1. DON’T procrastinate. Get started right away. Give yourself enough time to come up with ideas, do the planning, and order anything custom or personalized. Make sure all the details come together with time to spare.

2. DO send out great invitations. The right invites will grab your guest’s attention, set the tone for the party and generate excitement for the upcoming festivities. One good choice is photo birthday invitations with multiple pictures of the celebrant at different ages. Or, you could select a design that ties into your theme, highlights your guest of honor’s interests, is funny or nostalgic. Just make sure it communicates that this is an occasion that can’t be missed.

3. DO ask guests to contribute photos and stories about the guest of honor. Collect them all and put them in a memory book as a gift for the celebrant. Or, you could compile them into a PowerPoint presentation to be shown at the birthday party.

4. DON’T skip the birthday party favors. It’s a nice gesture to give your guests a little parting thank you gift for sharing this happy occasion. Look for something inexpensive, useful, unique and personalized; maybe even with a photo of the celebrant. This kind of keepsake serves as a nice reminder of the wonderful celebration to all who attended.

5. DON’T make fun of the fact that he or she is turning 40. An over the hill party, complete with Grim Reaper decorations and wrinkle cream gag gifts, may seem like a good idea, but some celebrants may be uncomfortable with the joke.

According to a recent study conducted by MetLife, 65% of the population wish they were under forty. So, instead of teasing him or her about this milestone, make this a celebration of another year of growth. Why not throw a party commemorating the 19th anniversary of their 21st birthday. Unless you are absolutely sure he or she has no qualms about their age, stay away from the jabs.

6. DO look into alternatives to traditional settings for this milestone. A 40th birthday party at a restaurant, rented hall or even at home can be wonderful. But if you’re looking for something unique, you might have the celebration at the zoo, botanical gardens, amusement park, ski lodge or beach. How about inviting guests to join you for a tour of a winery, day at the spa, or a hot air balloon ride? If there’s something that the guest of honor loves to do or has always wanted to try, think about building your plans around that activity.

7. DON’T rule out a smaller celebration. Take into consideration the guest of honor’s preferences. Would he or she love to be the center of attention at a big bash? Or is the celebrant the quiet type, who would enjoy a less crowded venue? You don’t have to go over the top to make this 40th birthday party memorable. Plan a dinner cruise with a few close friends or an all night movie marathon featuring his or her favorite movies. You can emphasize the quality over the quantity.

8. DO consider a theme party. Invite your guests to a fiesta for the celebrant who is spicy at 40, and they will anticipate a fun-filled occasion. This celebration could be a tropical luau, retro 70’s dance party complete with a spinning disco ball or a costume party where guests dress up as their true inner selves. Whatever direction you choose, everyone will imagine a lively night before they even get there. Going with a theme will help break the ice when guests arrive and will keep them talking long after the event is over.

So, plan in advance. Send out eye-catching, personalized invitations. Ask the guests to share pictures and memories, then send them home with cool party favors. Build the festivities around the celebrant’s personality and interests. Make it unique. And give that special person a 40th birthday party they will never forget.

We painted my face, got red overall and bought some ears that were a foot tall and strapped on with a white head cover. She found a dress just like the movie, bought gloves to match the movie and then a long red wig. We were the best costume at two parties we went to and had a great time. This year is us and friends as Spanky and Our Gang.

We have done the Bavarian beer couple with lederhosen and all the fixings. Its fun to do the goofy things as well as the sexy things for the parties with your adult friends and going out to the bars. Take the doctor and the nurse, a simple set of scrubs for him and a short nurse dress, blonde wig and your set. These are just a few ideas to think of for this best day of the year.

You can be the character of the year with just a few costume add-ons or buy a complete adult costume if you like. If you are looking for the kid costume try and get a complete costume, its sometimes easier and they seem to want to be a character that is currently all the craze.

After you have selected the date for your Wiggles party, send out Wiggles invitations. Pre-printed invitations, decorations and party ware can be found at almost any local party supply or discount store. Also there are an abundance of outlets on the Internet selling Wiggles-ware!

