Congratulations on becoming a first time mother! But now what? Where to start first? Everyone has different advice and it could become very overwhelming, especially when you are the sole person in charge of making every decision! During the first year there are so many celebrations to enjoy with your child. These celebrations can include everything from baptisms, throwing a baby shower (whoever takes on this special task for you), and baby’s first birthday. Let an event party planner take charge of planning and organizing these special events for you.

What is an Event Party Planner

An event party planner is someone that plans parties from baby showers, wedding showers to birthday parties. This person usually provides and plans for every detail of the party starting with the invitations and décor and ending with the games and food. This is a great way to go if you want to avoid added stress and leave the planning to someone else. There are many local party planners in your area and if you are unsure where to look you can always search online. Many sites will have everything divided into city/state and type of event desired.

How to find an Event Party Planner

Word of mouth is the best way to find a local party planner in your area. Ask your friends, family and even co-workers if they have used or heard of a good event coordinator. If you can’t find a party planner by word of mouth then try the phone book or go online. It is important to look around and not settle for the first person you find. It is recommended to interview at least three potential event planners and meet with them face to face. This will give you a chance to feel out their personality and even let them show you some previous work they’ve done. You want to feel comfortable with the person you hire, especially since you will be working closely with them to ensure every detail of the party is to your liking.

Questions to ask your event party planner

Once you have selected your top three picks you want to make sure that you ask some important and direct questions so that you feel comfortable with the coordinators background and feel secure with your final selection. It is important to ask each candidate how many years of experience they have along with how many parties and events they have planned. Find out what their favorite type of party or event is to plan. Some party planners are more comfortable with planning adult parties then kid friendly ones. You want to make sure the both of you will be comfortable planning the type of party you have in mind. The party planner should have a portfolio of their previous work to show you at the initial meeting. Planning a party usually involves changes somewhere along the way so ask how each person would deal with last minute changes. Discussing a budget is very important because each party planner may charge differently.

The Baby Shower

For most first time mothers this is a very important celebration. The shower usually takes a good amount of time to plan. A baby shower is typically hosted about a month before the expectant due date. The party planner can take care of the following details so that the family or friends of the mother-to-be can be relieved of some of the stress and anxiety that goes into planning such a special event. The party planner will help organize and establish the following:

• Baby shower theme
• Guest list
• Favors
• Décor
• Budget
• Food
• Drinks
• Games/activities
• Venue

The party planner can be extremely or as little involved as you like; it is ideally up to whoever is throwing the shower and the work load they want to take on.

Baby’s First Birthday

There are many advantages to hiring an event planner for your child’s first birthday.  Letting an event party planner take care of all the stress and details of your child’s first birthday relieves the parents from that job and lets them enjoy the day with their child. Below are a few advantages of hiring a party planner:

• Saves you time. It is hard to plan anything especially if you work full time. Let the party planner help you out by planning and organizing everything for the party.
• Offers themes. Many party planners now offer theme parties. The more experienced the planner the more ideas he or she will most likely have.
• Throw your party at home. Let the event planner set up, organize and decorate the party at your house. It is much more personal to have a party at home then in a loud environment, being surrounded by other people throwing parties as well.  The event planner usually includes costumes, party favors, activities, crafts and set up and clean up for a minimal price.
• Enjoy the party with your child. The last thing you want to happen after all the time and effort you put into planning the party is not being able to enjoy the big day. No one wants to spend the entire party checking the food and drink table while also being in charge of keeping the children entertained. Take some stress off of yourself and hire a planner to organize and orchestrate all of the activities for the party so that you can enjoy taking pictures and spending time with your family and friends.

Overall, there are many advantages to hiring an event party planner. The biggest advantage is taking away the stress so that you are able to enjoy and remember your child’s most memorable parties.

Editorial provided by Heather Grassi, owner of It’s My Party For Kids, LLC, event party planning of Northeast Ohio.