Five weeks before the party, we usually like to think about the party's theme and choose the colors, decorations,  and entertainment types. At times we also make sure that all the key participants will be available for the party. After ensuring everyone's availability, we usually set a time, date, and place (indoor, outdoor, throughout the home, and so forth). 

Then we asked all of the key participants who they would like to attend the party and begin sending out invitations. These invitations usually include time, date, location, RSVP date, contact information, attire, and registry. During this time, we then begin to book all of the major vendors that are necessary for the party and provide deposits for rentals and entertainment.

Week four, we begin ordering any of our decorations, party activities, and any other supplies needed. Typically, this entire week of ordering gives you adequate time to call any of your DIY products while providing time for their arrival and the return or exchange of items that don't meet expectations. You can also create an additional list for any drinks, food, dessert, or unique supplies that compliment your party.

Three weeks out from the party, this is when you want to make sure that you can recruit any help from friends, families, or others who can help during the event. Maybe you would like someone to say a few words, which is an excellent opportunity to recruit them and give them time to write something special for the party. The ordered supplies should be arriving, and this is when we typically start defining which ones work and don't work if they need to be returned or exchange for something different.

Here goes the fun bit before the party, where you can try out all of your DIY goods, decorations, and favors. Also, complete a dry run of the table setting to see how everything works and if rearrangements are necessary. We order a few extras to see if our vision works and if we need to tweak it to make it more functional or add or take away items to give the party theme a more cohesive look and feel.
 

What about the food?  If self-catering the party, this is the time to gather the food and supplies from the market. The food's perishability will determine when you should pick this item up from the grocery store during the last week before your party. Don't forget to complete any of those DIY projects so that they're ready for the party.

Most importantly, work on your party's music playlist.  With the right playlist, you can help invigorate your party's energy. You can use a playlist to keep track of time at your party. We divide our party's playlist into three groups. When people arrive during that first hour, which is to play a playlist of music for one hour, we have a 2-hour window of music, and finally, we have a one-hour playlist to motivate guests to head on out.

Day 3, we undergo the most important task of cleaning the house. Here we make sure that we remove any personal items such as medication and jewelry. We like to place these items in a safe because there will be many people throughout your home, and you want to make sure that things of value are secure. If your house has a front door and indoor video monitoring as we do, it will be easy for you to ensure that all guests are safe and sound and your property. Having these wireless monitoring systems makes it easy to determine if there or any issues that occur doing the party and provide a lucid visual account of events. At this time, choose a place for people to store their coats, purses, and umbrella. Also, complete simple but forgettable tasks like stocking the bar, picking up grocery items, and cleaning all of your serving utensils and pieces.

If you had any floral arrangements or additional linens, this would be the ideal moment to pick them. Stock up everything in your guest bathroom from soap, toilet paper, cotton towels, air fresheners, and make sure a plunger is in every bathroom. We like to use white 12" x12" cotton towels available in bulk for guest to dry their hands rather than using unrecyclable paper towels. Provide a wash basket label specifically for the cotton towels for washing. We split the decorating of the party into two days. On this day, we rearrange all the furniture and begin staging the more oversized items.
 

It's the last day before the party and our busiest. Today put up our final decorations, wrap up prepping any food, pick up any rentals, accept deliveries of food, beverages, and other party essentials. The three playlists that you've been working on all week are now ready to be finalized into one giant playlist; usually, we also mark them with our favorite songs at the beginning of each playlist. It notifies you of a party flow change and allows time to be kept without continually checking phones or clocks.  Ensure that you have picked up additional ice if you are getting some delivered and don't have to worry about it.  However, always have more ice than you need, designate an ice area, and designate utensils for ice only. You don't want your guests putting unclean hands or cups into an ice container. If you're going to have a bartender, this is even better because you don't have to worry about contamination.