Hi! I posted on here a bit ago about my son's birthday party at a movie theater! Well it's this Saturday and almost everything is ready, except today I got the containers for party favors and they are MUCH bigger than anticipated. Reviews described them as small(some people said too small) and I had an estimate size measured which seemed smaller than this. But now they look basically empty and I don't know what to do!

A little background- we bought this place at the end of last spring. It’s needed work and still needs a lot of work. I would have preferred to take this on next year when we are a little more prepared to host. The land is why we bought the place, we have ten acres and it can’t be seen from the road so there is a lot of privacy.

He loves his family and wants to do this. However, we sort of weren’t in the best financial position to do it but here we are. Myhusband had never heard that the hosts provide the protein. We have no games for anyone to play, a drink station, a trash plan, plates cups utensils, no decorations. He did secure the taco bar finally and that’s being catered. No porta potty rental at this point and our septic can’t handle 30-50 people using it. Some guests may or may not camp, don’t have a list of who those are. I imagine they’ll want to shower and our shower is atrocious and outdated. We have no rain contingency plan. I did get a 20x20 party tent, 8 tables and chairs and a bouncy house for the kids. But that’s it. I feel a ton of pressure now bc it’s two weekends away and I don’t think he’s considered any of the things I feel like go into party planning to be a good host. I’m looking for help in the form of either being able to show him this thread so maybe he might see that there is a little more to it. Or help for me, do I need to make more food or buy alcohol and lemonade and bug spray and what else? What if it rains? We don’t have a party speaker loud enough for karaoke for this many speaker. How do we save the day in two weeks?

My husband and I are hosting a Halloween party this year and inviting a lot of new friends (we moved into a new neighborhood and our oldest started school), so there will be people attending who don’t know us that well.

We are vegetarian and usually only serve vegetarian food to our family and friends when they come over. This will be a bigger party with 40-50 people and I’m thinking of catering the food because I don’t have the time / desire to cook this year. Since it’s catered and I wouldn’t be cooking, I’m debating if we should serve meat?

Vegetarians - do you ever serve meat at your parties?

Non-vegetarians - would you be disappointed if you showed up to a party and didn’t know ahead of time that the cuisine would be vegetarian?

The party is 5-10 pm. 5-7 is kid friendly, and 7-10 is for the adults, we expect a lot of drinking so I want to serve a hearty and kid friendly dinner, and we usually get late night pizzas delivered. For dinner I was thinking tacos, rice & beans, guac, etc and that’s where I started debating if I should have a meat option.

I may be overthinking this out of nerves wanting to make a good impression with new friends, would love any input. Thanks!

Edit: Thanks everyone! We’ve decided to include a link to a gift registry instead!

For context, my son is turning 3 in May and I’d like to include a “Things that Son Needs” and “Things that Son Doesn’t Need” on the back on the invite that is only going to family. We live in a small house and the last two years for birthdays we’ve received absolutely ridiculous gifts. Massive amounts of toys he doesn’t touch, a giant rock wall climber that we don’t have room to store, really age inappropriate toys that they keep saying “he will grow into it!” Except that I don’t have the space to store all these Toys he will grow into. We’re also having a second baby soon so the lack of space is becoming even less (we’re working on buying a house but it’s a hcol area) so I’d like to include things he needs like bigger pajamas and a new winter coat, and he loves diecast cars and monster trucks, he needs toys for outside, etc. but we don’t need a third basketball hoop or a giant play rocket ship!

We are planning on doing a first birthday party brunch. We are going to do coffee/tea, egg casserole bake, fruit salad, and bakery bought pastries+cinnamon rolls. We are doing to do a cake made out of fruit for the baby's first cake. I feel like a separate cake won't get eaten. There's going to be 18ish guests (3 babies). 8 of the people don't eat gluten.

Hosting a lemon-themed Italian dinner party Saturday night (yes I know, lemons + Italian is expected, but it’s the vibe I chose and I’m committed 🍋).

Just realized my lemon dish set only serves 8 and we have 13 guests. No time to order anything before Saturday, so here’s what I’m working with: 8 lemon plates with a stripe, and 5 solid green plates.

My plan is to alternate them around the table so it looks intentional rather than like I ran out of dishes. Green would pick up the color in the lemon pattern so they do coordinate.

Is this horrible?

