"I decided that I wanted to have a party and, after getting my girlfriend's blessings and soliciting her help, I planned the party."
How I did it: After deciding to have a party, the first thing I did was to pick a date well in advance and decide whom to invite and send out invitations. I also knew I wanted the party to be a game night, and I found cool invitations with the game night theme on evite.com. I liked using evite because it simplified the invitations process, and I received email updates when someone rsvp'd, using the web form provided. I could also see that people had viewed the invitations even if they hadn't entered a response. The site also sent out reminders a day or two before the party and sent me an email showing rsvp's. Seven people attended, with my girlfriend and me making nine.
After sending the invitations, I started to think about the menu. once I had fixed on chicken enchiladas, the rest of the meal fell into place: chips with salsa and cheese dips and nuts for starters; dirty rice and corn on the cob; brownies and/or my girlfriend's leftover birthday cake and ice cream for dessert; and mexican punch. The punch was a big hit and having a punch bowl made the whole affair seem extra festive.
The week before the party I put together a game night playlist, an ecclectic sampling of my itunes library and started gathering things I would need. I was able to borrow a punch bowl from my neighbor as well as four folding chairs. I also began getting the things I would need from the grocery store.
As far as the menu was concerned, the most time-consuming part was shredding the chicken for the chicken enchildas. On Saturday, we did as much ahead of time as we could - - for example, the enchiladas were already assempled and ready to go into the oven as our guests were arriving - - but it was still a litle tricky getting all of the last minute dishes coordinated.
Everyone talked and ate and after dinner we played musical catch-phrase which was really fun once everyone got the hang of it.
It was really fun having friends in my home and entertaining them with my girlfriend. I think game nights will be one of our traditions. Yesterday, the day after the party, we started casually planning our next one: instead of a full meal, we're going to serve two or three different kinds of homemade ice cream and toppings. I can hardly wait!
Lessons & tips: If I could give only one piece of advice I'd say: whether a significant other, family member, or best friend, you should enlist someone you can really count on to help you with the party. On the day of the party, between cooking and cleaning and last minutes trips to the grocery store, I would have felt totally overwhelmed had I not had the help of my girlfriend. It's also good to have someone with whom you can switch off on kitchen and hosting duties during the course of the evening. I think it would have been harder and less fun to have given the party by myself.
Other than that, I'd just say: don't stress; it's a party! have fun!
Resources: http://www.evite.com/
http://www.platesandnapkins.com/index.asp
Feb 02, 08:55AM PST
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