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Event: Invitation Preference

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Tracy Hunter)

As I plan events, a key component is the invitation. For me, the invitation reveals more than just the announcement of the date, time, location, and event type. The invitation sets the stage for the event.

Invitation Types

1. Print. These invitations are cards delivered via mail or hand delivery. Some examples are:

    • professionally printed: formal wedding, business dinner, etc.
    • computer generated: concert tickets, ice cream social flyers, open house postcards
    • handwritten: preprinted cards with blanks for details for graduation, birthday, baby shower, etc.

2. E-mail. Whether directly sending an e-mail or using a free service, like Evite, these invitations are electronic announcements. Using a free service to create invitations, track those who are attending, and send reminders saves time and energy. The downside is a lack of originality.

3. Social Media. With the option of creating an event in Facebook, sending an invitation to many individuals at one time gets the word out quickly. For quick notice events or changes, this option might work. The standardized format for Facebook is easy to fill out; however, there is little to no personalization.

4. Phone call. These invitations are full of personality with the interaction between the parties. However, a few days later, the receiver, without having written down the information, will not have a record of the date, time, and location of the event.

5. Face-to-face contact. The face-to-face approach is another invitation full of personality. The receiver will gain the information for the event, but again, the record (hard copy of the details) may be forgotten, misunderstood, or confused.

With these types of invitations, there are pros and cons for each. The ones written can be lost or misplaced whereas the direct invitations may be forgotten, misunderstood, or distorted. So, how do you know what type of invitation to use? My answer is . . . whatever type works with your event. A dinner party with friends may work with an e-mail, social media, phone call, or face-to-face contact. Consider your event, your invitees, and using your time wisely.

Invitation Preferences

My preference is a print invitation. I like to see the invitation, refer to it, and take it with me to the event. A combination of invitations, e.g. a phone call with a Facebook chat or a face-to-face contact with a follow-up e-mail, will still provide the needed information without a formal print copy.

Now that I have shared my preference, it is your turn. What is your preference for receiving an invitation? Do you prefer print, e-mail, social media, phone call, face-to-face contact, another option, or a combination? Please share your preferences in the comments. I look forward to your response.

Keeping Event Notes

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Photograph Credit: Ashley Conner

My summer has been a whirlwind of activity. When one activity has concluded, there seems to be two or three right behind. In staying a step ahead (which sometimes is just hours) and using time wisely, I research ideas and refer to my calendar often. As an event draws near, I review my notes and schedule the event.

Researching

In preparing for my oldest daughter’s 4-year-old birthday party, I was relieved to find my notes from planning in advance. Months ago when my daughter chose a Strawberry Shortcake theme, I had popped online and found party ideas. I created a document in WORD, copy and pasted the ideas, and saved it.

Reviewing

In late spring when our party store advertised a sale on birthday themed items, I reviewed my notes for game ideas and scheduled a trip with my daughter. Having her present to decide on color (pink vs. red), favors (hats vs. blowouts), and decorations (cupcake inserts vs. cake pan) helped me consider my guest of honor’s preferences.

By including my daughter in the planning, I not only learned what she likes about Strawberry Shortcake, but she is learning how to organize a birthday party. She was already thinking of games and streamer ideas before we bought any items or brought out the birthday tote with all the supplies. Since we have hosted a number of birthday parties at our house, my daughter, at the age of (almost) 4, was already planning and thinking through her options weeks before her birthday event.

Scheduling

In weighing the cost of her big day, I consulted the document with the gathered Strawberry Shortcake party ideas, the purchased decorations, and party items I had on hand. Since we had already purchased most of the items (on sale) and had paper goods in the colors my daughter chose, I only needed balloons, ice cream, and ingredients for the punch and cupcakes. With this list of small items (some of which I already had in my pantry), I was able to keep the cost under $100.

By keeping notes for party ideas, decorations, and games in one document, I can add, change, or delete items while researching, reviewing, and scheduling. These notes help me stay organized which saves me money, energy, and time.

Next week, I will share the itinerary my daughter and I planned for her birthday party. She is quite creative and definitely knows what she wants. 🙂

Question: How do you keep track of party ideas?

