Party Planning 101 - Finding Your Theme.

I am happy to introduce a series on party planning! Every Thursday, I'll share fundamentals, tips and creative ideas with you - in the hopes that you'll find inspiration for your next big event, cocktail party or casual get-together.

This week - Finding your Theme.

It's my belief that every event needs a theme. Think of it as if you were building a house. No matter the size, establishing a "blueprint" gives you a foundation to build on. It works the same way with events -finding a theme will help you outline venue, color scheme, food and beverage, attire - and will even help dictate things as small as party favors.

For example - I planned an anniversary party. Thinking about the time of year (June), and based on the couple's original wedding, I established a theme of an afternoon garden party - highlighting the lush green of the trees and accenting that with the colors of light blue and white (original colors from their wedding in 1980). Below are some pictures of how this played out.

Hydrangea with a touch of light blue.

Blue and White lanterns in the trees!

Even the signature drink (Mojitos) picked up on the theme.

Being that this was one of my first events, I think that creating the event around a simple idea really helped to keep me on track as I put all of the pieces together. I am the type that tends to have a lot of ideas so I keep myself in-check based on the theme I am planning around, filing away those that don't fit for another 'space' and 'time.'