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!   

cooper charles: loves cuddling, pupperonis and to clean crumbs.

 i hope my party planning thoughts help you with future parties – or weddings! and happy 30th devin! love ya! 

any favorite party planning tips you want to add? leave a comment! 

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs
heidzillas how to: playing card signs with menu cards
heidzillas how to: menu planning & naming
heidzillas how to: playing card cupcakes… and more

snip snip snip…

and flip: 1 card for 2 cupcakes. don’t forget to wash your hands BEFORE cutting, use a NEW deck, and place them in a plastic bag until they will be put onto the food. photos of the finished cupcakes, in just a second.

but first, were you wondering where the aces and jokers went? you probably weren’t, but i affixed them to two digital photo frames which i had to loop photos of devin through the year.

now… about the cake! as i mentioned before, i enlisted some wedding vendors’ help for devin’s party. my friend jacqui of cmykakes made devin a humidor-style cake with fondant cigars that were modeled after his favorites (macanudo hyde parks). the cake was white cake with grand marnier frosting and covered in chocolate fondant! our guests LOVED it!

and now for the cupcakes with the cards. the cards simply stick right in.  we had chocolate cake with peanut butter…

… and carrot cake with caramel! soooooo good. SO GOOD!!!

my husband and his mom share the same birthday, so jacqui made her an overside cuppiecake! it was white cake with white frosting and had a red fondant “liner”. one word: devoured.

to give you an idea of really how large the cupcake was! and see the cute photo frames?

red metallic table skirts do not photograph well… but here’s the whole table!

the king and his cake! yes i got him a red crown and a sword to be the king of hearts that he is

blowing out the candle!

don’t worry, i humiliated myself with a queen crown too .

coming up next: random party pics

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs
heidzillas how to: playing card signs with menu cards
heidzillas how to: menu planning & naming

the copy (written by me) reads:

No Bluff: Devin’s Turning 30
(Date, Time)
(Our Address)
Celebrate with snacks and drinks at our “full house.”
Please “ante up” to Heidi by Saturday, January 9
(RSVP Information)

and how perfect, the usps has these king and queen of hearts stamps out now!

i addressed all invitations to “king” (guys name) or “queen” (gals name) and sometimes to “jack” (rowdy guy friend of devin’s name )

coming up next: a deck of cards for 3 diy projects… menu planning… special touches… decor… and other party recaps!

we had a great turn out and i know i personally enjoyed the food and drinks, so i’m sure everyone did too. any event that starts with being handed a glass of champagne when you walk in the door is an automatically fabulous event in my book!

the dips provided by area restaurants paired with the sips superbly. (best goat cheese i’ve ever had, by the way…)

and the sips were top notch wines from several well-known wine producers along with heidelberg distributing company.

a before photo : )

thanks to ferro corporation, moss stanley provided classy piano entertainment all evening.

and thanks once again to blooms by plantscaping for providing the really sharp floral decor that POPPED on the black linens which were provided by event source. i even ended up with a few of the arrangements at the end of the night and they still look great several days later.

more thanks to all of the local businesses which donated prizes for the chinese and silent auctions. in addition to raising more funds for the hospital, many attendees went home super happy with their gift certificates to local businesses, salon products, a baby basket, hand crafted jewelry and many more.

the silent auction in particular provided a lot of warm chatter amongst attendees who were working to outbid each other for sweet prizes like a trip to the 2010 mercedes benz fashion week, a jim tressel signed football, a pig roast party and several more.

event photography was done by my friend corey ann - be looking on her site for a future blog with the pro photos! and if you missed out this year, be sure to become a “fan” of sips and dips on facebook so you will get event updates next year. don’t miss the fourth annual!

here are the wonderful sponsors of this event!

Design: Chocolate Dog Studios
Entertainment: Moss Stanley generously provided by Ferro Corporation.
Event Photography: Corey Ann Photography
Floral Decor: Blooms by Plantscaping
Rentals: Event Source
Save the Date Printing: Northern Ohio Printing
Signage: Suburban Press, Inc.

sips
Heidelberg Distributing Company
Wente Family Estates
VineOne
Fosters Wine Estates
Pernod Ricard

dips
Blue Point Grille
Crop Bistro & Bar
Johnny’s Downtown
Osteria
XO Prime Steaks
 

 
for all the information about the event, visit the sips and dips web site.

in an effort to give back to the community, i’ve been able to utilize my event planning and marketing skills on the committee for the third annual sips and dips on sixth: a taste of the warehouse district event. the proceeds benefit rainbow babies and children’s hospital – a cause i’m rather fond of since my best friend works there with the babies.

