Pick a Theme, Plan Your Party... Piece of Cake!

Do you enjoy entertaining but stress about planning the party? A common problem but one that can easily be overcome by having a theme party. Creating a theme for your party gives you an outline. Choosing a theme gives you ideas and direction and a game plan. It makes the whole process so much simpler and in my opinion, makes the planning much more fun.

Choosing your theme is the starting point. It can revolve around a holiday like Christmas or Easter. You could choose to celebrate an occasion such as Cinco de Mayo or Mardi Gras. You could choose a seasonal theme like Oktoberfest for the fall or a Luau theme in the summer. Another option is choosing a theme that revolves around something you enjoy. Birthdays are always a great place to introduce a theme party. Once chosen, the theme then gives you direction as to invitation ideas, favors, food choices and even the fun! Consider it to be your personal party road map! A theme also gives you a "search term" to plug into your computer. You can gather further ideas by exploring sites that have information on your theme party idea!

I just recently helped a friend plan her husband's birthday party using this approach. She wanted to throw him a party but just didn't know where to start. A cook-out, a small gathering at a restaurant, a big party at a hall with a DJ??? She was totally frustrated when we talked. During our conversation we hit on a theme and suddenly she was good to go. She was actually excited as we started to develop the party ideas. Best of all, the theme was so simple, she decided she could have it at home. We decided it would be an ESPN sports themed party. Her husband is a true sports fanatic. While on the phone, she was complaining about how he is glued to ESPN every night.. Presto...we took her complaint and turned it into a party! Sports themed invitations are everywhere with some creative personalized ones on several websites. However, we made them ourselves on the computer with free clip art! Everyone came in their favorite "sports" apparel. Guests arrived adorned in everything from team t-shirts, to licensed major league jerseys to an old high school letter jacket. For entertainment there was a sports trivia game. There was an entire category of who's who among the ESPN anchors. We assigned "handicaps" in advance as we were very confident as to who would win that category! You can only imagine the possibilities as far as food and decorations. It turned out to be simple and fun to plan once the theme was in place. The end result.. a fantastic birthday celebration!

So don't put off inviting your friends over or agonize over planning your children's birthday parties. Using your imagination, creativity plus the search button on your computer, you can plan an amazing get together without the stress!

Theme party ideas are truly one of the easiest tools to use in planning a party...so start thinking about your next gathering. The holiday season will be here before we know it and the themes for that time of year are filled with "party planning potential"!