heidzillas how to: 10 suggestions for party throwing

and finally, some party photo recaps… . a heidzillas house party how to, if you will, on how to throw a great party from planning, food, decor… and partying itself.

the top 10 tips:

1. don’t go too crazy with the theme. when purchasing thematic decor items, it’s easy to want to buy everything in the aisle. supplement with solids. i could have easily purchased 100 “jack” napkins but the graphical napkins cost three times as much as the solid color ones. i bought 1 pack red, 1 pack black and mix-stacked them with the jacks. plates were even more expensive… so i bought enough for slices of cake, and napkins for the cupcakes. i also stuck to only two colors – red and black for other plates, napkins and forks. i skipped knives and spoons altogether.

thematic decor might be $3 to $10 per item and it sure adds up. less can be more and it’s all about making the most out what you got. in lieu of using these card suit streamers down the walls or doorways, i did all four sides of two poles that were in the center of the room and could be seen from anywhere. i lined our soffits with more metallic hangers. i only did one decor item with “30″’s on it. my theme wasn’t “30″ it was poker/cards, and everyone already knew what we were celebrating.

the food table was the only one i purchased the more expensive graphical table cloth since it was our largest area. the silverware, drink and cupcake tables all got solids.

2. when in doubt, do the basics. yes, i did crepe paper. no, i haven’t used crepe paper since… 1997? i don’t know why i couldn’t resist. crepe paper screams old school birthday party to me. it lined two long walls and was complemented with 2′ x 3′ cards. using just the theme colors goes further in the space and cost-wise than buying everything theme-y.

3. leave sharpies out of the cups. it might save a few cups – for the environment if not for the cost! decor-wise, the same went for drinks… there were really cute graphic cups, but i knew that’s what we’d go through first. and solo cup red fit right into my theme. to jazz up the drink table, i went with coasters. they were necessary with our poker table and coffee tables anyways. i thought it would be cute to cover that table cover with poker-themed confetti. why did i do that? it stuck to all the bottoms of the bottles and ended up in people’s drinks. oops. spades and clubs in drinks wasn’t what i was intending.

4. menu planning also means scheduling the order of cooking the food. i made everything that could sit in the fridge first, and i grouped items which needed the same oven temp together to ensure food was cooked and served as close to the same time as possible.

5. buy more ice than you think you need. then when people call to ask if you need anything, tell them ice. you can never have enough ice! (below photo shows empty ice bin… *sigh*)

6. let your friends help. so many of our friends offered to make food, so i took them up on it. my friends in attendance also helped me cook the last minute items (the mini burgers that you shouldn’t grill to far in advance) so i could keep an eye on the food table and greet guests coming in. (THANKS JUS, ANG, & MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

7. as soon as you can, make sure you party too! i worked as quickly as i could to get all of the food out so i could enjoy the party with the guest of honor and our friends and family. it’s hard to stop planning and start enjoying. if you’re like me and have a really hard time to stop doing and start having fun… refer back to #6.

8. have “the” game on if it’s on. you know they’re going to want to watch the game or whatever it is, so plan for the tv in the room you’re partying in. if the party is in the basement and you don’t want 40 people in your living room, plan accordingly. this is a good task to assign to electronic-minded friends to handle for you in advance if you’re cooking. this suggestion does not apply to weddings, actually the opposite rule applies. tell your venue to cut their cable that day!

9. if someone wants to do the worm, let them. mike, you’re awesome. thanks for letting me pick the music. no really, though #9 is: make an itunes playlist to let run for the night. or if you have a friend who wants to, name them the dj of the night, even if it’s just background music. if all else fails, fm radio is a great old standby. and you know on saturday nights, 96.5 kiss fm dance party is on.

10. don’t forget to assign someone as crumb monitor. our dog cooper loved to help keep the floor clean. we asked our strong friends who wanted to help to monitor the garbage cans so they didn’t overflow. keep additional trash bags in a handy place near the bins, and don’t forget to put enough bins out in the first place!