Top Party Advice

Party music can make or break your event.

The best advice I can offer regarding music is to play the big hits – not your own favourite music.

The biggest mistake I see at parties is that the hosts either play no music at all, or they play their favourite CDs. Just because you’re passionate about a particular band or style of music, doesn’t mean your guests are. You may have a quite unique preference in music, in which case I’d suggest you play it in the privacy of your car or lounge. For your party, you’ll need to play something else.

Party music should set the scene and should be different for every party theme.

It’s not rocket science, yet people get it wrong so often.

Here are a few examples I would use for:

A Luau : Reggae, Carribean Calypso, summer hits like The Beach Boys music, Days of Summer …

A Halloween party : The Rocky Horror Picture Show CD, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Beat It, Monster Mash, Ghostbusters theme, Purple People Eaters…

A Movie Stars Theme : Movie theme songs like James Bond theme songs, Ghostbusters, Theme from Superman, Batman’s Batdance, Hanky Panky-from Dick Tracey, Pink Panther Theme, Queen’s Flash Gordon..

A 70s Party: 70s music.

See what I mean? You have to theme the music. The whole party should be themed; the music, lighting, decor, tableware and costumes all should compliment each other.

For a party with no set theme, music should be upbeat and happy. No grunge, no  rap, no metal, no classical and no bagpipes! Go for number 1 hits of the decade and you can’t go wrong. If there are songs in there that a couple of people don’t like, at least it’s music they know and if it was popular enough to make it to the charts, then it’s a great choice for a party.

You can download songs from the net for a dollar or two each. It’s a cost effective way to create a CD full of exactly what you want. Try itunes.com whether you want to burn a disc or load the songs on the ipod and play them through your ipod compatible stereo.

Technorati Tags: good party music, music for parties, party theme music, party-advice

For Halloween this year I want to have a really funny costume.  I’ve seen some really good costumes on the internet, but I have a tight budget.

Suggestion: 1. Word plays are always funny. Get a pink feather boa, pink wig or hair spray, pink clothes and pink sunglasses. When people ask what you are,  tickle them with the boa and say “tickled pink!”

2. Or make yourself look like a really old man, like a cliche. Get an old hat, old man’s clothes and a fake beard.  Then from a  jokes and gifts shop get a prcatical joke flower ‘water pistol’ and attach it to the hat. Insert the tube from the flower down through your beard and shirt to your hand. When people ask what you are, squirt them and say, “I’m an old geyser.”

3. Make yourself look like a cross between an Asian person and an alien. If you’re Asian, or bald or both, all the better) . Wear a silver suit or something an ‘alien’ might wear. When people ask what you are, tell them you’re Alienation (alien Asian).

Makeup: Cover your whole face and neck with eithera high coverage foundation with a yellowish tint or with silver acrylic artists paint. Using sorbolene or face cream underneath makes acrylic art paint quite blendable. Use a black eye pencil draw all around your eyes and make short lines from the corner of your eye outwards to create a thinner appearance on the eye. It’s just a cliche of course. Don’t use any lipstick as you want your lips to blend in with your face like ‘an alien’. Using the eye pencil, draw some short high eyebrows, like little rectangles.

Technorati Tags: cheap costume ideas, costume tips, funny costume ideas, funny halloween costume ideas, party-advice

I need a 21st birthday party theme with an alcohol focus. I want to serve  copious amounts of jello shots. What themes can you think of to go with jello shots?

Suggestion: A tropical theme fits because jello is colourful and refreshing looking and the flavours are fruity. It’s mega easy too! I can see a stack of drunken sombrero wearing guys making a lot of noise at your place!

Jelly plastic party. Jelly inflatables like chairs, backpacks etc were all the rage a little while back. See if you can score some jelly stuff, then ask everyone to wear jelly colours, plastic if possible. Jelly sandals are still popular.

Technorati Tags: alcoholic party ideas, drinking party ideas, jello shots party, party-advice

My twin daughters are turning four and I need some party ideas or venue ideas beside Macdonalds. Home is fine, but I’m not the best party person. I’d prefer to just go somewhere where they entertain the kids and I have no cleaning up later.
One of the twins likes Princess girlie things, but the other one is more into cars and animals. How can I find just one party theme to suit?

Suggestion: Just go with a generic birthday theme. There are lots of  balloons, banners and party things that will suit all children.  If you have nice weather just hold the party at a park  because the playground provides  entertainment for the kids and it’s easy to hang to decorate the picnic area with some balloons and streamers.  Serve easy foods like cupcakes, fairy bread, chips and lollies and prepare for each child a take-home loot bag with some sweet treats and balloon and novelty. It’s a piece of cake!

