5 Event Hacks to Make your Party Affordable and Fun…
Celebrations
bring family and friends together. Here, we will share with you some valuable
tips to successfully organize and design a wonderful event that will please
your guests on a manageable, affordable budget.
Once
you have established your budget, next you will no doubt want to cut back on
some of the less affordable items. Look
closely at your event and separate the “must haves” from the “like to haves”
then find ways to creatively improvise the other details. If you MUST HAVE a professional photographer
and the package you choose uses up your centerpiece budget-don’t take a loan,
take a class! Start researching some DIY
alternatives and stay on track.
Try these Trendy
Tricks and Helpful Hints to Make your Party Affordable and Fun…
FOOD - A new fashion is the “tiny taste trend”— appetizers are a delightful way
to show off a creative array of cocktail-style fare. Food catered in this
manner may cost more due to the time and labor needed for preparation.
Alternatively, serve a standard, more affordable buffet food creatively
with a do-it-yourself approach, providing varied self-serve presentations [i.e.
smaller plates, cupcake cups, presentation spoons, colorful ‘shot’ glasses,
etc.]. Guests will marvel at your
sausage and pepper appetizers on a cracker instead of a roll!
Ask your venue/caterer to help with pre-arranging your food in small portions or again,
consider self-serve options like small cups for vegetable dip with assorted
veggies, or mini soup-sips and pudding shots for dessert. Portion control will
add a trendy flare to your event without letting it slip that you are watching
a budget.
MUSIC - DJ’s and Bands can be expensive. Unless
this is your MUST HAVE, avoid costly ensembles by being your own DJ. Consider
renting a set of speakers if your venue does not provide them, or a high-volume
CD or Ipod player. Ask your guests one
song they would like to hear, compile their requests to play throughout your
event. This is not only a cost-efficient way to provide entertainment, but your
guests will enjoy hearing the song they requested.
LIGHTING – The lighting of the venue makes a
dramatic difference in the mood and feel of your event. A popular new trend in
lighting is the use of up-lighting with colored LED lights (of your choice)
focused upward and strategically placed throughout the venue. You can rent your
own or ask your venue to provide this affordable décor enhancement.
DÉCOR - Simple still radiates a
sophisticated and classy feel. Centerpieces tend to be where much emphasis is
placed. Flowers are a popular centerpiece item, but can be pricey. If there is a ‘head table,’ consider focusing
your attention there and using simpler, affordable arrangements on additional
tables.
Craft
stores like Michael’s sell an assortment of artificial flowers that are just as
beautiful and elegant as the real thing. They require much less effort to
transport and arrange and are reusable! For creative décor ideas, visit www.pinterest.com as a useful resource that offers
tons of do-it-yourself event decoration ideas.
PHOTOS – after planning such a wonderful
event, be sure to capture the memories. Instead of hiring a professional
photographer, buy a few disposable cameras and hand them out to guests at the
party. You will get to observe the party through your guests’ perspective, and
then compile them into an album at www.walgreens.com
or
www.shutterfly.com. We found video cameras from www.wedit.com. You can also send the cameras
back for editing or you can choose to edit the videos yourself if you are
really brave.
Now
that we have equipped with all of the tools you need for an affordable event,
get ready to start planning:
-
Brainstorm
the look and feel of your party before putting your plans into action; it’s
important to envision your ideas first in order to better organize and plan
your event
-
Remember
that the focus of your event is for everyone to have a good time, so place
emphasis on creating a fun and enjoyable atmosphere, not on the little details
that cause more stress than enjoyment (trust us…it’s not the end of all
humanity that your ribbon curls aren’t perfect). In fact, be prepared to take a big deep
breath and find your sense of humor when something does go wrong.
-
As
the host/hostess of your event, it is important that you are the happy as well.
Your guests want to have fun WITH you.
So, enjoy!
Please share your tips in the comment section so everyone can have a great event!
