garlic bread with a charcuterie board for your guests to snack on.

If you're hosting an event at a venue, it's even more important to clarify what is happening with the food. Are guests expected to purchase their own food at the venue? Or will the hosts be ordering share plates for everyone? Try to be clear about when and how guests will be eating to avoid hangry party goers. When people enjoy the food at your event, they will immediately have positive memories about your event.

Mindset

There are so many factors that can make or break a party, and sometimes when it comes down to the actual event, things can happen that are completely out of your control no matter how well you plan in advance. One of the most important things when planning an event is to go in with a positive mindset. If you're planning an event and you're already dreading it or feel like a hostage being forced to call venues and send out invites, then this will have a direct effect on your party.

It's almost like guests can sense when the host is on edge or doesn't want to be there and it creates an energy that just completely zaps the fun out of a party. If you're planning an event and you have lots of logistics and want the event to go well, it's completely normal to be nervous before the event. It's a whole different story if you're completely dreading the event and constantly discussing how much you just "wish the night was already over".

Whenever I'm planning an event and I feel a little apprehensive about how it's going to go, I use a visualisation technique to calm myself down and get in the right headspace. Try to sit down and close your eyes and visualise your event going in the best possible way. Visualise your venue looking exactly as you want it, your guests all arriving on time, the food tasting delicious, the vibe of the party being positive. Visualise and lean into how you would feel during the event whether it's xcitement, happiness or fun. Think about how you will feel when your party or event is a success and hold onto that feeling as your event starts. It may seem silly or trivial, but visualisation exercises can be a powerful way to get into the right headspace.

Have Fun

Finally, don't forget to have fun! As the host, it's easy to be running around, worried about everyone else and bending over backwards for your guests. Of course you want to be a good host, but you can do this while enjoying yourself. If your guests see you relaxed and having a great time, they are more likely to echo this and also have a great time.

Keep these tips in mind next time you are planning a party or event and I promise things will go a lot more smoothly!