Where to start?

Planning a great summer party takes time, strategy, creativity and imagination! You want your party fun, light and upbeat. So, first things first!

1.) Plan your Budget: The first step to planning a great party is to plan your budget. Set aside the maximum amount you want to spend and don't go over!

2.) Guest List: When creating your guest list, you have to decide how elaborate or simple your party will be. Is this an event for close friends and family only? Or one that will include extended friends and family?

• Break your list into three groups : Those who should be invited, those who you would like to invite and those who might be invited.

3.) What's the Theme?: Summer parties call for the outdoors! Do you want a casual or formal event – upscale atmosphere? Chose a party theme that your guest will enjoy; a beach party, a Hawaiian tiki party, a pool party, block party or a back yard BBQ.

4.) Location: Party Location is key! It has to work well with your theme, and it plays a direct role in the size and budget of the party. Choose a place that suits you and your vision. A great park, beach, pool or your own back yard!

5.) Adequate Seating: You want your guests moving, mixing and having fun throughout the party, so make sure you have plenty of seating available.

• Arranging chairs in small groups all around the party area will help to keep people mingling and socializing with each other.

6.) Menu: For fun in the sun, bring out your grill! BBQ is the traditional summer cuisine. However, you don't have to do the typical BBQ, you can have your party catered with Hawaiian themed foods, surf and turf or a great buffet of fresh finger foods.

• Keep plenty of refreshments on hand, the warm weather always calls for a cold lemonade, iced tea or spritzer.
• Desserts can be fresh carved fruit, light cupcakes or a sweet summer themed cake.
• Remember to plan for success, too much food is better than not enough!

7.) Decorations: Depending on your theme, you will want to keep things bright and colorful. Citrus colors are always a hit for an outside party, with yellows, oranges and pinks. You don't want your table's visual appeal to fade once the food is gone – you need to have stunning summer centerpieces on your tables.

• Flower arrangements with fresh fruits included will wow your guests!
• Twinkle lights in the trees, paper lanterns and tea light candles placed strategically through out your party space will bring a warm ambiance to the atmosphere.
  

  Outdoor Decor
• Umbrellas or canopies will help shade your guests from the sun.
• Sturdy serving ware is important as well. As most guests will be walking or standing while they eat, you will need to offer a sturdy plate, cup and utensils.

8.) Entertainment/Activities: Keeping your party interesting can seem like a difficult task, but you need to make sure that you supply plenty of opportunity for your guests to mix, mingle and laugh.

• Every party needs to have at least one event to bring people together, whether it be a game, contest, a toast or dancing.
• Consider hiring a DJ to set the pace with fun summer music or a photographer to capture candid moments of your guests.

9.) Play Hostess: Keep the excitement up; linger through your party making sure that everyone is mingling and not being left out. Make sure all of your guests get a bite to eat as well.

10.) Enjoy your party! Being flexible is key; you can't make everyone happy, so do your best at enjoying yourself, it's contagious!

This post is brought to you by Miami Party Planners.
Not in Miami, FL? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find a party planner near you!

Memorial Day is a time to celebrate and remember our loved ones. It marks the beginning of Summer, the beginning of road trips, picnics, camping and cookouts. Gathering your family and friends together to share in a Memorial Day Party is a great way to kick off the summer!

Setting The Atmosphere:

When planning your party, you need to find a good place at a public park with lots of picnic tables or you can use your backyard filled with umbrellas, tents, tables and chairs.

Sending out invitations  2-3 weeks early will give your guests plenty of time to set a side the day. If you are having a pot-lock or cookout and you want your guests to bring a tray, incorporate that into your party invitations along with an R.S.V.P to help you get  a good count on the amount of food you will need according to how many people plan on attending.

Decorating With Patriotism:

Decorations for Memorial Day are patriotic with red, white and blue. Table clothes, paper wear and utensils should be in the same color family. Confetti spread out along the table tops is a fun little extra. Flower arrangements with red, white and blue flowers will look great as centerpieces for your tables.

You can buy small American Flags and place them in the flower arrangements or display them around the party area. Set a side large coolers to fill with ice and beverages and don't forget lots of seating for your guests to sit back, relax and enjoy!

What To Eat:

Choosing the menu is something that depends mainly on your budget, but also on the theme you choose for your party. Local caterers are always a great way to go when you don't have time to prepare the food yourself. If you want to get your hands in on creating the food, there are several ways you can go:

• Potluck Style: Ask your guests to bring their favorite dish to share and you give the drinks .
• Picnic Style: Ask your guests to bring their favorite side dish and drinks and you provide the main dish.
• Buffet Style: Your guests are not asked to bring anything, you provide the entire meal.

