My Party Planning Notebook

Some of you lovely readers have contacted me about the upcoming parties that you have.  I love it!  I love helping, I love planning, and I love getting inspired with different crafty ideas so please keep it coming. In the coming months I hope to dabble more in paper crafts, banner making, and of course more digital media.  I really enjoyed creating all the printables and would love to do more. 

Anywhoo,  I am not a pro at party planner, but I wanted to share with you one thing that I always do when planning an event.... that would be the notebook.  I prefer to start planning months ahead, get my ideas on paper, create, and use the last minute for the little tedious details.  For my wedding and Cindy's party I just created my own party planning notebook.

I like this better than buying one because it saves money [even though it isn't as pretty].  I like that the I can just shove any paper I get in a clear sheet whether it is a receipt or something I printed.  And I just love that everything is in one place.  For my wedding since it was way bigger, I also added dividers.  I wish the rest of my life was this organized.... But want to see what is inside?

First and foremost it's the logistics and the first page is the guest list.  Lucky for me I have a master copy of addresses from our wedding and I just update it periodically.  Sorry for the blurred picture but I wanted to keep the names private.  For her party the other lists included an outfit checklist for the both of us, a sheet of food and drinks we were going to have, a to do list, a list of all the decorations, etc.  I also had a blank sheet where my sister wrote all the gifts Cindy got.  It was in one spot and it didn't get lost in clean up! 

There was a sheet for game and entertainment ideas and I kept all the essentials in a clear sheet.  During the day of set up, I knew exactly where I put the coloring pages and the wallet sized pictures of her.

I only worked with one vendor, which wre the bakeries Jill's Cake Creations and Von's.  It's always important to keep those receipts.

And now for the fun part, the inspiration pages.   When Cindy turned 6 months old my older sister helped me choose the theme.  She actually suggested it. I was already saving pictures and websites that I loved.  Recognize some of those pictures?! Once each task was complete I could check the picture off.  Of course I wasn't able to complete everything that I wanted but I got the main things done.  I was so proud of myself because I usually wait until the last minute to sew her outfit but had her dress done two weeks before.  This is a huge feat for me! 

Whether the party is big or small I like to have some form of a little notebook.  It just helps so much!  So, the biggest advice to you party people out there is stay organized and don't wait until the last minute! I just checked off the last thank you card and will be mailing it out tomorrow.... this party is officially complete.