The Zoo, Children’s Playcentres, and  are also fun for kids if you have a good one near you. If you call them they may have birthday packages that you can do complete with cake.

Technorati Tags: children's birthday party ideas, kids party ideas, party-advice, small childs party

I’m looking for  theme ideas for a birthday party. I’m thinking survivor, glamour, or a music party would be fun, but have you got any other ideas for a teen party?

Suggestion: Tropical theme parties are always fun. And super easy, because there is so much tropical party stuff available in the party supply stores.

Or try famous rock and pop stars, cartoon heroes, or go with the theme of the horoscope sign for that birthdaya. For example, a Leo party would be jungle theme, a Pisces party would be aquatic theme…

Technorati Tags: birthday party theme ideas, costume party ideas, party theme ideas, party-advice

I want to dress up as a dead bride this halloween, and I want to make my makeup look authentic . I know how to make fake wounds but not much else. I have fake blood,  and I have some basic halloween makeup but I dont know how to use it properly.

Suggestion: Keep it simple. Use white colour on your face and neck to make you look really pale. To get the white foundation to blend really well, I always make sure to apply plenty of face cream or sorbolene. Put the white paint all over your face, including eyebrows.

Now dab small dots of black paint all around the eyes and blend it with the white to make your eye sockets look hollow.

Lips should be defined deep cherry red for a sexy bride look, or smudged black /grey for an realistic dead look.

Technorati Tags: halloween costume ideas, halloween ideas, haloween advice, party-advice

Question: I want to start a home based party plan business that  sells candy or cookies because I love to be surrounded by food, relaxing and having fun. I’m looking for ideas for party themes, packaging and games.

Suggestions:

Packaging: Here’s a wholesaler of bags and packaging. http://www.newbound.com.au

Themes: Set the theme for each party around the hostess. For example if she’s pregnant, then the theme is babies. Ask the hostesses what themes they’d like.

Games: The games that are played at these kind of parties are Icebreakers, for the purpose of getting guests to relax and get to know each other.

Name Bingo. One game that is very simple is to give everyone a piece of paper and pencil and ask them to write their first and last name. Using a bowl with one each of all 26 letters of the alphabet written on pieces of paper, draw letters out of the bowl one at a time. Everyone crosses off the letters in their name as they’re called. The first to cross out all their letters wins a small prize.

Technorati Tags: home based business ideas, Party Games, party-advice

Question: Can you please share some inauguration party theme ideas, including decor ideas. It doesn’t matter how insane or expensive the ideas are, as it’s for a school project, so it won’t actually be carried out.

Suggestions: Barack Obama is our first African American President, so you could use that to give you some ideas. Be careful to be ‘politically correct’ – pun intended!

You could make it a black tie formal with black tuxedos and limosines. Decorate with black and white decorations, napiery and serving ware. Serve black and white food. Black pudding, black forest cake, black or white coffee, there are lots of white foods.

There was a lot of original art work featuring Barack, so you could have an art auction theme, and display some of those art works.

Technorati Tags: black and white party theme, party theme ideas, party tips, party-advice

On this site you’ll find all the party ideas and expert advice you’ll ever need to create and host a memorable party that your guests will talk about for years to come.

How do I know? Because I’ve hosted a LOT of extraordinary parties and I’m still receiving compliments for them a decade afterwards!

My name is Barbie Young and I’m sharing with you right here all my enthusiasm and creative expertise for hosting unique and memorable parties.

BarbieYoung, Queen of Parties

No matter what sort of party you’re having, from children’s parties to costume parties and weddings, I can help you make it a HUGE success.

You can spend a lot of money or work to a tight budget, but either way, I’ll give you the options and advice you’ll be looking for.

People often ask me why I don’t hire my services as an event coordinator. The reason is that I get very excited about my events and put in extreme amounts of energy and commitment. I couldn’t possibly sustain those energy levels for extended periods. However, by utilizing my other passion, writing, I can transfer all my experience and knowledge over to you and still have my sanity intact.

Can’t find what you want here? Contact me and let me know and I’ll get the answers to you in a flash.  Parties are my passion.

Technorati Tags: barbie young, Party ideas, party planning, party-advice, top party advice

My friend is having a chocolate sweet 16 for her birthday party. We found some ideas, but we are still looking for more. Can you help?
Thanx!

Suggestion: http://tradingideas.orientaltrading.com/trading_ideas/2007/11/sensational-ide.html

Technorati Tags: age birthday party, party theme ideas, party-advice, sweet sixteen