Who here is an obsessive party planner like I am?

[emoflamingo]

I started (casually, via pinterest) gathering ideas for Baby W's birthday about 3 months ago. Don't mock me! I didn't throw a huge party for Monkey for his first and I kind of regretted it. I like doing them, I'm not nearly as fancy as the parties you see on blogs, but they are fun.

This post brought to you by my googling to find party plates and napkins for both a "Little Man" party (Baby W) and a "golf party" (Monkey) without being "HEY THIS IS THE THEME" over the top because I want to feel okay using them later. (I'm doing orange and blue for Baby W's party and then blue, light blue and green for Monkey's party.)

[tarheels]

I generally spend 4.5 months planning every party I do. Takes a while to come up with the perfect everything And there are some parties where planning is more fun than the execution

[emoflamingo]

I think that's every party that doesn't involve ordering 5 pizzas from Pizza Hut and buying a keg lol.

I like it, though. I have actually been obsessed about it just recently. I'm planning 2 birthday parties (May, for Monkey's half birthday, and September) and my sister's bridal shower next April.

[finally]

I just wanted to nominate Tarheels but see she has already done so From what I've read, I'd love to go to one of Tarheels parties!!!

[bunnymendelbaum]

Me! (I had #1 foam fingers custom made for DD1s 1st birthday!)

I love doing it. I just helped a friend do a video save the date for her wedding. We did it stop motion. It was amazing. I told her I'd love to help her do anything else for her wedding. I love doing that stuff!

[tarheels]

Mar 27, 2013 19:21:14 GMT -5 finally said:

I just wanted to nominate Tarheels but see she has already done so From what I've read, I'd love to go to one of Tarheels parties!!!

Aww, thank you!

[emoflamingo]

My sister AND my SIL are getting married within 2 weeks of each other next year so I get to have fun!

(I'm thinking I'll take a few days off before my sisters wedding and a few days after lol.)

[tarheels]

Mar 27, 2013 19:43:07 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

My sister AND my SIL are getting married within 2 weeks of each other next year so I get to have fun!

(I'm thinking I'll take a few days off before my sisters wedding and a few days after lol.)

For me, weddings cross the line into "so much shit to do it's not fun anymore."  Sure, it's occasionally fun to use 2 brain cells to spend 2 seconds thinking about what I'd do differently, but I really have no desire to deal with the nitpicky details of dinner for 150

[sierramist03]

Me I have ideas planned for dhs 30th which is a year away

[munkii]

I love party and event planning and also have party planning boards (for parties that will probably not happen for a very long time). Currently, I'm planning a party for one of our student employees who is going off to medical school. It's going to be fantastic!

[tarheels]

Mar 27, 2013 19:50:29 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Mar 27, 2013 19:43:07 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

My sister AND my SIL are getting married within 2 weeks of each other next year so I get to have fun!

(I'm thinking I'll take a few days off before my sisters wedding and a few days after lol.)

For me, weddings cross the line into "so much shit to do it's not fun anymore."  Sure, it's occasionally fun to use 2 brain cells to spend 2 seconds thinking about what I'd do differently, but I really have no desire to deal with the nitpicky details of dinner for 150

Sorry, just realized this could read really crabby and I didn't mean for it to! Have fun with the weddings

[bunnymendelbaum]

Tarheels- I get what you mean about the weddings and I'd probably not be so excited if this was going to be a "normal" wedding. It's not at all though. The couple is very cool, laid-back and artsy. Plus, the love to dance. It should be a blast!

I also have this idea for a small dinner party called "the story of your life". Each invited guest gets to tell the best story of their life (be it funny, sad, weird, etc.). My friends were totally into it when I brought it up. Everyone had fun thinking which story they'd tell. I still need to have the party though!

[munkii]

Mar 28, 2013 2:36:10 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

I also have this idea for a small dinner party called "the story of your life". Each invited guest gets to tell the best story of their life (be it funny, sad, weird, etc.). My friends were totally into it when I brought it up. Everyone had fun thinking which story they'd tell. I still need to have the party though!

This reminds me of the Moth! I was just thinking the other day that I want to start hosting these!

[sratsey]

Guilty as charged and pretty sure I get side eyed by most of my friends. I'll take a theme and beat it to a pulp.

[ktzmoh]

I would guess that given most of us are from the knot/bump/nest and related boards, there are a lot of over-the-top party planners here. I love throwing a good party. Weddings, not so much. I get too into the DIY details and it became so overwhelming. I vowed never to get divorced just so I'd never have to plan another wedding LOL!

Baby showers and wedding showers are a total blast. I've done so many over the years I probably can't even count. They are fun because you can draw from the new wedding trends but don't have to be overcome with a massive endeavor. Plus they are small enough that you can afford to go over the top on a lot of the details. Dinner parties and cocktail parties are fun too. My favorite was an 'everybody is a star' party I threw for grad school classmates when we had all completed our qualifying exams. I made custom CD mixes and printed the invitations right on the label, crafted and hung a bazillion stars from my ceiling, created cocktails named after our professors, etc etc... fun times.