To avoid paying the high cost of pre-printed Wiggles gear, make your own invitations using the colors the Wiggles are famous for; purple, red, yellow and blue! Also buying solid colored plates, utensils, napkins and tablecloths will help keep money in your pocketbook while not wavering from the themed colors of the Wiggles party!

Everyone has a favorite Wiggles song, so make sure to have plenty of Wiggles music on hand for the Wiggles party. If you do not own a Wiggles CD call your local library system to see if they have one available to be checked out, or borrow one from a friend or family member. Put on some of the children抯 favorites and have a dance party!

Don抰 forget to include your favorite Wiggles characters at the Wiggles party! Have the children draw pictures of Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus, and Captain Feathersword.

Singing and dancing to the Wiggles tunes will have your guests wiggling with laughter!

Tip 1: Always be aware of the image you plan to establish for the guests. If it is a fundraising event, you will want to portray an image of success that give the potential donor to feel comfortable in giving. There is nothing more disturbing than having a poor venue that leaves the guests feeling like they cannot give freely.

Tip 2: Be ever mindful of the amount of work that is needed to make a Party Venue pleasing for your event. With that being said, again it comes down to your basic intent and the grandness of your theme. If you are planning to build an elaborate set to give off a certain image, then you will need as open space as you can get. If you needed more opulence from a design standpoint, maybe decide on the character of a restored historic facility. The point is that you have to tailor the Event Venue to your specific needs. I have seen more work than is necessary that takes not only a toll on the budget, but zaps the Event Planning staff in the process on Events that should not have been so.

Tip 3: Always the biggest factor; The Budget. This is usually a determining factor for most Party Planning and sometimes it is used as a way to stop adequate planning. what I mean is that the Planning is often restricted because a venues mere obtainment decreases the budget for the rest of the Party. You must be ever mindful of the resources you have available. Sometimes it is better to take a fairly open hall and build a set that accommodates the party and many times with less money. This is where hiring a community theatre set designer, who are always looking for extra money, to come in and build a set for you.

So there you have it, image, available resources and budget. Keeping those three factors in mind will give you a start in our planning

The first thing party planners would consider is the decorations. Having a themed party means you can focus your d閏or on the theme thus avoiding other unnecessary decorations. Being fun and spontaneous is what it is all about. You will soon find out having your thoughts focused will lift you off a very heavy burden on thinking.

Decorating for a themed party cannot do without creativity. Popular themes are Halloween, 60’s Night, Military and Cocktail Evenings. There are a couple of ways you can pull this off:

- The banners can be decorated with wishes and words like ALOHA and IT’S A GIRL for a party for baby girl showers.

- With pictures. Words may accompany pictures which take up a bigger portion of your banner.

To deliver the party theme effectively, one should make the personalized theme party banners straight forward. To look a confusing banner would confuse your guests altogether. A Hawaiian theme’s banner should have Hawaiian stuffs printed on it and a baby shower should show just what it intends to, about babies. In short, the designs on the banner should deliver the message straight to the point.

Baby showers are parties for welcoming babies who are yet to be born. The guests who are usually women will perhaps bring gifts along for the baby or mother.

Favors for a baby shower should never be something related to babies. The guests who show up may not need these sort of things. Give them baby shower party favors they will appreciate and might even use. The favors are to show appreciation on your part as a guest, not a barter system!

Since most baby shower guests are confined to women, it is somewhat easier to search for baby shower party favors as it narrows down your search. Some favor ideas are scented soaps in building block shapes, in either baby blue or pink. Others could be perfume bottles in the shape of milk bottles, place card holders made up of building blocks that spell out B-A-B-Y or cutesy candles in blue or pink that are shaped into milk bottles.

There many ways to come up with unique baby shower favors. Placing M&M or even gourmet tea and coffee inside small sized baby bottles are some of the great ideas you can use. Other than that you can make potpourris out of them. To make them even more pretty to look at, consider decorating them so they look cute and smart. Personalize your small party banners so you can give them away as favors. These work just as well.

