PartyCharlie.com - Party Planning Tips

Sunday, April 15, 2012

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My “Five Steps for Creating the Energy for an Outrageously Successful Party,” will provide you with all the necessary ingredients to plan and host memorable events that you and your guests will rave about. Whether you’re planning a fundraiser, grand opening, holiday party or family celebration, let my 30+ years in the party planning and catering business be your guide to hosting an outrageously successful and stress-free event. Order your book today!Sign Up For My FREE Monthly Newsletter: http://www.charliescola.com

Saturday, March 31, 2012

30 Ways toGet Your Guests Involved - Part Three

This month's party tips are taken from my book...

“Party Planning Secrets: The Ultimate Guide To A Successful Party.”

Chapter 32 - Guests - Getting Them Involved, pages, 180, & 181

30 Ways toGet Your Guests Involved - Part Three

21. Host an “Olympic games” party. Set up your own prize-filled version of the Olympics, with games like flag football, horseshoes, three-legged race, egg toss, and water polo if you have a pool.

22. Organize a scavenger hunt. Provide lists to each of your guests and then allow them to form two-person teams. You can make it an elegant affair by providing champagne and asking the guests to dress in formal attire.

23. Hire a magician. A magician can be entertaining as well as a great medium for getting guests involved.

24. Hire a caricaturist. This is a way of involving your guests and treating them to a gift at the same time. They’ll have fun comparing pictures.

25. Hire a masseuse. Neck and shoulder massages can be amazing stress relievers for a party that follows a hard day at work. And the more comfortable and happy your guests are, the more likely they will be to want to get to know one another.

26. Hold an interactive cooking party. Have your guests bring an apron and their favorite food, and everyone can help one another prepare a dish. You supply the wine!

27. Have a name game. As your guests arrive at the party, tape the name of a famous person on everyone’s back. As guests mingle, they can ask for clues about their famous person. When a guest announces the name on their back, they win a prize.

28. Encourage conversation. Place Trivial Pursuit cards in bowls where guests will see them. Encourage your guests to read the questions to one another to start conversations.

29. Break the ice. All those who wish to learn the names of the new friends get into the circle. Start by going clockwise, with each guest announcing his or her first and last name. Now the first person must try to name all the guests. If he or she misses, the next person takes over. You would be surprised how quickly this happens. And it gets funny!

30. Promote curiosity. Assign someone to walk around with a box with a gift in it. Give clues about what’s in the box, but don’t make it easy. Guests are not allowed to ask questions. Give a new clue every minute. Ask people to write their guess on a small piece of paper. If there is a tie, flip a coin!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I'm happy to announce that I will be involved in next years events for Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment. GATE is the pioneering and leading organization shepherding the emerging and rapidly expanding Transformational Entertainment and Media genre and worldwide movement.

Dates for next years events:

Friday February 1, 2013, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – GATE Transformational Story Conference

Friday February 1, 2013, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM – GATE Transformational Film and Media Festival Premiere

Saturday February 2, 2013, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM – GATE Transformational Film and Media Festival

Saturday February 2, 2013, 6:30 PM – 11:00 PM – GATE 3 (including the GATE Imaginal Awards)

Presenter / Performer / Film / Media submissions begin - March 2012

Guidelines will post on GATE website, www.gatecommunity.org

Submissions close - August 2012

Selection process – August and September 2012

Event Programs Announced - October 2012

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

30 Ways to Get Your Guests Involved - Part Two

This month's party tips are taken from my book...

“Party Planning Secrets: The Ultimate Guide To A Successful Party.”

Chapter 32 - Guests - Getting Them Involved, pages, 179, & 180

30 Ways to Get Your Guests Involved - Part Two

11. Provide a karaoke machine. Often the people who you’ll hear making jokes about karaoke are the same ones who are up at the microphone singing away at a party.

12. Do makeovers. Hire a makeup artist (or a team of them) to do makeovers for your guests.

13. Hire a fortune teller. This is a great way of enter- taining your guests and encourages mingling as guests compare notes.

14. Teach a craft at your party. If you or one of your volunteers knows a craft, teach it to your guests. Don’t forget
to provide the supplies and protect the furniture with disposable table coverings.

15. Award prizes. Every 15 or 30 minutes, have the DJ call out a question that pertains to the guests at your party, such as: “Who’s the youngest here?” “Who’s wearing the best costume?” ”Who brought the tastiest food?” Have the DJ award a prize to each winner.