Birthday Party: 2011 Strawberry Shortcake Itinerary

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Last week I shared my system of keeping event notes, and how I took my daughter shopping for Strawberry Shortcake items for her party.

Having the guest of honor included in the decision-making process made planning the party simple.

Knowing my daughter’s personality and those of her friends, I enjoyed my daughter’s help in coordinating a fun event for her birthday party.

After weighing the cost, I allowed my daughter to choose the order of the party. Of course, I gave her options:

              • Which game to play first?
              • Which game gets the sunglasses for a prize?
              • When serving the food, where would you like your friends to sit?

With her help, we planned this 2-hour afternoon Strawberry Shortcake birthday party:

Greet each guest as she arrives and bring to toy area to play until we begin the games.

Games

1. Pass the Orange (In honor of Orange Blossom, a friend of Strawberry Shortcake):  A version of Hot Potato, but instead of passing a potato, the players pass an orange. The children sit in a circle, and hand the orange to the person on their right while the music plays. When the music stops, the player holding the orange leaves the game to receive a prize (Strawberry Shortcake hat). Continue play until only one child remains.

2. Strawberry Spoon Race: Relay race consisting of two teams where each team has a spoon and a plastic fruit (strawberry and lemon). One team represented Strawberry Shortcake and the other Lemon Meringue (another friend of Strawberry Shortcake). Teams race down and around a designated item and come back to their team. The player then passes the fruit onto the next teammate’s spoon. If they drop the fruit, they must stop, pick it up, and then continue. The first team to have all players cross their line is the winner. All girls will receive a Strawberry Shortcake bracelet for participation.

3. Strawberry Strawberry Shortcake: The game Duck Duck Goose with Strawberry’s name. The players sit in a circle with one player being “it.” The “it” player goes around the circle patting each girl saying “Strawberry.” Then she chooses one person by saying, “Shortcake.” The player tapped, then chases the patter back to the tapped one’s spot. Then the tapped player becomes “it” or the new patter. 🙂 Each player then receives a pair of Strawberry Shortcake sunglasses.

4. Musical Strawberries: The girls walk around on colored strawberries cut from paper. (The colors represent Strawberry Shortcake, Orange Blossom, Lemon Meringue, Apple Dumpling, Blueberry Muffin, Plum Pudding, Raspberry Torte, and Angel Food.) When the music stops, a color is drawn from a basket. The child on that circle is the winner and proceeds to the dining room to get her cupcake and ice cream.

Food

Strawberry Shortcake cupcakes, strawberries ‘n cream (white with strawberries) or strawberry (pink with strawberries) ice cream, and water or pink lemonade.

Open gifts

Allow each girl to bring her present to my daughter. While sitting with her friend, my daughter opens that gift. This arrangement offers great photo opportunities.

Thank you

Thank each friend for attending her party and for all her gifts.

Goody bags

Give my daughter the goody bags to deliver to each of her friends. Each goody bag contains:

  • Pink, purple, or clear nail polish
  • Pink, purple, or clear lip gloss
  • Strawberry Shortcake fun sheet
  • Strawberry Shortcake stickers
  • Strawberry Shortcake top
  • Pink kaleidoscope
  • Pink ring

Play until friends’ parents arrive to pick up their children.

With our itinerary set, my daughter and I (with additional help) gathered the materials, decorated the space, prepared the food, and waited for our guests. Our plan included time for play, games, food, gifts, gratefulness, and goody bags. Next week, I will conclude this event’s activities with a post on our execution of our planned itinerary.

Question: What is your favorite childhood birthday party game? Please add your answer by clicking on the Leave your Comment button.

Birthday Party: 2011 Strawberry Shortcake Results

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In preparing for a birthday party in my house, my children are very helpful. They enjoy helping set the itinerary, practicing the games, and assisting with setup. However, at the party, my children do not enjoy being the center of attention. Thus far, both my son and older daughter get embarrassed and shy.

Since I now know this behavior is likely to occur, I decided to keep my daughter with her friends throughout the party. She did much better this year and seemed to enjoy it. Whew!