What would make a fun and useful favor is a disposable camera. The guests can use the camera later when visiting. It is uniquely provided with captions like IT’S A BOY or IT’S A GIRL when the photographs are printed.

Your baby shower party favors should be a practical gift for your guests while serve as a reminder of your new baby. Fusing both ideas is not always as difficult as it sounds.

Baby showers and theme parties always look better with personalized theme party banners. You can hang them at the entrance or facing the entryway so it is the first thing that guests see when they walk in. Smaller versions can be scattered all around the walls and sides of the venue as a reminder of the theme.

Invite your guests to bring one stuffed Barney toy to play with during the party. This will not only add to your decorations, but will keep little hands busy in between games, while showing Barney videos, or when serving snacks. Make sure these little Barneys make it back home as the guests leave.

Decorate for the Barney Party by hanging orange, purple, yellow and green streamers or crepe paper from the ceiling. Twist two colors together and hang them down the walls to brighten up a dark corner.

Make your own Barney cake or cupcakes by purchasing Barney figurines from a dollar or discount store. These figurines will be of higher quality and your child can play with them well after the party is over. The homemade cake can be frosted in purple, orange, yellow and green to match the decorations. Often these homemade cakes are much tastier and cheaper than store-bought cakes.

To keep the guests of all ages entertained gather them in a circle and sing Barney songs. While snacks are being prepared keep the children busy by having a Barney coloring contest. Free activity and coloring pages are available to be downloaded off of Barney抯 official website.

Most importantly, don抰 forget to have the camera ready for the Barney party. Reward your hard work by snapping photos of your terrific event!

The price of a pint of beer in most Euro destinations is roughly around 5 to 6 British pounds. This is why so many stag parties are now returning to the UK. One of the most popular and well known destinations is Edinburgh. This place is tailor made for stag parties, so you are guaranteed to have fun and lots of it. But Edinburgh is a big place and its highly unlikely that you will be able to sample all of its glorious nightlife in just a couple of nights. But one thing that will be guaranteed, you will have lots of fun trying to do it.

If you are looking for a place were all the top Edinburgh eye candy go’s to, then look no further than the fantastic City Nightclub located on market street. This super club holds 1500 people and gets jam packed every weekend. Start off your drinking in the Sportsters bar, then refuel the body at the City Grill. This nightclub has everything you need in one handy location.

But before you get to the clubs I suggest you start off the party in the fantastic pubs and themed pubs that Edinburgh has to offer. Belushi’s on market street is an American style themed bar, which gets very lively during the summer months. It also sells delicious food if you are wanting to catch a bite to eat. After Belushi’s why not change the theme to Australia at the fabulous Walkabout bar. This bar has two sections, the larger section being the sports section were live sport is shown on all off the big TV screens and a smaller section which is a bit quieter were you can hold a conversion without talking to the other persons ear all night.

Some of the other bars in Edinburgh you may want to consider visiting are Frankenstein’s Pub, The Filling Station and Nicol Edwards. If you are considering holding your stag weekend in the UK a stag night in Edinburgh is a place were almost everyone is guaranteed to have fun.

Invitations: Take a picture of the birthday child in their hockey gear for the front of the invitation. Make it a really cool pose with a hockey stick or in front of a net because this is going to made into a trading card invitation! Using card stock paper, trace out the accurate size of a trading card and then glue the pic onto it. On the back of the card instead of the stats, write the party information. Use your computer and some really cool black font for this. The last step would be to laminate or “mac tack” the card. You could hand them out as is or take it one step further. Along with the card, you could send a letter from the NHL Hockey League stating that they have been drafted by the NHL and they are required to report for practise along with their teammates from all across the country. Be sure to include the date, time and request that they come prepared with stick & jersey. Sign it by the president of the NHL or the head coach of your child’s favourite team place in an envelope and seal. Don’t forget the clip art logos to make it look super official!

