Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day remembering the ones you love and honoring their legacies.

Party Planning: Invitations

If you are going to go to all the work of planning and throwing a party, you will definitely want people to show up, right? That is why invitations are such an important part of party planning.

Before we get to the specifics, remember that sometimes you won't need invitations. If you are having a spontaneous or very casual event (such as a game or dessert night, or open house), invitations are not necessary. It will make your event too formal.

However, if you can answer yes to one or all of the following questions, you may consider doing invitations:

1. Are you serving food?


2. Is the event over a week away?


3. Is the event at a unique location that would require an address?


4. Are you making name cards or giving out favors?


5. Do you need to plan for adequate seating or parking?

If you've decided that invitations are a must, let me share some different options and the pros and cons of each.

1. Handmade invitations
There is nothing like getting a handmade invitation in the mail or on your doorstep. I get giddy every time I receive a real invitation.

Pros:

• You can customize them to fit the theme of your event

• It gives a very personal touch to your guests


• They can save you money
  

Cons:

• They can be time-consuming


• They can be expensive

2. Pre-made invitations
Pros:

• They save you time

• They can be very professional looking


• They can be expensive
  

Cons:

• You might have a hard time finding exactly what you are looking for

3. Evite
Although I love getting and making handmade invitations, I am a big of Evite (evite.com). Have you ever used it? It's actually pretty simple. I'll have a post specifically on Evite so stay tuned.

Pros:

• Your invitations are sent with a click of a mouse

• There is no postage required


• You can see which guests have viewed and RSVP'd to the event


• You can have guests sign up to bring something


• There are many styles that can fit your theme


• FREE!
  

Cons:

• Some of your guests may not have access to a computer

• If your guests are in an older generation that are not used to computers, they may not even see it

4. Momentice.com

Momentice is a free guest list management system that utilizes social media to help gather addresses. The system helps you keep track of invitations sent, RSVPs, thank you notes and allows you to manage several wedding events at a time.

Pros

• It's completely free!

• You can manage large guest lists


• You can utilize social media to gather address


• You can access it anywhere you have internet

Cons

• You still have to come up with invitations
  

***Whatever you decide to use for invitations, don't let it become a big stress. Parties are about having fun and there is a lot more to it than the invitations.

Party Planning 101

I LOVE throwing parties. It doesn't matter if it's a dinner party, shower, game night, or other occasion, I LOVE having people over. In fact, last spring I threw 3 showers in a 1 month period. People thought I was crazy. I got questions like, "How you do it?" and "Aren't you sick of showers yet?" Truth be told, it was a lot of work, but I guess that's the type of work I would chose any day.

I've hosted lots of get-togethers in my day. And honestly, it is getting easier and easier. I think the more you do, the easier it gets.

So...for the next little while (while we have a holiday break) on SO FESTIVE!, I'm going to share some of my insights, some of the things I've learned, and hopefully give you the courage to try (if you need it) or just some helpful hints when it comes to party planning. I'll give you some ideas for the following parts of any party...

*PARTY PLANNING 101*

• Invitations
• Food
• Hosting tips
• Themed party ideas
• More

I'm not an expert and I'm still learning as I go. Hopefully though my professional and personal experience as an event planner will help you see how easy it can really be.

And just to give you credit--I have seen some of the fun and festive things you have done when it comes to decorations, food, invitations, etc. Find what you have a passion for and go off that! As always, feel free to email in some of your tips so I can feature them!

Personalized T-shirt How-To

I was inspired by my friend Andrea who does the cutest crafts. She has posted on here a few times and she is the one I always go to for a craft idea. Back in December, she made these adorable shirts (click here). I thought I would try making one for my niece who was turning one. Her dad is going to Ghana for 7 weeks so I wanted to do a thoughtful gift.

When I was asking Andrea where she gets freezer paper to do it, she said, "Oh, I've got plenty!" And she mailed me out some from across the country! If that isn't a true friend, I don't know what is.

With Andrea's help and inspiration from this blog I made one! It was pretty simple and it would be even easier if you had a cricut. But nonetheless, all we used was:

• Freezer paper
• Blank shirt
• Fabric paint
• E-xacto knife to cut pattern out of freezer paper

This is how it turned out... (Sorry for the bad picture. I had to snap in the car right before we wrapped it up)

The possibilities are endless with this project. I am excited to make some more!

To all you mothers...

Hope you have a very wonderful Mother's Day!

I know some of you who follow this blog personally.

I THANK YOU for being wonderful examples of motherhood to me since I don't have my own mother to learn from.

To those of you who I don't know personally, thank you for interested in this blog and being SO FESTIVE!
My mother would be very happy to see so many who love being festive! :)

Fiesta Time!!

You feeling ready for a Mexican fiesta?

I sure hope so because May 5th (Wednesday) is

Cinco de Mayo

Dust off those sombreros, whip up some tacos or enchiladas and celebrate!