You’re Invited! Fall Wine Party Planning – Part 1

Hi Everyone – Welcome to the Party Planning section of Mantel and Table!  Today’s topic is ‘Inviting your Guests!’ (Apologies in advance for the photo quality on this post – I’ve obviously spent more time having fun at our parties than properly documenting them!  I’ll try to do better!)

Parties are so fun!  And as you might expect, there’s quite a lot that goes into hosting a house full of people.

Being as obsessively organized and process-oriented as I am, and having done this several times a year for … well, a LOT of years, you can bet I’ve developed a party planning system.

I’ll be sharing that system with you over the next couple weeks, as I prepare for the fall party that kicks off our holiday season.

Our Fall Party

Almost every November we have a big party and invite all our friends! (We actually used to have three big parties a year, but we’ve toned it down a bit recently!)

We have fall comfort food and lots of wine.

Flowers and candles.  A fire in the hearth.

And lots of music! We usually start with tunes on the stereo, and often end with folks sitting down at the piano, and/or dancing,

maybe singing!

Someone might have brought a trombone one time … ! (No picture of that one, but it was great!)

For the first couple years we threw a Beaujolais Nouveau Release party, and we had each guest bring a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau to sample and compare.

That was really fun, but it started to get a little tricky after a while. (And expensive, as demand started raising the prices!) We did find a wonderful alternative, and I’ll tell you all about that another time.

When to Start?

But on to the party planning!  I usually start about two months in advance of a big party.  It takes time to get everything ready to send out invitations.

I like the invites to go out about three weeks before the party.  This gives people time to save the date, but not enough time to forget it’s coming up!

At the holidays, you might add an extra week because people’s calendars fill up fast.

How Many Guests?

The first step is to decide on your guest list.  The number of guests dictates almost every other step.

You want to invite enough people to make it interesting, but not more than your house (or venue) can comfortably hold!

Remember most people will probably want to stand and mingle.  You don’t need a chair for each guest.

Keep a Guest List

Originally I had a paper address book where I kept track of invitees’ info. Then I moved to a spreadsheet. Now I also use my Google Contacts – sometimes all three. They’re all great ways to keep track of everyone. Whatever single or combination strategy works best for you. The goal is to have a current contact list.

Free Printable Guest List

If you want to use a paper version of the guest list, I’ve got you covered with a free printable!

Go to the Members Library and download the ‘Guest List.’ If you’re not a member yet, you can sign up on the Members Library page when you get there.

Categorize Your List

I find categorizing my contact list is really helpful.  It’s a lot easier to say “Oh I want to invite my Swing Dance club,” and just be able to add that group to your list, than having to add each one individually.

Update Your Friends’ Info During the Year

It’s great to keep track of information as you go along.  Say you’re having lunch with a friend one day and find out she’s deadly allergic to walnuts. As soon as you get home, or when she leaves the table for a minute, enter it into the Notes section of her Contact record. Then when you look at your guest list later, you’ll remember not to put walnuts in every single thing you make for the party. If you’ve noted that your mother-in-law is terrified of vampires, you’ll remember not to choose that theme for your family Halloween party!

Choose a Theme

The next step in your party planning process is to think of a theme, if you’re going to have one. Sometimes it’s as simple as a general seasonal vibe – colored leaves and pumpkins for fall, for instance. Or it can be really complex, or anything in between.

The year my husband and I turned 45, we had a 45 rpm record party!  We had our DJ friend bring her turntables, and we dragged out all the old 45s to listen to. (I should have had my graphic designer friend do the above invite too, but oh well!)

You can really have fun and be creative with your theme. Or not.  If having a theme doesn’t sound fun to you, then you totally don’t have to do it!

Decide How to Send Your Invitations

So many choices!  Online invitations are super easy, and if you can find a design that you really like, that’s great.

Just Google “online party invitations” and you’ll get a whole bunch to choose from. Plus they have automatic follow up and RSVP features.

This method seems the most casual and informal to me.

I actually will go to bat here for a paper invitation, especially for a more formal event.

When we used to host a “dress up” party at New Years, I always sent formal paper invitations through the mail. That’s so unusual these days that it immediately sends a signal that this party is going to be different and exciting! And it’s seriously personal – people love to have something to hold in their hands! (You can’t tell from this truly terrible picture, but the invitation was on heavy, creamy card stock, and felt really elegant!  It looked elegant too without the whiteouts!) Also, several years ago, a friend told me that in other countries, “Fancy Dress” means Costume! So we changed the party name to “Dress Up!”

In the middle of my formal vs casual scale, is sending via direct email. When I send direct email invites, I print a few hard copies and keep them in my purse during the weeks leading up to the party. I’m always running into people I didn’t have emails for, or who accidentally got left off the list. Or you might meet a new interesting person you think would make a great addition to the party!

Info to Include

Here are the important things to have on your invitation.  You might think these are self-evident, but I’ve actually sent out invites with crucial pieces of information accidentally missing.

It’s good to have a checklist!

• What the party is for
• Host name(s)
• Date and time
• Address of party location, with all pertinent info so folks can find it on their navigator
• RSVP phone number &/or email address
• Dress code (The nicer your invites are, the more people think they have to dress up!  I like to let them know they don’t have to. Or vice versa!  Sometimes people love to have permission to be glamorous!)
• Whether or not it’s ok for your invitees to bring children or their own guests
• Anything they can bring (Our dress up party was a pot luck, and we asked everyone to bring a dish to share.)

Create Your Invite

When you’ve figured out your concept and gathered all the info, it’s time to create your invitation.  Creating an invite could be a whole party planning post on its own! But I’ll just say that there are as many ways to do one, as there are hosts! (I’m lucky enough to have a dear friend who’s a graphic artist.  She’s been graciously making our fall party invites for years.) You can make your own with Word or Power Point, or use an online invite generator.  Or you can do something non-traditional – there are a zillion ideas on Pinterest.

Whatever style you use, try to work elements of your theme into the invites.

That will give your guests an idea of the tone of the party, and they’ll also get a hint of all the fun they’re going to have!

Off They Go!

About three weeks before the party, send off your invitations!

Then you can start collecting RSVPs and move on to the next steps!

Happy party planning!