Some great ideas for summer buffet foods are: easy appetizers like chips and dip, cheese and crackers or veggies and dip. For the meal, you can serve crock-pot beans, burgers, hot dogs, brats, macaroni or green salads, cold cut grinders, chicken wings or even grilled chicken.

Serving pre-cut watermelon is always a hit! Homemade cookies, brownies, cupcakes or ice cream sandwiches are favorites too. You can order or create your own Memorial Day Cake decorated with an American Flag.

Keeping Your Guests Occupied:

Your guests can keep busy by playing horseshoes, Frisbee, touch football, volley ball, relay races or even kite flying.

Water balloons or slip and slides are always a lot of fun, but make sure to warn your guests ahead of time if you are planning on getting them wet so they can bring a change of clothes!

If you really want to go all out, you can even include a pie eating contest or pie war using whip cream pies in disposable tins. This is always a crowd favorite – depending on your crowd's sense of humor!

If you want to send home goody bags with the little ones, you can include sunscreen, windmills, candies, sunglasses, tiny water guns, bubbles, flags and bouncy balls.

Remembering To Observe The Holiday And It's History

However or where ever you hold your Memorial Day Party, you and your guests should pay special attention to the history behind the holiday and take a moment or two to honor and remember the brave soldiers that gave their lives for our country.

This post is brought to you by Philadelphia Caterers.
Not in Philadelphia, PA No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find a caterer near you!

Water balloon, picnic basket photo provided by Steve Wilhelm, Paul and Christa

As a mother of three young children, I have to come realize that a birthday party can be much more than a few gifts and a cake. A birthday party is a day that your child will carry with them for many years. You have to find what makes them tick and then run with it. Alex is like most other five-year old boys, he is fascinated with superheros. His entire life revolves around them and every moment of his day is masked with a theme song to go along with his adventures. So what better theme than an action packed super hero adventure for his sixth birthday party!

A superhero party can easily turn into something that is super-expensive if you don't be careful. Here are some fun ways to make this party excellent and save a little money with homemade touches!

The party can evolve around several different superheros or if your child has a favorite, you can build the party around just one.

Color Schemes:

• The Incredible Hulk: Green and Brown
• Batman: Black and Yellow
• Spider Man: Red and Blue
• Super Man: Red, Blue and Yellow
• Green Lantern: Green and Black
• Iron Man: Red and Gold

When putting together party invitations, you can make them with colored card stock and stickers. Cut out the emblems of different hero's and glue on card stock with your child's initials on the front. Or glue a picture of your child in his favorite superhero costume on the front.

“Calling All Superheros!” – Invite the children who are coming to wear a hero or villain costume!

There are a lot of fun creative ways to decorate for superhero parties.

• Blow up balloons and hang streamers according to the color scheme you have chosen.
• Print out Images of Comic Strips and post them on the walls.
• Print out warning signs such as “ KAZZAM!”, “POW”, “FLASH”, “ZOINK” and hang throughout the area.
• Print signs warning villains to stay clear.
• Wrap gifts with cheap comic books.
• You can design and cut out emblems and tape or glue to the front of the balloons.
• Display your child's action figures around the area; hanging from streamers, climbing the walls, fighting villains and so on.
• Designate a wall or specific area with a big back drop for taking pictures.

Craft Table:

• Set up a table with pre-cut masks, lay out markers, glue sticks, confetti, pom poms, strings, and stickers.
• Set our crayons and coloring pages of all the different superheros.

Brick Wall Smash:

• Build a wall with cardboard “bricks” covered in red brick paper and let each child smash in it!

Superhero Clue Hunt:

• Fill a bucket or “Treasure” box with party toys (you can find these at most retails stores).

Create clues based on the villains and heroes on card stock and hide around the area. The kids will get in groups of two or three and see who can find the “Treasure” first. Everyone gets a toy! This game is better for children who can read.

X-ray Vision Game

• Put all sorts of different items in a big box and let the kids (who have something covering their eyes) name them without sight, only touch or smell. This can get very funny when you put all kinds of silly things in the box. For instance, if you put in a half of a banana and you stick one of the kid's fingers in it. Be creative, this will probably be most hilarious part of the party!

Musical Chairs:

• Collect different theme songs and use as the music for the well-known game of musical chairs, but instead of chairs, use large pillows on the floor.

Kryptonite Hot Potato:

• Have the kids stand or sit in a circle using a green ball or a potato painted green and have the children pass the “kryptonite” from one child to another until the music stops, who ever has it when it stops, has to sit down.