Activities: A street hockey game of course! When all of the guests arrive, have a meeting in the locker room and tell them what they will be doing for their first day of practise. Take a moment to explain the rules of a street hockey game and the importance of good sportsmanship. Then surprise them with their very own jersey name plates. Before the party, use your computer to write out each child’s last name in bold print and laminate. As you call out names, pin each name tag to the back of the child’s jersey and assign them a team by pulling names or colours out of a hat. Have a few jerseys on hand in case some come without. Once everyone is geared, up, it is time to head out. The prep for the playing field would be 2 nets on opposite ends with the center line and the goalie crease lines marked out. On dry pavement this can be done with chalk and on snow this can be done with watered done poster paint. Face Off! Have some referees with whistles and cheerleaders with Pom Poms. Make sure to have plenty of water and sports drinks available. Have a fire blazing in a portable fire pit to warm up on a cold Winters day and a Sprinkler set up for the kids to run through on the hottest summer day. You really can have a hockey party all year round! If weather does not allow you to be outside or if you simply prefer the party to be indoors try these fun games and activities. Have an indoor hockey tournament using an air hockey table or a rod hockey table. If you don’t already have a table, chances are you know someone who does. Play “slapshot” using a goal, a stick but instead of a puck or ball, use a beach ball. It won’t hurt even if it does hit something or someone! Keep the net empty and the shooter about 15 feet back. Its harder than you might think! Be sure to have a hockey game playing on TV and a separate area set up with a gaming system like Wii or PlayStation where they can play their favourite hockey game.

Decorations: Even though the premise of this plan is to be outdoors most of the time, it still is fun to decorate one area of your house that may be used like the kitchen, where the food and cake are served, or the living room where the presents are opened. Decorate with the NHL licensed tableware and decorations. Decorate your walls with hockey memorabilia like posters, pictures and pennants. Place around old pucks, helmets, skates, jersey’s or sticks that are not in use to give it that real locker room feel. Finish the decorations off with balloons and streamers in your child’s favourite teams colours.

Menu: Go with stadium food. Serve hot dogs in foil , nachos in take out boxes and french fries out of paper cups. Keep it simple. This way the guests can eat indoors, outdoors or on the go. You might just have to drag them in for cake and presents though!

Loot Bags: Throw a twist into the regular tradition of the loot bag. Have an auction of sorts. Have a table full of items that the kids can purchase with their hockey money. Purchase a variety of favors like candy, pucks, hockey trinkets and even a few bigger ticket items. The idea would be for every kid to have around the same amount of money at auction time – $2000. The first time they receive money is when they arrive – Their $500 signing bonus. Throughout the game give $100 bonuses for sportsmanship, good manners and teamwork. Monopoly money works great. The actual cost of the items can rage from .99 to $5.00. For example, the .99 items should cost $100 in hockey money and the $5.00 items costing the whole $2000 in hockey money. Some kids may go all in for 1 item, and some may choose several small. The key is to have a wide variety of all price ranges. Pick names out of a hat to see who goes first and in what order. To be fair, have them choose only 1 item, whether its big or small. Keep going in order until everyone is out of money. Last of all, make sure to explain the auction well beforehand to avoid any confusion. The excitement level will be unbelievable as everyone is going home a winner!

Birthday Party Invitations

It doesn’t matter whether you go for the beautiful 5 x 7 photo birthday invitations with multiple photos of yourself or just invite people over the phone.?What does matter is how the invitation is worded.?Instead of projecting that the party is all about honoring you, let your guests know that, In fact, it’s about honoring them.?They are the blessings in your life.?And as you come to the close of another year, there’s nothing that would make you happier than to share this special day with them.

What About Gifts?

Their presence is your present.?So, of course, you don’t ask for gifts.?Actually, you might?want to discourage them.?You could even include that point in the invitations.?You may still get a few gifts, but the objective of this birthday party is to have a great time celebrating with people you care about, and not accumulating more stuff.?/p>

Another option would be to say something like, “I don’t need anything, except your company. But if you still feel like you should give me something, a donation to the animal shelter would be cool.”?Let you guests know that you’re not having this party to get a pile of presents, but to spend meaningful time with them.

