They are already seniors...?

I’m sure you have all been there. My youngest brother Greg is graduating high school this year and my other brother Tim is graduating college. I feel like a grandmother when I say these things…but where has time gone?! Tim will be leaving West Virginia University just in time for Greg to start there as a freshman in the fall. WVU has become a family thing now… which made planning Greg’s high school graduation party so exciting for me. My family knows that I drool over planning parties so they handed over the duty to me this year. I had ideas running so quickly through my head that I couldn’t keep it all straight. Over the next few weeks, I’m sure there will be multiple posts about the upcoming graduation party. Mostly because I am just too excited about all of the goodies I have bought for it! But I digress…

I wanted to write a post about what I do to get ready for a party or event… and hear what your ideas are…if there is anyone out there

1. Well first, I am a list person. I have to write everything down or else I will forget. I’d like to think its is because I have so many wonderful ideas in my head that it is hard to keep them straight but I’m sure it is just that I have a bad memory. Last year, I planned a huge surprise 25th wedding anniversary party for my parents and my saving grace was a little notebook I kept in my bag at all times. It was perfect for when someone would call to RSVP, or when I got a sudden idea while walking through a store, or even for just organizing the recipes I would use. This helped me from over-buying BIG TIME. It I hadn’t kept detailed lists, I’m sure I would have bought way more than I needed. It’s always better to keep it simpler.

2. Stick with what works. There were some wonderful shops and vendors that I used for the party last year that I am using again for the graduation party. It is peace of mind to know you can rely on certain shops and not have to worry about the quality.

3. Ready for a contradiction? Find new ideas and new sites to purchase from. From reading other blogs, you can find new shops that are incredible that you have never heard of before. I will certainly be sharing many shops that I love on here so be on the lookout.

4. Do research. I perhaps do a little too much of this (is that possible, though??). Pinterest has been an incredible resource for ideas. I love seeing how someone styled a party and taking an idea and molding it into what would work for me. For instance, a trend I have seen lately is displaying ice cream cones in some sort of holder… such as the one found here at Shop Sweet Lulu. I thought this idea was just perfect. It is a beautiful display but also functional. For the graduation party, ice cream wouldn’t really work outside in the middle of summer…but adorable popcorn paper cones would fit in those ice cream cone holders just fine and have the same effect. So I went with it! Without having had seen the original ice cream counterpart…well we wouldn’t be having popcorn!