Pinata:

• You can find superhero pinatas almost anywhere, fill with small toys, stickers and candies for the kids to take home. Don't forget to have small bags handy to store the candy in!

You can serve anything that you would at a normal party; pizza, sandwiches, veggies and dip etc… Place signs over the options with “superhero” names such as Radioactive Pizza, Kryptonite Sandwiches, Goblin Veggies and Spidey Dip.

The superhero party has been successful so far, but the themed cake is what always tops it! You can create your own unique homemade cakes or buy one that is already decorated especially for your child. Cupcakes are a great substitution ( No time wasted cutting and serving! ).

Get small bags and include :

• Small flashlight (For finding the bad guys!)
• Cheap black sunglasses (X-ray glasses)
• Bubbles (To distract the villains)
• Note pad and pencil (To write down clues)
• Whistle or Horn ( To call for back up)
• Certificate welcoming them into the “Justice Leauge”

If you really want to go the extra mile and REALLY make this party awesome think about having a surprise visit by an "Actual Superhero!" You can buy or rent a costume online or at your local costume shop. It is best to have someone who is not close to the child dress up, because you wouldn't want to spoil it when they figure out that Batman sounds just like daddy!

Your surprise Superhero could make a big entrance with the last gift for your little guy (or girl) and then stay to take a few pictures with the kids. The party will over flow with excitement!

Between decorations, party food, activities and the surprise guest you will have your kids laughing and having a great time. Your superhero fanatic will be the talk of the town.

This post is brought to you by Houston Party Decoration Suppliers.
Not in Houston, TX? No worries, use Wedding and Party Network's handy party planning directory to help you find a party decoration supplier near you!

Superhero pinata photo provided by Daquella manera via flickr.

Haven't you always dreamed of planning an event without the stress, especially a wedding? Wouldn't it be so absolutely amazing if you could find a place that did it all for you? A place where you could trust in their planing expertise to make your event truly memorable. Well you absolutely must visit Event Essentials! If you're in the Fort Saint John, British Columbia area, you absolutely must check them out. They'll throw that amazing party you've always dreamed about!

Unbelievable Customer Service

Event Essentials lives by the fact that their customers are their most important people. This event planning service is committed to going above and beyond for each and every one of their customers. With making all their wedding and party needs come true. If you have a visioned up a party, let them help. Or if you have no clue on where to begin, they'll be glad to help with that too.

These party planners are always focused on you and your event. Whether it's from planning a wedding, special event, birthday party or anniversary party; these expert party coordinators will make sure everything happens just the way you want it. Event Essentials will help you plan, coordinate your wedding or party, decorate and everything in between.

Where Your Dreams Become Reality

First, meet with Event Essentials' event coordinator. There, you will plan it all with them. Planning, coordinating and lending their expertise is what they're there to do. Let them dream your dream too. They'll truly share in the same vision that you have for your event. Letting them share in your vision will help them create your ideal party look. Are you wanting to plan a rustic themed wedding? Well let them offer just the party decorations you need to create that look. Are you wanting to throw an elegant black and white themed wedding? They'll do that too! Whether it be your wedding or event that you need help with, Event Essentials is there for you.

Not only will they lend their knowledgeable party decorating skills to you, they also provide party or wedding rentals too. Everything from wine glasses, vases, candle holders, chair covers, sashes, tablecloths, napkins, tulle, lights and drapery. So many party rentals to choose from! All their party rentals will look amazing at your wedding or any event you plan or throwing. Whatever you choose, they'll make sure to make it all about you and your vision.

Do you need a coordinator, party or wedding decorations or party rentals? Well, Event Essentials is there just for you. They want to provide you with their expertise and friendly customer service to make your party an absolute hit. All your decorations along with their party rentals will be exactly what you had imagined all along. Everything will be picture perfect.

A new and exciting trend to hit the wedding and party circuit are photobooths! These fun party props add great personality to any wedding or party and can take it to the next level. You have amazing party decorations, delicious party food, fun party music so now all that's missing is a fun photobooth that your guests will absolutely enjoy to the fullest. Photoboothphotos.com is a great shop for all your photobooth needs! Exceptional photobooths sure to offer a night full of fun at your next event.

Why a photobooth?

Fun Photobooth Pictures

This party prop adds a fun aspect to any wedding or party, of course! Besides that, guests will have a fun and unique wedding favor or party favor to take home with them. Sure guests enjoy party favors such as, chocolates, fans, seeds, mints and cookies, but who doesn't love pictures? Guests will absolutely love taking home a personalized photo from your event, it will bring back fun memories when they look at it.

They'll have great entertainment, tons of fun, a unique experience and will take home a memory from your special day. Plus, you'll get all these great photos to take home and have an absolute blast looking back on all the crazy photos from Photoboothphotos. What a fun and unique memory!

Exciting Features!

Photoboothphotos provide larger than your average sized carnival or mall photobooth. The larger the exceptionally fun photobooth means the more people, which means extremely more fun. The booth takes four fun pictures for four unique poses, which prints off in seconds. Each photo can be customized to fit your wedding theme or party theme, colors and date.This makes it even more personalized and special to you.

Also, it makes the perfect guest book. Sorry, signatures of names just won't do. Take it up a level and have pictures of all your guests having such a fun time at YOUR wedding. What a great and memorable way to be reminded of your wedding or party. It just adds that much more to your wedding decorations, theme and the overall feel of your event!

When trying to find the perfect idea for entertaining your guests, providing a unique experience and having something memorable to look back on in Louisville, Kentucky; choose Photoboothphotos.com! Their great photobooth party rental is an amazing feature that will provide a good time and amazing pictures that you will cherish for a lifetime.

Everyone has seen a little sliver of black and white film full of funny faces, candid moments, and all-out goofiness. These photos are prized possessions, often featured on refrigerators, in photo frames, and tacked on walls throughout the house. Everyone loves having something to reflect a happy moment. Say Cheese Photo Booth brings everything you need for you and your guest to create fantastic photos from any event.

Weddings, birthday parties, Halloween parties–you name it, and Say Cheese Photo Booth can deliver a digital photo booth with a professional assistant to help you and your guests in creating cute, often hilarious, photos. From touching, candid moments caught on film to laugh-out-loud group photos, Say Cheese Photo Booth rental brings the fun to your event.

Kids love it. Grown ups love it. Photo booths are stress-free way to add tons of fun to any occasion. For weddings, Say Cheese Photo Booth prints two copies of the photo strips, one for your guests to take home and another for a wedding book. Guests can use props inside the booth and write messages to accompany their photo in your wedding scrapbook. You also get a CD full of every photo taken in the booth to enjoy!

Cheerful, professional, and reliable, Say Cheese Photo Booth strives to add as much fun to your big event as possible. Add a photo booth to your big night and watch as guests eagerly hop in and leave with a smile!

Need a clever party idea? Recently, I was invited to a party revolving around a very clever theme.

It all began with a very intriguing party invitation sent by my friends Stephanie and Tim. The invitation read:

Your presence is requested at a party on May 8 at 7pm at our home. Be Prepared to take a spin.

This invitation was very puzzling invitation. It really peaked my interest.

The night of the party, we arrived at their home to find Tim dressed in a suit (his usually curly hair slicked down so he looked kinda like Pat Sajak) and Stephanie wearing a lovely flowing evening gown her dark hair covered up by a long blond wig.

Being a very perceptive person, I put two and two together and asked “Are we playing Wheel Of Fortune®?” "Why yes , we are!" said Stephaine … I mean Vanna.

Stephanie lead us into their living room where the big screen they rented was perfectly positioned for all party-goers to see. Their Play Station was hooked up to the big screen. The party was all about having a good time with friends while playing Wheel Of Fortune®.
I never thought playing Wheel Of Fortune® on a big screen could be so cool. Tim and Steph had prizes for those of us who solved our prize puzzle. I won a nice bottle of wine. Another friend won a beautiful piece of costume jewelry. The big prize went to our friend Big Bob who solved the most puzzles. He got a gift certificate for a massage.

I say this is one clever party, because Tim and Steph went beyond a regular party idea and turned their favorite show into a great party theme. They rented a big screen, got some really good food from a local caterer and peeked our interest with a brief mention of a spin on the party invitation.

It doesn't really take much to come up with a clever party idea. Build you party around your favorite TV show, a hobby or something you have lying around the house.

This post is sponsored by San Diego, California, Party Supplies.

Photo Courtesy of anne.oeldorfhirsch via Flickr Creative Commons.

It's time for your wedding, you need: tables, chairs, linens, arches, candelabras, a kneeling bench, aisle markers, fountains, a canopy or tent, a stage, some serving pieces, and so so so much more! Plus where are you going to store all of this after the wedding? Planning your big day can be overwhelming, but the truth is it doesn't have to be — Mullins Special Occasions is your one stop shop for everything you need to make your wedding spectacular!

Since 1975, Mullins' has made the lives of Huntsville, AL brides and party throwers a whole lot easier! They offer an extensive product catalog filled with high-quality wedding accessories you can rent for you wedding! And trust me, after looking through their product catalog, I do believe they have everything! From ladders to chandeliers, fine china to disco balls — if you need it for your wedding I bet they've got it!

