Replay: frugal party planning - picking a theme

It seems that many of my blogging and IRL friends are planning parties lately. I thought I would dust this post off and give it some new life. This post was originally published August 26, 2008.

photo by normanack

A few weeks ago I posted on 5 tips for saving time and/or money when planning a party. In this post we'll follow up and elaborate on how a theme can save you both time AND money!

First, a theme can save you money if you tailor it correctly. For example, say you are having a birthday party for one of your girlfriends. You want to save money on food, but at the same time you want it to be delicious and fun - 2 possible options are a brunch or appetizers. Prefer a morning party? Go with a brunch. Looking for something later in the day? An appetizer party could be early afternoon or later in the evening (after dinner). Let's choose brunch.

A theme can also help you save time by giving you direction and helping you determine where you want to go with your party. Think about what your friend's interests are when choosing a theme. Does your friend like to travel? Does she enjoy gardening? Let's assume for the sake of this example she enjoys to travel. A travel themed brunch could center around breakfast foods from different parts of the world, or you could simply make up cute names for more "ordinary" foods that tie in your theme. A few things I would prepare for this theme would be french toast bites, tropical fruit salad, Mediterranean omelet casserole, and exotic fruit drinks and coffees or teas. Brunches are especially economical because breakfast foods tend to be very affordable.

Now that you know you're having a party with a travel theme, you can think about ideas for invitations and decorations centering on this theme. If you want to give a party favor, your travel theme can also help you come up with an idea for favors. Don't feel you have to extend the theme to all aspects of the party if you're having trouble tying it together, only use it in so far as it will help you.

I used the travel example because I threw a travel themed bridal shower for a girlfriend who really enjoyed travelling with her future husband. We sent pretty traditional shower invitations, but we requested guests think (if they wanted to) of a way to suggest the bride use her shower gift on a trip with her groom to be. We included card stock and requested each guest provide a travel tip or a suggestion for a future trip the bride and groom might enjoy. We used this card stock along with photos from the event to make a keepsake for my friend. We included a few games since it was a bridal shower, and the prizes for the game winners were travel themed.

For my daughter's first birthday I found a great deal on some cute dessert napkins and plates that said "I'm One" and had a teddy bear on them. I only bought a few items with this design and filled in with coordinating solid colors. I made a teddy bear smash cake for her to eat. In this case, the napkins and plates, and a matching bib provided me an idea for what kind of cake I wanted to make and a basic color scheme.

Next week I will wrap up this series with some tips on how to save money on decorations for parties.

Planning for Holiday Entertaining - guest post at Frugal Upstate

Can you believe it's November already? Where has the time gone?

Today you can find me writing about holiday party planning at Frugal Upstate, I hope you'll join me there. I met Jenn from Frugal Upstate on Twitter, if you are frugal or interested in frugal topics, you'll love her blog!

Notebook Experiment - Baby shower ideas

Amy's last notebook featured a link from Tip Junkie on Baby Shower Ideas. I have a few friends who might be in the market for a shower soon, so I clicked on through. Nikki was featured for her favors, games, and decorating ideas. If you want to check out the fab shower she threw for Holly, I've included a link here. I'm lovin the adorable baby clothing line that looks like garland all around the room? The girl is genius!

What I wanted to share, though, is a diaper cake (similar to those shown in Nikki's post) that doubled as both gift and decoration at a baby shower. This cake was a bit bigger than the ones I usually make, because this cake was for my friend who is having twins! (you can see her in the bottom photo - Hi Jayme!) I had a bunch of newborn diapers left over that had been gifted to me, so I went a little overboard, but I think it turned out very well. Since this was for a boy/girl twin pair, I used both "princess" and "all star" ribbon that I found at Wal Mart for $1 a spool. The trick is getting good at rolling diapers, and after that, it's pretty much a snap! And make sure you have enough rubber bands, that is key too. Since there really weren't directions on either TipJunkie or Nikki's sites for making a diaper cake, you can go here to find the tutorial I've used for my cakes. There are some other cool tips on that site too.






For more notebook experiments, head on over to Momadvice!

Picking a Party Theme

photo by normanack

A few weeks ago I posted on 5 tips for saving time and/or money when planning a party. In this post we'll follow up and elaborate on how a theme can save you both time AND money!

