First Things First: The Date

A quick introduction

Hi! Jill here from Jillian’s Catering. This is the introductory post of many to come with tips and tricks about how to plan the perfect party.

I’ve thrown my share of parties and catered countless ones as well. I’ve learned a thing or two along the way, the checklist is long.

These tips and tricks are generally meant for a home-based or even rented venue, self-hosted party: like, your husband’s 50th birthday, the annual office party you typically host, or a, ‘what-the-heck’, let’s just have a party, party! We are talking 20 to 60 people. While these tips and tricks still work for less than 20 or larger than 60 with scaling, I’d say, anything less than 15 people, including yourself/selves as the host/s, is getting rather intimate and it will change the tenor of the event. With less than 15, I’d consider either a sit-down dinner or a family-style dinner (gorgeous food heaped on platters and everyone helps themselves). Anything larger will likely require longer planning, although, again, all the general concepts will still apply — you just will need to scale up including your lead time.

The first place to start is when.

This date may be more of a moving target than you anticipated and throwing an event of this size is not for the last-minute type. Very broadly, start planning well in advance, like even two or three months.

If you want it catered, book the caterer at least 8 weeks in advance. Your invites should go out at least one month in advance, but in come cases, even sooner. People are BUSY. And, depending on the time of year, you may need significant notice to your invitees. While it sometimes cannot be helped, and you need to have your party during a less than ideal time (birthday’s are immutable, for example, but as an aside, if your throwing a party for some poor soul who has the unfortunate luck of having a December birthday, throw them a surprise party in June … just sayin’, it could be fun!), here’s a rundown of tricky times:

Long Weekends: A large number of your invitees may have plans away.

January: lots of people are partied out, keen on Dry January and wanting to shed a few pounds.

Spring Break: check the calendar to see when this is happening and avoid if possible. Again, many of your invitees will be planning away trips.

July and August: These and September are actually my favourite times to have a party, BUT, people plan their summer vacations well in advance, even months sometimes. In British Columbia, we love our camping and for those who rely on reserving campsites, they book these dates even three months ahead. Also, people have weddings to attend and are likley not going to forgo their niece’s nuptuials in favour of your party (unless your party is also a wedding and I think a nice home-based, cocktail party wedding would be fantastic!). And there are festivals and outdoor concerts and fireworks to compete with. If you are having a summer event, have your guests save the date AT LEAST two months in advance, but also, expect your committed numbers to drop last minute.

December: book your caterer in September. Not even kidding. And send your invites out to your guests the day after Halloween.

Other noteable days to avoid: Valentines, Mother’s & Father’s Day, or other days that might be culturally imporant to your invitees.

When are good times to have a cocktail party?

If you are a parent of school-aged kids and your invitee group includes the same, look for a week in which the Friday or Monday is a professional development day (a no-school day, but also not a holiday). These are quazi-long weekends, but people don’t tend to go away as much as thier kids still have weekend activities to attend.

Take advantage of other non-holiday ‘holidays’ like St. Patrick’s or around Halloween/Ocktoberfest. Halloween night is of course excellent, but, not if your invitees are parent’s of younger school-aged kids.

The summer and September are, in my opinion, is the best time for a cocktail party because you can utilize outdoor space. There is nothing more magical than a warm summer night when you can smell the flowers, fresh cut grass and neighbourhood barbeques. It evokes conversation and engagement amongst guests which is what you want. Smokers can smoke and if things get out of control, people can puke in the bushes instead of on your carpet. Hey, it happens.

Fridays or Saturdays (Maybe even a Sunday)?

Generally, my recommendations are assuming you are picking a Friday or Saturday. It would just be weird to have a party on a Wednesday night such that your guests go to work the next day bleary-eyed and hungover. That being said, if all your invitees are in an industry in which they work weekends, maybe a Wednesday night is the way to go.

If we are talking a purely adult, night-time event with invitees that operate in the Monday to Friday universe, I’m partial to Fridays, and here is why: you (and your guests) get the rest of the weekend to decompress after such a great party. Everyone still has their Saturday AND Sunday to do chores, gardening, shopping, and get over their hangover (and the older you get, the more recovery time you need — you might still be hungover Sunday too).

But, maybe you are actually wanting a day-time pool party event, and its a mix of kids and adults, so, the Saturday would be best. If its a long weekend with the Monday being a holiday, you can throw Sunday into the mix as an option. Again, if its an adult-only party, its on a long weekend and you are a Mon-Fri work person, I’d pick the Saturday so you can have the whole day to get ready. On that note, whatever day you pick, I’d plan to ensure you have no other committments that day (take the day off work) so you can be ready for your guests.

Let Me Take that Off Your Plate!

There are so many things to consider when planning a party and making sure your guests are happily fed is a huge job. Let me take that off your plate by making a booking inquiry to see if I have that date available for your event.