How (Not) to Plan a Party When You’re On a Budget

As you may or may not know, I am hosting my very first release party for my very first novel, Cemetery Tours!

(Insert obnoxious self-promotional web links here: https://www.facebook.com/CemeteryTours )

Whenever I go to plan a party or a baby shower or a bridal shower, I always think two things.

1) This will be so much fun!

2) This will be so easy!

Wrong and wrong.

Okay, so it has been fun.  Lord knows I love planning parties, especially so close to Halloween when I get to make weekly trips to Party City, pretending to be on serious business mission but secretly eight years old again and taking in every bit of all the Halloween music and decorations and costumes and fun.  But it has also been stressful and a lot, a LOT of planning and budgeting, both of which I apparently suck at.  (Grammar people, leave me alone!)

Now that the party is drawing nigh, I thought I’d share a bit of my infinite wisdom.  Today’s topic: How Not to Plan a Party When You’re on a Budget.

Note: These aren’t issues that necessarily relate to me or my party planning.  But they are good to acknowledge.

1) Invite everyone on your Facebook list and assume most of them won’t come.  People like parties.  People like food.  People like books. People will come to your party.  Even people you don’t know!!!

2) Tell everyone that they should bring their kids because you’re going to have arts and crafts.  This doesn’t work if you don’t know how many kids are coming, how old they all are, and it especially doesn’t work if you can’t think of a good craft suitable for all ages.

3) Go out of your way to plan a fun, casual, low-key release party and then spend every dime of your paycheck on a lot of decorations, candy, and things that only sort of remotely relate to the book and the party.

4) Open yourself up to temptations like State Fair tickets, cheap Halloween movies that you loved as a kid, the newest Nicholas Sparks book, and maybe, kind of sort of preparing yourself to finally get that tattoo.

5) Buy about five liters of every different kind of soda because you’re not sure which kind your guests are going to want.  This is not only not-budget-friendly, but also wildly unhealthy and sugary.

6) Wait until the last minute to order your books from the printer so that you have to pay for a lot of books to be rush-delivered to your doorstep (Mine should arrive Wednesday).

7) Have your friends offer to help you out with party stuff, but then let your controlling, obsessive compulsive nature get the better of you and go ahead and do everything yourself anyway.

8) Instead of buying things you actually need for the party, go ahead and spend $40 on a new hair straightener because your sister (who, by the way, already has straight hair) took the one you used to use away to college.