First, a theme can save you money if you tailor it correctly. For example, say you are having a birthday party for one of your girlfriends. You want to save money on food, but at the same time you want it to be delicious and fun - 2 possible options are a brunch or appetizers. Prefer a morning party? Go with a brunch. Looking for something later in the day? An appetizer party could be early afternoon or later in the evening (after dinner). Let's choose brunch.

A theme can also help you save time by giving you direction and helping you determine where you want to go with your party. Think about what your friend's interests are when choosing a theme. Does your friend like to travel? Does she enjoy gardening? Let's assume for the sake of this example she enjoys to travel. A travel themed brunch could center around breakfast foods from different parts of the world, or you could simply make up cute names for more "ordinary" foods that tie in your theme. A few things I would prepare for this theme would be french toast bites, tropical fruit salad, Mediterranean omelet casserole, and exotic fruit drinks and coffees or teas. Brunches are especially economical because breakfast foods tend to be very affordable.

Now that you know you're having a party with a travel theme, you can think about ideas for invitations and decorations centering on this theme. If you want to give a party favor, your travel theme can also help you come up with an idea for favors. Don't feel you have to extend the theme to all aspects of the party if you're having trouble tying it together, only use it in so far as it will help you.

I used the travel example because I threw a travel themed bridal shower for a girlfriend who really enjoyed travelling with her future husband. We sent pretty traditional shower invitations, but we requested guests think (if they wanted to) of a way to suggest the bride use her shower gift on a trip with her groom to be. We included card stock and requested each guest provide a travel tip or a suggestion for a future trip the bride and groom might enjoy. We used this card stock along with photos from the event to make a keepsake for my friend. We included a few games since it was a bridal shower, and the prizes for the game winners were travel themed.

For my daughter's first birthday I found a great deal on some cute dessert napkins and plates that said "I'm One" and had a teddy bear on them. I only bought a few items with this design and filled in with coordinating solid colors. I made a teddy bear smash cake for her to eat. In this case, the napkins and plates, and a matching bib provided me an idea for what kind of cake I wanted to make and a basic color scheme.

Next week I will wrap up this series with some tips on how to save money on decorations for parties.

5 time and money saving tips for party planning

This is the first in a series of posts about party planning. I love a good party, and I LOVE it even more if it's one I'm hosting! In college, I held all of the party planning chairs at one time or another, rush chair, social chair, sisterhood chair, etc...once out of college I moved to planning bridal showers and then baby showers...now that my friends are all married and having kids, the focus of our parties is shifting but the planning method remains much the same.

Here are 5 tips for saving time and/or money (usually you have to choose one or the other, right?!) In future posts I will elaborate on each one and provide pictures to help illustrate.

1. Pick a theme
Themes can help you save on time and money in the long run, because it will help direct your decorating and menu plan.

2. Scope out deals on party ware as soon as you choose the color scheme.
Advanced scouting for deals can greatly reduce your budget for glasses, plates, and plastic ware should you choose to go the disposable route. Depending on where you are hosting the party, it may be easy to use your own plates and silverware, and if so, this is a good way to save money. Using disposable will save you time in preparation and clean up, so you just have to decide which is more important for each individual event.

3. Plan the food you will serve around your budget and shop in advance when possible for food.

Want to save money on your food budget? Throw your party in the early afternoon and serve drinks and snacks, or plan a brunch which is a cost effective way to feed a crowd a sit down meal.

4. Decorate effectively.

Use what you have as much as possible: candles, flowers, stuffed animals, toys, gifts you are giving at the party, and the food you are serving all can be used to decorate. Balloons make nice centerpieces and are relatively cost effective. Make the gift table a focal point if there is going to be one.

5. Location, Location, Location…
This one can vary all over the map depending on what type of party you’re having, but here are some things to keep in mind: Hosting a party at your house or a friend’s house is likely the most cost effective option, but consider what you could save if you chose a different location. Is time your biggest constraint? If so, renting a location or going to a park may be the lower cost solution because it will save you time cleaning ahead of time. Would you have to rent anything or would there be a lot of added expense decorating if you threw this party in someone’s home? If so, it may also make sense to rent. The condo my mother lives in has an elegant clubhouse that can be rented for a nominal fee and we have used it more often than not to save time on decorating and prep time…for us it is almost always worth the rental fee.

What are some of the ways you save money when you're hosting a party? What are some of the favorite things you've seen done or have done yourself? I'd love to hear your tips!!