16. Hold a charades tournament. Teams can battle one another in a fast-paced round of charades. The winners will play one another in the next round, and so on. Prizes are given at each stage, with a grand prize at the end. Depending on how many people are at your party, you can have anywhere from two to four rounds.

17. Hold a board game tournament. Set up a variety of
board games, specifying a 15-minute time limit, and tell your guests that the winners of each game get a certain number of points. The person with the most points wins a prize. (If there’s a tie, you can have a final face-off.)

18. Throw a casino games night. Rent casino-style games for use at your party. If it’s a charity event, the “house winnings” can be donated.

19. Have a carnival game party. It’s easy to set up carnival-type games such as water gun target practice, a coin toss, a pie-eating contest, and ring around the bottles.

20. Offer lawn games. Party rental companies offer some terrific, large-sized inflatable lawn games like a bounce house, dunking booth, and lawn bowling.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Party Planning Secrets...NOW ON KINDLE!

The Perfect Party Planning Guide, Guaranteed to Save Time And Money Every Time You Plan A Party, Is Now A Kindle Book!

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Valentine's Day!

It has become a tradition on Valentine's Day to give our loved ones candy, flowers, romantic dinners, jewelry, etc., but did you know that Valentine's Day originated in the fifth century Rome as a tribute to St. Valentine, a Catholic Bishop. The first known Valentine card was sent by Charles, Duke of the Orleans, in 1415 to his wife. At the time he sent the card he was a prisoner in the tower of London. Nowadays we send Valentine cards because we're prisoners of love.

Valentine's Day is fast approaching, and you know you want to do something wonderful for your special someone. Should you make a reservation at a fancy restaurant? But you remember how crowded it was the last time. Should you make a romantic dinner at home? But you think that's going to be a lot of work… well it doesn’t have to be!

An Easy Romantic Dinner For Two:

· Purchase packaged, ready-to-use greens for the salad, and ready-made dressing. Go to specialty shops, and bakeries for desserts, and breads.

A steak dinner is easy to prepare. If you don’t eat meat you can make this same recipe with swordfish, or salmon.

Herb Rib Eye Steaks

INGREDIENTS:

* 2 rib eye steaks

* 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves

* 1/8 cup chopped pistachios

* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

* 1 small clove garlic, minced

* 2 tbsp. butter, softened

* Salt to taste

* freshly ground pepper

In food processor, combine the basil, pistachios, lemon juice, garlic, butter. Process till blended. Cover and chill the butter, then form it into 1" in diameter log. Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and chill until hardened.

Grill steaks, or place on broiler pan 4-6" from the heat, for 10-15 minutes, or until desired doneness. Let the meat sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Slice the herbed butter and place it on top of the steaks, letting it melt into the meat. Salt and fresh pepper to taste.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

30 Ways To Get Your Guests Involved - Part One

This month's party tips are taken from my book...

“Party Planning Secrets: The Ultimate Guide To A Successful Party.”

Chapter 32 - Guests - Getting Them Involved, pages, 177, & 178

30 Ways To Get Your Guests Involved - Part One

1. Introduce your guests. Introduce each guest to at

least one other person who shares a common interest.

2. Reduce your chairs. At a cocktail party, always have

fewer chairs than guests (have just enough for

25%–50% of the guests). This keeps your guests

moving and the energy flowing as they mingle and

circulate.

3. Throw a potluck. This is a natural way to involve your

guests because they will be making a contribution to

the party the moment they walk in the door.

4. Provide name tags. It may sound a little hokey, but

this is a great way for people to feel comfortable

introducing themselves to other guests.

5. Host a wine tasting. This is a wonderful way for

guests to mingle.

6. Supply disposable digital cameras. Provide cameras

for your guests to take pictures. Collect them at the

end of the party, and e-mail the best ones to the guests.

7. Throw a theme party. Theme parties and costumes

are a fun way to get guests involved before they

even show up at the party.

8. Hire a musician, DJ, or band. This will provide

entertainment and get people on the dance floor.

9. Offer a dance lesson. Hire a local ballroom or salsa

teacher to come in and shake things up.

10. Hold a freeze dance. As the party gets going, gather

a group of guests on the dance floor and have the DJ

start the music. Then have him turn off the music at

times during the song. Every time the music stops,

the guests must freeze in position. The last person

who freezes has to sit down. The final person left

standing wins a prize. (This game can be fun for

both children and adults.)