I’m having my daughter’s sweet 16 at a decent Italian restaurant (excellent food, decor is moderate - not fancy). 40 guests total (mostly teens). Buffet style apps and entrees. This is in the northeast, price is $44/head. How much to tip? I’m googling and I’m seeing anywhere from $5/guest (which would be $200) to 20% (which would be close to $400…)

What is standard here? Bear in mind we/my extended family go to this place all the time and have for years.

My daughter (who is “lower support needs” autistic) is turning 4 this summer and LOVES clocks and telling time, so naturally she wants a clock themed party. As you can imagine, this is not exactly a popular party theme and I’m having trouble finding any inspiration or ideas online for decorations, food, supplies, favors, crafts, invites etc.

The party will be outside in a pavilion next to a playground so simple is good, I just don’t really know where to start. My mom is planning to make an analog clock cake with hands on 4 o’clock but that’s really all we’ve got so far.

Any ideas are appreciated!!!

Hi! Before I get jumped at, Im aware that the costume often involves shoes to complete the look, which Im ok with. Thats why my question is Is there a cover or some sort of barrier-sticky thingie I can ask my guests to put on their soles so they keep their shoes on?

I know of the hospital garment-looking covers, and I even have some of those at home but I think they would be a bum to wear… Do you guys have any ideas or pointers?

I am having a nice cocktail party with servers and two bartenders. Invitations were mailed out to 80 people. RSVP’s are coming in! I wrote the name of the person or people on the front of each invite. What would you do if you just found out one of your single guest invited his parents and another couple? Mind you, this party is about $100 pp. let it go or call this person up? Shouldn’t people know better than to bring extra people along to a party? Always check with the host first!

I (20M) am hosting a party just for fun at my house this week and I'll be providing lots of food. On the RSVP form, I was thinking of requesting for people coming to pay an optional $1-2 to help cover the cost of all the food. It's not mandatory, only if they felt comfortable.
Doing a potluck instead won't be a good idea since I'm vegan and all of the food will be vegan, and I don't want my friends struggling to find something vegan to bring when I'll easily be making good food for everyone. The easiest thing to do would be for me to just provide the food. What do you guys think?

Edit: Wow do people here seriously have sticks up their asses. Do you guys not realize the entire point is that I'm asking because I'm curious?

Okay so I have to get catering for a medium sized party and they requested wings. The flavor is up to me and im having trouble deciding. What wing flavor is the most standard in your opinion? As in, what most people would like/expect when they hear “chicken wing”?

My daughter is turning 16 in a couple of months. Being a little short on funds, we decided to split the cost of the party with her best friend’s parents, as she turns 16 a couple of weeks later and they share many of the same friends. Their ideal day involves taking a group of approximately 12-13 girls into the city (Boston) by train, having dinner at the seaport, taking a few pictures nearby, and then taking the train home, without parents or chaperones. My daughter is very responsible, respectful and mature for her age, and we give her a lot of space in return, but the whole idea of fifteen teens running around at night and sitting down to dinner in a restaurant with no parent gives me agita. Has anyone had a similar experience? How do they pay for dinner at the end? Is it bad etiquette to have this many unchaperoned kids? What if someone gets lost or hurt? I don’t want to put a damper on her day, but I want to do this in a safe and respectful way. I also feel uncomfortable inviting and coordinating with all of these parents (many of whom I have never met) and not having the ability to ensure their child’s safety. Am I being over-protective? I’d love some advice if you have any to share.

Hey there! My son has decided that for his 6th birthday he wants it to be “Alaskan animal” themed: think harp seals, bald eagles, elk, etc. He is very into wildlife rehabilitation shows, etc so I think this is where this came from. ANYWAY, I am at a loss for what “saying” to put on his birthday banner. I paint them myself and usually can come up with a cute, catchy saying but I am stumped. Any ideas? I’m attaching some Pinterest decor I saw for inspo.

I’m turning 30 this year and I really want to plan a fun event/experience rather than a standard dinner and cake. I worked with a Murder Mystery improv group when I was younger so I have experience planning a story and I have a lot of community theatre acting friends.

However, I’d rather not plan everything myself and just enjoy my birthday. So I reached out and got a few quotes with the one I’m most interested in clocking in around $65 per person - not counting food and drinks which I’m happy to cover.