there will be wine (sips), food (dips), music and great company. what else could you really ask for?

please check out our new website, www.sipsanddipsonsixth.com for all of the details and how you can rsvp.

sips and dips on sixth is also on facebook and twitter to be a fan of/follow.

i hope the new site makes viewing my posts, searching within my blog, and learning about my day of coordination services easier for my wonderful visitors. i have switched over from the blogspot format to the wordpress format, so leaving comments will be a little different. while my main url, www.heidzillas.com has not changed,the urls of old blogs posts have. for those of you who have bookmarked or linked specific posts from me, those links will no longer work, sorry! please utilize the search function at the top right in order to find those old posts. also, my blogroll is at the very bottom of the screen if you’re looking for other wedding-related blogs to read.

i’m very excited about the new layout and blog features! and, i promise, i’ll be back to my regularly scheduled blogging as soon as i catch up from my lack of sleep from the big conversion….zzzzzzzzzzz…

enjoy! and thank you for visiting!

~heidzilla

(c) corey ann photography

grab your bridesmaids, your mom, or even your fiance if he’s not afraid to be seen at a chick flick and make a night of it i’m planning on going tonight with my BFFs codi and nicole!

here are tonight’s showtimes for readers in the greater cleveland area. if you’re not in the area, or won’t go tonight, check out fandango for other times.

Tower City 11
230 W. Huron Road, Cleveland
4:40 7:05 9:25pm

Rave Motion Pictures West Chester 18
9415 Civic Center Blvd., West Chester
4:15 5:15 7:15 8:15 9:45pm

AMC Ridge Park Square Cinema 8
4788 Ridge Road, Brooklyn
5:00 7:50 10:10pm

Cinemark at Valley View
6001 Canal Road, Valley View
4:45 6:10 7:20 8:40 9:50pm

Regal Severance Town Center 14
3492 Mayfield Road, Cleveland Heights
3:15 5:30 7:50 10:10pm

AMC Westwood Town Center Cinema
21653 Center Ridge Rd., Rocky River
5:30 7:45 10:05pm

Regal Middleburg Town Square Cinema 16
18348 Bagley Road, Cleveland
4:40 5:10 7:00 7:40 9:20 9:50pm

Regal Cinemas Richmond Town Square 20
631 Richmond Road, Richmond Heights
4:20 4:50 7:00 7:30 9:20 9:50pm

Atlas Cinemas Lakeshore 7
22624 Lake Shore Boulevard, Euclid
5:10 7:20 9:30pm

Cinemark Strongsville
17450 Southpark Center, Strongsville
4:25 7:00 9:15pm

Solon Cinema
6185 Enterprise Parkway, Solon
4:35 7:10 9:40pm

Cinemark Tinseltown USA – Macedonia
8161 Macedonia Commons Boulevard, Macedonia
5:15 7:40 10:05pm

Regal Crocker Park Stadium 16
30147 Detroit Road, Westlake
4:50 5:20 7:20 7:50 9:40 10:10pm

Hickory Ridge Cinemas
1055 Pearl Road, Brunswick
5:30 7:30 9:30pm

Regal Willoughby Commons 16
36655 Euclid Avenue, Willoughby
4:40 5:20 7:00 7:40 9:30 10:00pm

Chagrin Cinema
8200 East Washington Street, Chagrin Falls
5:15 7:45 9:50pm

Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Stadium 16
7860 Mentor Avenue, Mentor
5:10 7:15 9:20pm

Regal Hudson Cinema 10
5339 Darrow Road, Hudson
4:50 7:40 10:20pm

Cinemark 10 – Aurora
140 Barrington Town Square Drive, Aurora
5:00 7:40 10:00pm

Regal Cobblestone Square 20
5500 Cobblestone Drive, Elyria
4:50 7:20 10:00pm

and don’t forget to come back and let me know what you thought about the movie and if you got any good wedding-related ideas from the movie

mrs. gentry (jenny lee) has assigned me the letter s! in lieu of photos i thought i’d assign each chose word to a fun youtube video if possible

my 10 favorite “s” things, sorted alphabetically

1. saturdays

2. seashells

3. sexy time

4. shoes

5. singing in the car

6. spirit

+

7. stationery

8. summer

9. sunshine

10. surprises

i keep hearing about twitter. i definitely don’t need another communication tool and more technology in my life, but seems easy enough, especially with the “twitterrific” iPhone application.

here i am, if you want to follow me