Yes, to Party Favors!

With most parties, favors are a nice gesture, but optional.?However, if you decide to throw yourself a birthday party, it’s a good idea to invest in these little thank you gifts.?Your birthday favors can range from inexpensive tokens to homemade creations to full-blown goodie bags.?But it’s not how much you spend, but the sentiment you convey.?/p>

Make your famous chocolate chip cookies and pack them in a decorative container with the recipe.牋 You can select favors that tie into your party’s theme or reflect your unique personality.?If you’re inviting only a select few to your party, you might want to purchase individual inexpensive gifts for each person.?Another idea is to choose personalized photo favors that include a message that spells out how much you appreciate your guests.

Let’s Get The Party Rolling

Now, comes the fun part.?You and you alone get to decide how you want to celebrate your birthday.?Do you want a big bash with a DJ??How about an intimate gathering of your closest friends??Should it be at home or at a restaurant??You can choose exactly who you want to invite, what food you want to include, where you want to have the party and every other detail.?/p>

You don’t even have to have a traditional party.?What do you imagine as your perfect birthday party??Here are some ideas to consider:

Theme Party – These can be a lot of fun! You could go with a luau or fiesta.?Other possibilities are Hollywood glamour, casino night, winter wonderland or jungle safari. You might want to throw a retro party, either 50’s do-wop, 60’s rock or 70’s disco.

Destination Party – Is there some place you’re dying to go??Plan a trip to coincide with your birthday.?Send out save the date cards with a website address that includes all the trip particulars, like air fare, hotel rooms, itineraries, etc.?It takes a lot of planning to get a whole group of people organized for a trip, but it could make this the birthday to remember.

But destination parties don’t have to be just to some exotic locale far away. You can invite your friends to your party at your local zoo, the beach or a night out on the town in the city.?Take a dinner cruise. Organize a picnic in the park.?Choose an interesting nearby location for something different.

Activity Party – Is there something you would like to do or even learn how to do on your birthday??You could get a group of friends together to go horseback riding, take a hot air balloon ride, take dance lessons or learn to surf, just to name a few possibilities.?/p>

Whatever you do to turn your birthday into a party, don’t just let it pass you by.?Seize the day! You have a right to celebrate your birthday with the people you love. You don’t have to wait for someone to plan a great birthday party for you.?So, go for it – and have a really happy birthday!

It is thus important that you make sure that you do it right when you give party favors. Although there are actually hard and fast rules in giving these gifts, there are things that you ought to remember and take into account. Benefit from are some of the dos and don’t of giving party favors.

1. Do comprise name, the date and the occasion.

It is essential that you place an item of paper that’ll have your name, the date and the occasion you are celebrating. This will remind the invitees where the gift came from even years after receiving them. Although some people even write the facts on the item itself, this is discouraged as this renders the item virtually of no use. Who in their right minds will use items that make names on them?

2. Do put them in a decent bag

Although you can hand the party favors in itself, it will in addition be good to invest in a tiny bag. This may be true if the item is fragile and your guests just came from a dinner party, which means that they have only brought a small clutch bag. It will be a considerate thing to do to at least not expect invitees to lug around the gift everyplace the location.

3. Doors and windows buy something expensive, just something beautiful and meaningful

You don’t have to buy something expensive. What is essential in a party favor gift is that it is enjoyable enough to invigorate happiness in invitees when they consider them and it is meaningful plenty of to symbolize the occasion that you are celebrating. This time it is essential that you plan your buy well and that you decide the item that will best symbolize you as an individual and the occasion that you are celebrating.

4. Do buy something they are in a position to use

This can happen because your guests also. When opting for party favors, make certain that it is something that they’ll not simply admire from a display case (unless it is a Swarovski or something) but anything that they are in a position to use in their daily lives. Your overall will not merely remember the occasion where they got it and the individual that gave them, they will give thanks for it.

Party favors may not be an important area of a party like the foods and the drinks but it is however something that can add a little vibe and life in your party.