Pick a Theme, Plan Your Party - Piece of Cake!

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Do you enjoy entertaining but stress about planning the party? A common problem but one that can easily be overcome by having a theme party. Creating a theme for your party gives you an outline. Choosing a theme gives you ideas and direction and a game plan. It makes the whole process so much simpler and in my opinion, makes the planning much more fun.

Choosing your theme is the starting point. It can revolve around a holiday like Christmas or Easter. You could choose to celebrate an occasion such as Cinco de Mayo or Mardi Gras. You could choose a seasonal theme like Oktoberfest for the fall or a Luau theme in the summer. Another option is choosing a theme that revolves around something you enjoy. Birthdays are always a great place to introduce a theme party. Once done, the theme then gives you direction as to invitation ideas, favors if you want, food choices and even the fun! It also gives you a "search term" to plug into your computer. You can gather further ideas by exploring sites that have information on your theme party idea!

I just recently help a friend plan her husband's birthday party using this approach. She wanted to throw him a party but just didn't know where to start. A cook-out, a small gathering at a restaurant, a big party at a hall with a DJ??? She was totally frustrated when we talked. From that conversation we hit on a theme and suddenly she was good to go. She was actually excited as we started to develop the party ideas. We decided it would be an ESPN themed party He was a die hard sports fanatic. She had just been complaining about that being the only channel he watched. So we took her complaint and turned it into a party. Everyone came in their favorite "sports" jersey. It was pretty funny. Guests arrived adorned in everything from team t-shirts, to licensed major league jerseys to an old high school letter jacket. For entertainment there was a sports trivia game. There was an entire category of who's who with the ESPN anchors. We assigned "handicaps" in advance! You can only imagine the possibilities as far as invitations, food and decorations. It turned out to be simple and fun to plan once we came up with the theme.

So don't put off inviting your friends over or agonize over planning your children's birthday parties. Using your imagination, creativity plus the search button on your computer, you can plan an amazing get together without the stress!