Married, or not getting married anytime soon? Don't worry, Mullins Special Occasions does way more than weddings! Throw a kid's birthday party to remember with inflatable castles, clowns and moonbounce! Mullins has rentable games like volley ball and horseshoes. If you want to make it a party no one in the neighborhood will ever forget, get the dunk tank or super slide!

Corporate and special events are not left out either. Mullins offers conference tables, cocktail tables, flatware, dishes.. but goes above and beyond by providing drape booth, lectern systems, A/V and other specialty items.

Mullins Special Occasions has a celebrated professional staff with unsurpassed knowledge and expertise. Mullins' clients include governors, vice presidents and even NASA! Great staff, great products — how can you go wrong? So the next time you are planning a wedding near Huntsville, AL, think Mullins Special Occasions!

Not every soon-to-be sixteen-year-old wants a traditional sweet sixteen party.  Some want an adventure, and as a parent you want to see that they get what they want.  Why don't you throw a geocaching party?

Geocaching is an outdoor game, pronounced geo-cashing (like cashing a check). Think: hi-tech scavenger hunt. By using an inexpensive GPS (Global Positioning Systems) receiver, your teens enter a interactive game of hide the cache (container). It's an easy way to combine the two things modern teens love: technology and adventure!

You can purchase GPS units for as little as $100 each, or you can rent them from an online source like gps4rent.com.  You'll want enough of these GPS units to divided up between teams of four (I suggest four because the teens  may have to drive to locations found on geocaching sites.)  One site you might like is geocaching.com.  You enter your zip code at this site, and it gives you cache in your area.

You can make your own caches, which may not be as hi-tech as those on the online communities, but you will be able to tailor it to beginners and the interests of your child's friends. Fill a weatherproof box full of fun trinkets and insert a Geocoin, which has its own tracking i.d., allowing your group to track that specific cache.

You can hide your cache just about anywhere. Remember, much of the traveling will be done on foot, so place it in area easily reached by beginners. Place it in a park, at a school or somewhere your child frequents, such as a local baseball park. Get creative! Birthday parties are the perfect opportunity to try something new!

I suggest having a two-day party.  For instance, on Friday night invite all the teens over so they can learn how to use a GPS unit.  If you're not sure how to teach them, you can find people and tutorials about GPS units through online communities, like the Web sites above.  You can either host a sleep over or have the kids come back early Saturday morning for the high-tech hide-and-seek geocaching party.

You can order catered food and drinks on both days or you may choose to do simple snacks.  Keep it simple, and consider what a group of hungry teens would like. It can be as easy as ordering pizza, or having a full spread of your child's favorites.

These creative birthday birthday parties work well for either gender, and are a great idea for a teen who isn't  into over-the-top sweet sixteen parties.  Send your teen off on a gecocaching birthday party and make it a birthday to remember!

The party theme post is proudly sponsored by theme party providers

Photos courtesty of Flickr Creative Commons.

A while back, I was thinking – wow I've got a lot of photos and mementos from the past year, what can I do with them.  Then it dawned on me – throw a Scrapbooking Party.  So, I went to work  creating a list of people to invite.  After all if I had lots of photos, I am certain my friends did also.

I invited my friends over for some serious scrapbooking and partying.  I rented a few tables and chairs from my local party rental store and set them up in my living room. I bought some crepe paper streamers to dressed up the tables along with some vinyl table cloths. I bought a few scrapbooks for myself and also in case my quests needed some.

I made a wonderful vodka cranberry punch. Purchased some cookies in the shapes of scissors, scrapbooks, and cameras from my local bakery. To round out the party food, I had a cold cut platter of sandwiches.

My friends arrived and straight away, we were laughing and sharing pictures and giving each other hints on how to make a scrapbook page. For me scrapbooking seems like a daunting task. Yet with my friends help, this party made scrapbooking a enjoyable and tons of fun. In fact, we had so much fun, I think it will become and annual party.

This party is one that can be thrown together quickly. It is great for sharing your photos and memories while making a task of sorting and storing photos absolutely fun.

Want to make a fantastic punch for your party? Try this recipe.

Vodka Punch Recipe

1/2 Quart of Vodka

3/4 Quart Pineapple juice

1 1/2 Quart Cranberry juice

3/4 Quart Orange Juice

You can vary the quantities to suit your taste.  I also froze cranberry juice and orange juice in ice trays to keep the punch cold as well as to put in our glasses.  For a non-alcoholic version use ginger ale instead of vodka.