Show me the money!
It's great getting everyone to commit early. It means you can book in everything wioth the budget at hand. BUT there is always one or two people that pull out last minute, meaning you are stuck covering the costs for the fixed expense activities.
So how do you avoid being left out of pocket and ensure all of your guests commit to the activities without blowing everyone's budget? Here are 7 things to do that won't blow the budget and won't have you chasing guests for money:
- Have the party at someone's house with a backyard and a bbq. By arranging a venue at someone's house, it means you can BYO all the food and alcohol, meaning you can stay within budget and cater for the numbers that actually turn up.
- You can easily arrange entertainment according to the kind of day you decide to have. This might be a Topless Waiter or Life Drawing Model, or perhaps just a scavenger hunt or Amazing Race around the suburb with tasks and activities at each point.
- Decorations can make a party feel more complete and these are easy and cheap to arrange. For example, ask each guest to bring a candle and some flowers from their garden. You can make the flowers something that reminds them of the Brdie to be and create a centre piece for the table. The candles can be placed around the house for ambience and smell. Your guests can take the candles home too, so they don't need to stress about buying something expensive. And they don't need to be new candles.
- Rather than asking guests for money to buy food and booze, just ask them to bring a plate and the alcohol they wish to provide. Suggest the items you would like, but leave it up to them - salads, meat, burger patties, sausages, cheese & crackers etc
- You can also create some pretty awesome cocktails on the smell of an oily rag. Again ask guests to bring what alcohol they have in their cupboard. Even if they only have a quarter bottle of white rum, or some vodka or cointreu, it will go a long way when it comes to mixology. Simply add cranberry juice, soda and some mint to any alcohol and you have a new cocktail named after the bride. It is afterall, her day so make her feel special with her own cocktail.
- You do not need a DJ now days, simply set up a Spotify playlist and leave your phone in control. Or set the playlist to top 50 global and pretty much 90% of guests will be happy. If the bride loves a particular song or genre, set that playlist and watch her dance and laugh the night away.
- Lastly the games. To ensure the party is a success, make sure you have a few games that are super fun and will ensure eveyone is laughing and having a great time. We always love 'Pop The Cherry' game where there are 2 teams and you are reqired to pop a balloon on the bum of the person in front of you while humping them. Check out the video here -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9oR-yp5wyM. Regardless of the games you choose, don't do too many as they can become arduos when people just want to sit back and relax.
Lastly, as always, make sure you get people to commit from the get go and then go ahead and get stuck in with the planning.