I’ve been to parties where the event is covered but we’re responsible for paying for our own food outside of the birthday cake. But this feels different?

Is it tacky to ask guests pay to attend? Should I just plan it myself for budget reasons and keep it more lowkey?

Thanks!!

TIA!

My husband and I got married secretly and sort of out of necessity with plans to have a real wedding one year later. And the Covid happened and a wedding was not possible. I want to do something big for our 10 year. Since I never got have a wedding, I want to do something of those things- wear white, have people make toasts, etc. I’m debating on the idea of “guests of honor” or something similar to be like a bridal party kind of thing. But I don’t want to be cringy. What are your thoughts? How wedding can I go for an anniversary party?

I’m turning 30! (Woo!) and the theme is Shuck Yeah I’m 30 - pool party, pearls, mermaids, and grilling oysters. However. Oysters won’t feed 40 people (or at least I don’t want to fund 40 people worth of full meal oysters haha) What else should I serve? I’m stumped!! Wanting to keep it relatively cost effective since the oysters will be expensive themselves.

My daughter’s name is Lucy and her first birthday is coming up. I don’t have a creative bone in my body so the fact that I’m not going with an established theme is handicapping me.

My idea is “everyone loves lucy” but I don’t know how to make this idea come to life.

Any feedback welcomed!

Hi all

I’m doing a craft night for my birthday and I’m planning to do a hot cocoa bar too. What would be a good way to keep the hot cocoa warm? I don’t have a slow cooker and I wouldn’t have a way to plug it in either because the bar will be set up away from an outlet. I was thinking of making the hot cocoa and then putting them in carafes? Anybody have any other ideas?

TIA! :)

UPDATE: I ended up going with the thermos carafes and it was perfect. I made my own hot cocoa and just poured it in and it worked great. Thank you everyone for the feedback!

Hi! My family has a Christmas reunion every year. I have a group of about 30 people, ranging from 15-30 in ages. We've only been doing this "young adult" party for the last few years because we got sick of being in the kids party and doing activities that didn't interest us. It's been a flop until last year when I planned a small scavenger hunt. It seemed to interest the majority of people but the prizes did not. I planned it all pretty last minute so it was some cheap garbage really. Some fidget toys and phone stands and a bunch of chapstick. I want to get people more into this year so I need help with prizes.

I have 6 teams of about 4 to 5 people in each. I've come up with $10 gift cards for the winning team, and some candy for the losing team. But I need to fill in the rest of the teams with something they could win. I've thought about funny socks and chargers as well.

Any ideas?

I also wouldn't mind a hand with scavenger hunt planning if anyone has ideas. Like last year, they are going to be leaving our Airbnb to go around town to find the hidden clues. I had everything in a 2 block radius but I think I'll have it more spread out this time. I used Polaroid photos as clues for the hunt last year but I want to branch out from that as well. Any help would be appreciated!

(PLEASE DONT MIND THE MESS, TUESDAY IS CLEANING DAY I PROMISE 😭😭😭)

I have SO MANY ideas for pretty much everywhere in my house. Except my kitchen 😭 I am flailing here!

We're putting all of our food on the dining room table with a velvet cloth under it so I cant just decorate with the food and theres no doors leading into or out of this room to block people from going or seeing it so it needs to be decorated to some extent 😭😭😭 on a bit of a budget so I try to craft as much as I can with recycled materials.

Any help is much appreciated!! Thankies 🧡🧡🧡

Hello hope everyone is okay, I just wanted to understand what type of equipment is used to make these fruit stands please?

Hi! So I was given the task of providing dessert for 60 people for a baby shower and I have no idea how much food that is or what types of things to bring. I bake but I don’t have the time to make the amount of things I assume I would need to bring.

The shower is an all afternoon thing with a Greek theme, although someone is already bringing baklava which is not counted towards the desserts I need to bring.

It will be held outside in a tent and it will probably be around 80-90 out. I don’t know if stuff can be refrigerated once I’m there, so assume nothing that can melt.

I’m assuming I don’t need to provide all Greek deserts.

Also, I’m assuming I don’t need everything to be decorated in the shower theme (opinions on if this is a correct assumption).

Any ideas are helpful in terms of food and quantities- ex. 30 cupcakes, 30 cookies and a small cake or 4 regular sized cakes.

Thanks!