Planning a party is rarely a simple matter of logistics. Yes, you have to get all the right people in the right place, at roughly the same time. You know you need to provide them with a few pieces of food to nibble on, as well as a selection of drinks. If you’re going to go big on the decor, then that’s something you need to get ticked off as well.
The above are the basics, however. There’s no doubt you can have a successful party if you just do these things, but you’re also going to run into more than a few problems along the way. The true skill of effective party planning is found in anticipating problems, so when they do arise, you already have a solution in place.
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So what kind of issues should you anticipate when it comes to planning your next big event?
The Dreaded Drinks Dearth
Few things will kill an atmosphere more effectively than running out of drinks – particularly alcohol – way before the time you’d thought the party would run to. While it’s conceivably possible that you could buy too much alcohol in the planning of a party, most of the time, more is going to be better. Make life easier for yourself by ordering alcohol online so you don’t have to worry about dragging multiple bottles of clanking bags from your car, as well as giving you the chance to get a variety to suit every palette. If you’ve anything left over at the end of the night, you are well stocked for gifts the next time someone’s birthday rolls around.
The Music Maladies
Finding the right music for a party is never going to be easy. Music is one of those things that everyone has an opinion on, but it’s also entirely subjective. What someone considers to be a stone-cold classic, someone else will turn their nose up at.
Thankfully, the internet has got you covered. There are numerous lists available online of songs that everyone knows and loves. While there will always be a few outliers among your guests, for the most part, a playlist of the all-time favorites is going to get the best results.
The Awkward Arguments
Unless your life is like a TV show and everyone already knows one another, then chances are any party you throw is going to involve bringing together a lot of strangers. They’re not strangers to you, of course – but they are to one another. Forgetting this fact can lead to awkward moments, as a group of people suddenly realize they don’t know how to talk to one another.
Worse still is when two people meet for the first time and it’s immediately obvious that they don’t get on. It happens; it’s not fun for anyone involved. That’s where your hosting skills are going to have to be top-notch. At the first sign that anyone is rubbing someone else up the wrong way, you have to be on the ball enough to interject and separate them from one another. A simple: “could you give me a hand in the kitchen?” is usually enough to make the point, and keep tempers well under control!
By following the ideas above, your party planning will go up another gear – and you’ll all have a lot more fun as a result.
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