Invitation for Party Planning

Invitations tell the majority of the story. Who's having a party, When it will be, Where we need to arrive, and What the theme of the party will be. Let's take a look at some of those details.

When: I believe this is what the whole party is planned around. I always look at the calendar first to “save the date.” What day is the best for you and your family? The next question is what time, especially if you have preschoolers with a nap time you will have to work around. The party does not need to last all day. I recommend a two hour max on the party. This year for my 3 year old's party we had the kids over on a Saturday for 1 1/2 hours. This was the perfect amount of time to play organized games, eat, open gifts, and 15 minutes of free play.

Where: There are so many options for where a party can be held: In your home, at the park, jump/bounce houses, McDonald’s, etc. The time of the year can also be a factor in planning a location. I would love to have a birthday party in my backyard, but February is not the best month to be outside!

Who: After picking a date and location a guest list needs to be made. All other party plans will be determined based on the number, ages, and gender of the guests. The location will also play a strong factor in who can be invited.

What: Usually the party theme is actually going on in my mind long before the other specifics are planned out. The specific details may not come about until after the preceding decisions have been made.

Invitations are vital! Without them, there is no party. You can have someone design one for you, pick up the fill in the blank that matches the theme, or be creative and make your own.

Based on ages, do you want to have activities/games for the kids so they are not running around crazy? Will someone else be in charge of entertainment (Pump It Up, Princesses, Storybook Lady, etc)? Be sure whatever activity you decide on that it is age appropriate! There are TONS of websites to help plan games, crafts, or songs that will incorporate your theme.

What will you serve to eat? Does the party extend through a meal time where lunch needs to be served or is it at a time where cake and ice cream will be a sufficient treat? Again, look at the ages of your guests (and parents if they are invited too). Another thought is to have the children help decorate the cupcakes or make their own pizzas to eat for dinner.

Favors are another item to think about. Do you want to give a thank you to your guests as they leave? How much are you willing to spend? Think about including crafts you do as a part of your favors. It might be something as simple as a bottle of bubbles, or a fancy iced cookie.

Here is a quick recap on our party for our sweet 3 year old last month. We had her party on Valentine’s Day. I always said I would never do the holiday party for her (she was actually born on the 15th). The more I thought about it, the more I realized how easy it would be to incorporate all the party stuff that is around. I created my own invitation and printed it at home.

As for my table, I began finding things over the Christmas holidays. Kohl’s already had their table linens on sale! I also found plain plates and napkins at Walmart. Hobby Lobby had plastic cups decorated with hearts. (The kids took the cups home as another part of their favor.) LilE made a bouquet of flowers for me at school. I put them in a vase and used them on the table as well. I made my favorite punch, which happens to be pink. A box of red velvet cake makes easy cupcakes. No Time for Flash Cards had a cute cupcake decoration idea which I used.

The games we played were super simple. They played bean bag toss onto a big cardboard heart. Each time they hit the heart they were able to decorate the heart with stickers. Family Fun had a Valentine memory game. (Again, I printed enough for everyone to take one home with them). They also went fishing for hearts. Other variations can include picking up a certain number of hearts or matching a set pattern, i.e. Red, Pink, Red.)

The final thing they did was a super cute picture frame I found through Oriental Trading. While the kids were playing I took pictures of LilE with each of her friends. Then we glued the pictures into the frames. And, of course, the kids took those home to put on the fridge.

When Target put all their Valentine’s items in the Dollar Spot I jumped on it. I picked out one item for each child and cute bags to put the favors in. Hershey’s kisses were sprinkled inside the bags. I took red and pink paper and sent it through the shredder to stuff the favor bags and tied them up with curly ribbon. That simple bag plus the memory game, cup, and frame made for great favors in my mind!

I didn’t spend a lot of money and I did not spend a lot of time, but what was important was recognizing my sweet little girl on her big day and making her feel like the special girl she is!

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