Greeting Guests

On the day of the event, we were ready a little early to receive our guests. My daughter greeted each girl at the door and brought her friends to the living room to play.

Playing Games

One friend did not care to participate in the games, so this friend continued to play with some toys while the other girls played.

Pass the Orange:  The girls did a great job keeping the orange moving and cheering each other along.

Strawberry Spoon Race: Though my daughter practiced this game and said it was her favorite, she wanted to quit in the middle of her turn. Not sure if she got frustrated, tired, or embarrassed, but the girls who started the game finished. Of course, there were prizes for all.

Strawberry Strawberry Shortcake: My daughter ended up loving this game. Some of the girls forgot to sit back down, so they kept running around the circle. Others were really fast back to their seats. This game received the most giggles and laughter of all the games.

Musical Strawberries: This game was a good idea, but the girls kept stepping on the strawberries and sliding across the carpet. Since I did not want them to get hurt, we revised this game a little and had the girls walk on the outside of the circle. When the music stopped, they needed to be standing next to a strawberry. With this adjustment, the game worked perfectly.

Eating Food

Having my mom help in the kitchen was a blessing. As the girls won the Musical Strawberries cake walk, they went to the kitchen where my mom scooped their choice ice cream and then sat them at the table with their chosen cupcake.

If my mom needed more time, then we kept the music playing. Once my mom seated one child, then we stopped the music and the winner went to the kitchen. Working with one child at a time kept the party calm without chaos.

Once all the girls were served, we sang and let my daughter blow out her candles. Then the girls chatted and enjoyed their food together.

Opening gifts

All the girls came to the living room, sat in a semicircle with their gift, and waited their turn. We started with the winner of the first game giving her gift to my daughter first. Having her friend sit with her, my daughter did not feel embarrassed or the center of attention. This arrangement worked well.

Expressing Gratitude

While Daddy was removing the gifts from their packages for the girls to play, my daughter thanked her friends for attending her party and for all her gifts. I stood with her and encouraged her to thank her friends. I was very proud of her announcement.

Delivering goody bags

With all the goody bags previously packaged with the attendees’ names on the bags, I read the name and allowed my daughter to deliver the bags to each of her friends. She enjoyed giving to her friends.

Playing until pickup

The girls enjoyed sorting through their goody bags, playing, and talking until their parents arrived for pickup.

The party was a success! My daughter enjoyed the party, the girls stayed busy, each activity flowed into the next one without interruptions, and no one got hurt.

By preparing in advance, weighing the cost, and keeping event notes, I followed the itinerary, made adjustments, and enjoyed the process. Birthday parties can be lots of work, but the results are worth all the money, energy, and time. Hope your planned events are running smoothly as well!

Question: What adjustments have you made at an event when the original plan did not work? Please add your answer by clicking the Leave your Comment button.

My Upcoming 2011-2012 Events

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Kees Straver)

The rain arrived this weekend in South Carolina, and I feel fall coming. With the cooler weather, pumpkin candles burning, and the changing of the leaves, I will be preparing for some large events this school year. Here is my current Event To-Do list that is already underway:

Fall Festival

In October, I have the privilege of coordinating the kids’ zone to raise money for our wonderful school. These preparations are in full swing, but still lots of details to complete.

Christmas Program

Having earned my graduate degree in theatre, I am honored to direct the school Christmas program again this year. In preparing for this event, I feel that I should be further along. The obstacle at this point is locating a script that works within the parameters of our program. Thankfully, a kind teacher provided some scripts for my review. Now, I need to schedule time to read through these options.

Spring Play

Taking on a full play with backdrops and scenery in addition to the costumes, lighting, and sound is a large undertaking. Staying surrounded by knowledgeable helpers, who can carry out delegated responsibilities, is a big key to a successful production. I am looking forward to working with the cast and crew. Thankfully, this script has already been decided.

As I continue keeping event notes and using time wisely, I will take you along on my journey. Hopefully, we will learn from my mistakes and celebrate the victories together. Happy planning this fall!