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Help me with a timeline
My parents 30th Anniversary is July 3rd we are planning on having a pretty big party. It's not a surprise, but I told them I would handle the bulk of the work. I know that I have a long time, but I want to get a list and timeline together of what needs to be done when.
It's going to be at their lake cabin, so my biggest worry is who is going to stay where, it's only an hour from home so some people with probably decide to just come for the day, but others are going to want to make a weekend out of it and stay until the 4th. I might have mom work on getting some additional places for campers since alot of my aunts/uncles have them.
I have never worked on something of this scale, at least 30-40 in our family alone, I will have help but I dont even know where to start. Any advice would be WONDERFUL!!! Thanks in Advance
Re: Help me with a timeline
I would send out an email with save the date...I would mention when the actual party is but mention that you're looking to make accomodations for people who want to make a weekend of it. Ask them to let you know tentatively if they plan on staying so that you can begin to look into options?
Are there hotels in the area? If so, I would call now and try to set up a group rate and block a set of rooms and offer this in your invitation. If there is a campground nearby where your family could use campers, I would do this there as well. An hour is far to drive for those that are drinking all day.
I would treat this party as if it were a wedding in terms of timelines since you will be inviting a lot of guests and some may make a weekend out of it. Send out invites 4-6 weeks in advance with lodging info. I think save the dates would be a good idea, 3 mo in advance. If you didnt want to mail them I use this website and love it: www.punchbowl.com and I know they have a save the date email option. People can respond to you through this so if you wanted feedback on how many guests would be interested in lodging you could ask them to respond. I use that website for all my parties. They even have a potluck area where everyone can view the list and add to it for BBQ type events. Just watch for the ones they want you to pay for, there are tons of free designs so I would pay for any of it.
Another tip, I would have goody bags or some favor since guests will be coming a long way. Even an edible item is good and include your parents wedding date or 30 Years on mm/dd/yy.
Besides those things, the most important thing is food and drinks. I had a destination wedding with an outdoor home wedding reception later on (in July too) and had a small budget so I did the bulk of the work myself (well, with the help of some family).
Food: I would decide what route you are going 1-2 mo in advance. Are you going to use a caterer? If not, you will need to plan out a menu, purchase and pre-make the food. You will need to assign someone to set-up/rotate food trays. I hired my brothers friends to be cocktail appetizer waitresses, had them come an hour before the party and told them what I wanted done. They would cook 1 tray at a time, bring it out and serve it and then go in and do it all over again so that the apps were always warm. I just used Costco frozen apps. I assume you'll do a full meal so you will definitely need help getting it out, keeping it warm and taking away empy platters if you dont use a caterer. Your mom shouldnt have any part in this since she will need to mingle as she is the guest of honor. My M and MIL did this at mine and worked the entire time until dinner was done, "joined" the party about 8pm. I didnt have a formal sit down dinner, just a buffet table. If this is the way you plan to go I can send you menu ideas and a pic if you want, it looked pretty nice for a buffet. You may plan to BBQ if its during the day, unless your dad insists, he should be mingling instead of cooking so find someone to do this. I personally would hire catering if I could afford it, I hate working at parties!
Liquor: Are you going to hire a bartender? The liquor is kinda hard to estimate. I used Binnys, gave them my number of people and they told me how much I needed. I took liquor out on consignment, meaning I paid for all of it upfront and then returned any unopened bottles. They were almost dead on except the wine. I returned maybe 4 bottles. I again, hired another friend of B and paid her $50 but let her put out a tip jar. She made A LOT!!! I also rented a tiki bar for $40, was well worth it! We got a keg of what we knew most people liked but put it in a kegerator so it had the appearance of "on tap" rather then keg. I had a vodka, whiskey and rum with mixers and a white and red wine. Then I set out buckets with cans of pop and bottled water that people could just take as they please. I know catering companies will do all this for you but I dont know what your budget is, a catering company would cost a lot more than what I did. You could also go the other way and do no bartender altogether and just do coolers of beer and wine coolers and call it a day. Depends on how fancy you want it.
Decorations: Decorate the day before if weather permits. I did not do this and regretted it. I was running behind and was inside getting ready when people started showing up. I WAY under estimated how long it would take to set everything up.
Music: DJ? Book soon if you are using one, July is wedding season. Otherwise figure out what you are gonna do for music. IPOD playlist? Never too soon to make it, better done now than not in time. Radio? Make sure you have something to use outdoors.
Boating/Swimming: Not sure exactly what kinda party you're hosting but since its at a Lake House if there is boating/swimming make sure to inlcude that in the invite so everyone is clear.
Hope you find that useful! LMK if you need any more help