{Soirees} The Planning Process

Hey everybody!  I hope you all are having a fabulous July so far!  I certainly am.

I don't know about all of you, but when it comes to planning events, I love the planning process.  My husband thinks I'm absolutely crazy because to him all that "busy work" is the worst part.  I'm currently planning my Grandma's 90th Birthday with my Dad, sister, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and having been coined the "Cruise Director" by my Dad a few years ago, I have gladly took over planning most details of the party.  I thought that today I would share a little inside look into my personal planning process since it's something that tends to overwhelm a lot of people.      

The first step for me is to gather inspiration, and my favorite place to do that is, of course, Pinterest.

Once you know what kind of theme you're going for, the first thing you want to do is book your location (if it's not at your home).  This is very important to do right away because locations book up fast, and if you need to use a different venue, your ideas may no longer apply to the new place.  

After that I like string out all my favorite ideas and map out a plan.  This is very beneficial to me because I've found that if I don't have things mapped out, I forget key elements.  It also helps during the planning process if you have other individuals involved, so that they can see what you're thinking.  

I'm very visual, so when mapping out my events, I grab my favorite pen and a stack of paper.  Here is what it looks like (excuse the sloppy handwriting and drawings).  

This will also come in handy the day of for set up because not everyone will know how you visualized it in your head.

After this it's all pretty self explanatory...you execute your ideas.  I personally make a bunch of lists (guests, items I want to bring, items I need to purchase, menus, etc).   I also start to gather everything I want to use and items I've purchased in one area of my house.  That way everything is in one place, and I won't forget anything.

Well I hope that all of this will help you out a little next time you're planning your own event.  I honestly think that a little bit of planning makes events more fun and easier to execute.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!