Birthday parties for the kiddos have been really fun too. I've done some super cool ones for them. But recently, I've backed off a lot and toned them down. My oldest is starting to really want to be involved with his birthday parties. I have to be very careful to make sure that he knows that his voice matters and repress my obsessive compulsion to take everything to the next level and make everything blog-worthy. I have to take it down a level so that he can participate as much as he wants to and feel like it's his party not mine KWIM?

Now that I'm moving beyond wedding and baby showers (most of my friends are past that stage in life at this point) and starting to let the kids do much of their birthday party planning, I have my sights set on over-the-top Halloween parties! I really want to do an amazing Halloween party this year!!!

[aweilba]

I LOVE planning parties!  When I grow up, I totally want to be a party planner.  I have a few friends who, knowing that I love planning parties, have asked me to plan parties for them, and I absolutely love it!  

[emoflamingo]

Mar 27, 2013 19:50:29 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Mar 27, 2013 19:43:07 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

My sister AND my SIL are getting married within 2 weeks of each other next year so I get to have fun!

(I'm thinking I'll take a few days off before my sisters wedding and a few days after lol.)

For me, weddings cross the line into "so much shit to do it's not fun anymore."  Sure, it's occasionally fun to use 2 brain cells to spend 2 seconds thinking about what I'd do differently, but I really have no desire to deal with the nitpicky details of dinner for 150

Haha see, my sister is not fussy like that. She is having a really rustic wedding with a reception in a barn.



So it's going to be pretty casual lol. The tables will probably have burlap runners like that picture up there, but it'll have a mixture of milk glass and clear vases filled with various flowers and candles and she wants to do a naked cake (which is a cake without frosting -- not sure on that one yet!).

I'm not helping my SIL do hers (mostly because I know she'll be interesting to deal with -- considering she has already said a few things that are.. iffy), but I'll likely help plan some kind of party beforehand to celebrate (not a shower, really, because they don't need anything like that since they have a household and 4 kids, but something like a brunch or whatever).

[emoflamingo]

Mar 28, 2013 11:52:35 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

Mine doesn't care beyond the theme. Last year, he wanted a "dinosaur ice cream" birthday. Since I was way pregnant, I went simple and just did it at Baskin-Robbins but he got his dinosaur holding an ice cream cone and balloon while wearing a party hat invitation.

He said he wanted a golf party this year, so we're going to take a few kids minigolfing and then have a big family party at the house afterwards. The golf thing is just completely random lol. I was sure he was going to change his mind and ask for something else, but I have asked a few times and he keeps saying "golf" so I'm good with that.

[magdala]

We throw an annual summer party and an annual Christmas Eve party. I have folders of ideas for both that get regularly updated. After the party, I generally have sufficient leftover food for the next week. Obsessive...me....NO!

[emoflamingo]

Mar 28, 2013 7:47:41 GMT -5 munkii said:

Mar 28, 2013 2:36:10 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

I also have this idea for a small dinner party called "the story of your life". Each invited guest gets to tell the best story of their life (be it funny, sad, weird, etc.). My friends were totally into it when I brought it up. Everyone had fun thinking which story they'd tell. I still need to have the party though!

This reminds me of the Moth! I was just thinking the other day that I want to start hosting these!

I may need to steal this idea!

[spankswife]

I love to party plan too...I agree, mostly DD's bday parties and showers. Her bday is in May, so I usually start planning the beginning of the year

Her 1st bday we did a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme, and we served all of the foods from the book, picnic style. Last year we had a Dora/cinco de mayo fiesta with a taco bar. This year we are doing a Cinderella party (she is obsessed with the Fairy Godmother), and I am calling it a "Bippidi Boppidi BBQ." We always have them at a park, and I try to make them adult friendly as well

I like to have a "theme" but I try to stick with (solid) colors and foods more so than every licensed item in the party store aisle.

[ktzmoh]

Mar 29, 2013 9:58:03 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

Mar 28, 2013 11:52:35 GMT -5 ktzmoh said:

Mine doesn't care beyond the theme. Last year, he wanted a "dinosaur ice cream" birthday. Since I was way pregnant, I went simple and just did it at Baskin-Robbins but he got his dinosaur holding an ice cream cone and balloon while wearing a party hat invitation.

He said he wanted a golf party this year, so we're going to take a few kids minigolfing and then have a big family party at the house afterwards. The golf thing is just completely random lol. I was sure he was going to change his mind and ask for something else, but I have asked a few times and he keeps saying "golf" so I'm good with that.

Oh funny, mine wants a party at the mini golf course this year too! I was thinking of getting personalized golf balls as favors (something like happy birthday Jackson on them) and having the kids make golf visors.

Of course there are a million cool golf cakes on pinterest, and I love this:


pinterest.com/pin/260364422179759027/


Then I tell myself to take it down a level and put the beast back in the cage. I think it'll be fun though. What kinds of things are you thinking of for your golf party?

[emoflamingo]

I'm going to do golf balls in a glass cylinder vase for a centerpiece on the table (because we have tons of golf balls) and I'm going to make crayons in the shape of alphabets out of all my broken crayons I've been hoarding for far too long as favors.

And then using these pictures for inspiration for food stuff (though, not using the wraps, just the name card for the sandwiches):

 
 

I might see if my MIL will use her cricut to make me this banner for behind the table: