The invitation to your party is the first glimpse into your celebration for your guests.  For this reason, your invitations should match the occasion in both style and theme as well.  Your invitation is meant to inform your invited guests about your event, but also they are to give your invitees a small glimpse into what is to come at your party.

You will want to send out your invitations at least four weeks before a smaller party and eight weeks prior for a larger event such as a wedding.  You may also want to make sure that your party or event is not held over a holiday weekend when many of your friends and family may already have other plans or will not want to deal with holiday travel.

The wording on your invitation should be done in a very standard way.  This means that it should include the following:

All phrasing should always be in the third-person.

Punctuation is never used at the ends of lines on an invitation, only on names and addresses which require them.

Try not to use any abbreviations on your invitations.  Spell out names, addresses, etc. fully.  The one exception to this is the use of Mr. And Mrs.  Both of these abbreviations are appropriate for an invitation.

Days, dates, and times should all be spelled out completely.

If you have a husband and wife couple who you will be inviting who happen to both be doctors, you can simply address your invitation to “The Doctors “Last Name” and it will be correct

It is always socially unacceptable to write “no children” or refer to gifts (even when specifying “no gifts”) on any invitations.

Each invitation should have the following information contained on it:

The name of the host or hosts.

The purpose of the event.

The name of the guest of honor.

The day, date and time of the event.

The location of the event.

The address of the event with the street address only, not the zip code.

Once you have your invitations completed, then it is time to get a friend to read over them for you and let you know if you have any mistakes in your text.  This is very important because the last thing you want to do is send out all of your invitations with the wrong date or time on them.  It is so much easier to catch and fix mistakes before the invitations are ever sent out.

You might find it surprising to know that in this day and age you can have your invitations printed at a very reasonable cost online.  In addition, if you have a good graphics program and printer, you can do them yourself.  If you will be having a smaller event, it is perfectly acceptable to purchase a package of the hand-written invitations from your local store and simply write in the information on them.

If you will be having a very informal party, you can have some fun and informal invitations.  If you are planning a much more formal party or event such as a wedding, then you are best to stick to professionally printed invitations.

Entertaining people in your home is always wrought with a bit of stress and anxiety.  Simply getting everything ready before the party is enough to make most people pull out their hair.  And, the self-doubt and worry about last minute details is enough to send most people over the edge.  However, planning your party does not need to be this way.  Here are nine time-tested tips to help you plan the best party with the least possible pre-party stress:

Tip #1 – The best thing you can do for yourself is to write down a master party shopping list and a list of what needs to be accomplished around your home before the date of the party.  Get out a calendar and mark off some time to shop and clean your home.  (See the previous section for more in-depth tips on this subject).

Tip #2 – Enlist the help of your spouse and/or children in the process of cleaning and de-cluttering your home for the party.  While they may not do the “perfect” job that you would, you can always go back with a quick vacuum or dust cloth and finish the job later.

Tip #3 – When your guests arrive, they will need a place to hang their coats and place their purses.  One of the easiest things you can do is to clean out your entry-hall coat closet for them to use.  If you have a bunch of stuff in there, you can find it a new home or box it up until after your party is over.

Tip #4 – When you shop, think about whether or not you will want to send home leftovers with your guests.  If you will, then you should pick-up some inexpensive containers which you can send food home in and not have to worry about retrieving your plates or bowls at a later date.

Tip #5 – It is also nice to plan for enough leftovers from your party that you will not have to cook or prepare food on the day after your party.  Let’s face it, the day after your party you will be exhausted, and by not having to cook you can relax and enjoy the day with your family.

Tip #6 –  When you go to the store to purchase the non-perishables for your party, you can leave them in the grocery bags until the day before the party.  Rather than unpack everything and put it away in your cupboards where people might mistakenly eat it, you can simply leave everything in the bags and keep them in an out of the way place until the day before the party.  (I highly suggest looking at everything the day before and making sure you didn’t forget something at the store which is vital.  This will keep you from having to make emergency store runs on the day of your party when you have other things to do.)

Tip #7 –  If you are having an evening party near the Christmas holiday season, you might want to get together ahead of time with your friends and organize a cookie exchange.  By doing this you can have tons of different cookies to offer your guests, even though you only had to make one kind of them.

Tip #8 – If your guests will be drinking wine, it is a great idea to use some inexpensive wine glass charms.  This will allow your guests to always know which glass is theirs and keeps them from using too many other glasses.  Put the charms on before your party to save time when you are serving your guest’s drinks.

Tip #9 – One of the best things you can do when planning your party is to ask other people to bring food or beverages.  Many times people ask what they can bring, and you should take them up on their offers.  Not only does this cut down on the budget for your party, it also allows you to spend less time cooking and more time with your guests.

One of the best things that you can have when planning a party or event of any size is a written party timeline.  By making yourself a good solid timeline, you can ensure that your party goes off without a hitch.

Here are five tips from professional party planners to get you on the right track in planning your shopping list and timeline:

Tip #1 – Before you can start to build your timeline and shopping list, first you must decide where your party or event will be held and how many people you will be inviting.  If you will be using an event location or a restaurant, you need to secure your space before moving on to anything else.

Tip #2 – Once you have secured your location for your party, then you can start to build your lists.  To start building your timeline think about the things you will need to do before the party, such as sending out your invitations.  If you will be having them custom printed you will need to allow extra time for the printing before you can mail them out to your guests.  (See section, “The Professional Party Planner’s Guide to Party Invitations”).

Tip #3 – Now that you have your date and location secured, and you have ordered your invitations, if necessary, it is time to think about what you will be doing at your party, what type of food and drinks will be on the menu, and how long you want the party to last.  Dedicate a single sheet of paper just to your party day and list everything you will need to do, in order by time.  For example, preparing food before guests arrive would be at the top of the sheet of paper, while giving out party favors may be at the absolute bottom.

Tip #4 – In addition to your timeline for the day of the party, you will also want to formulate a timeline for the two weeks or so leading up to the event.  Here you will need to block out time for cleaning, shopping, decorating, etc.

Tip #5 – Once you have your lists generated, then it is time to stick to them and make sure everything gets done.