Checklist for birthday party planning and preparation

6 Tips for Planning and Preparing Your Birthday Blowout

With a Practical Checklist

birthday party should always be special. When a significant milestone is coming up, it means it’s time to begin planning and preparing well in advance, particularly questions of size, location, and entertainment.

To take some of the stress off your hands, we’re sharing these five tips to best plan and prepare for your party. With our handy checklist we’ll also help you keep track of things.

Extensive Party Planning Checklist

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Tip 1: Book the venue early.

In the search for the perfect party location, it’s important to start ASAP. Depending on the setting and size of the celebration, begin about 2-3 months beforehand. When booking the venue, pay attention to the proximity of holidays; many locations are booked out long in advance around these times. If you’re celebrating with a smaller circle of kith and kin, a restaurant or café is probably best.

Depending on the number of guests, you can reserve just a few tables or whole private party rooms. Many hotels also offer such facilities. If the budget is tight and guest list small, your own garden or home are also a comfortable alternative.

For a landmark jubilee, you can also choose a more unusual venue. Special locations, like castles or a boat with a show beneath the stars, are quite popular for such events. Always keep your budget in mind and read the fine print. Hidden costs, such as after-cleaning or drink packages, are not necessarily included in the initial offer.

Tip 2: Send Personalised Invitations

Once you’ve determined the date, venue, and guest list, you can begin inviting your guests. A great way to begin is by designing your own invitations. Give your creativity some freedom while making use of our many templates and design possibilities. The best way to do this is to order our cards in sets of 10, for example, ‘folded greeting cards, classic’. If you want a small party and only need a few invites, the ‘single greeting card, folded’ is ideal. Simply design them and order however many you need. When designing your cards, don’t forget to include on them the occasion, date, and location of your party, and ask that your guests RSVP. Always include a ‘confirm by date’ so you know the exact numbers in advance. This will make planning much easier, particularly when you’re calculating numbers for food and drink.

Design your single folded greeting cards

Tip

Try modern 14.5 x 14.5 cm square format cards. They are available in a practical set of 10 complete with pearlescent envelopes. Card designing is made easy on the ifolor website or with our free ifolor Designer app.

Design your folded square greeting cards

Tip 3: Keep Your Guests in the Loop

You can’t always include every detail in your invitations. It may be necessary to provide directions or accommodation details for those guests who will have to travel far to attend. Make these details available to your guests online—on a website, Facebook, or in a chat group, for example. This has the advantage of keeping the information in one place while informing all guests quickly and uncomplicatedly of all the important details.

Tip 4: Set a Theme

Make your birthday party an unforgettable event by finding an exciting theme for the celebration. Regardless of what stage of life you’re entering, the options are endless for all birthday kids, whether a “Pirates of the Caribbean” party with cocktails, treasure hunt, and dress code, or a medieval celebration over a hearty feast.

Tip 5: Food Keeps Body and Soul

It’s not a party without the right rations. Whether a three-course meal or buffet, make sure when selecting food and drink that there’s something for everyone. That includes those with allergies or particular preferences, such as vegetarians. Also, it’s just as important to remember for beverages as with food.

In considering quantities, create a food plan and compare this with the number of guests you expect. If you are holding your birthday party in a restaurant or using a professional caterer, then giving an accurate number of guests is all that is needed. The restaurant or caterer plan the correct amount of food required. If you want to make homemade food for everyone, the planning is a bit more difficult. However, there is a simple rule of thumb for estimating food: 800 grams of food is typically reckoned enough for the average adult, for children 200 grams. With this rule of thumb, you can now easily estimate the amount of food you’ll need, although this could grow or shrink depending on the party type or diversity of the fare you’d like to offer. Parties beginning after 7 p.m. typically require less food than those beginning around midday.

Tip

Create your own food and drink menu cards. Design the cards in the theme or style of your birthday party. Your guests will have all the food and drink information at their fingertips and enjoy a pretty party decoration detail.

Design your food or drinks menu now

Tip 6: Plan a programme for the party

Depending on the size and style of the party, you can plan some entertainment for your guests. To ensure that this does not end up stressful and too tight timewise, stick to the motto ‘less is more’. If and what type of entertainment you plan depends on the framework of the party. Reserve or book the entertainment and rental items in good time so that you don’t have any last-minute stress.

Having lots of interactive things to do is helpful at large parties or when the guests do not know each other well – they can be a great ice breaker. If your party starts earlier in the day, it’s helpful to have some fun things to do, for example, a little show, funny games, or a cool photo corner with funny accessories will keep everyone entertained. And of course, don't forget a DJ who will provide great music and a good atmosphere in the evening.

If there are lots of children among the guests, you can rent a bouncy castle, organise a scavenger hunt, or simply set up a play/craft corner. You can also book a nanny to look after the little guests on-site and provide them with some fun games. Some locations have playgrounds or even a small zoo for children. Look out for details like this when you are searching for a party location.