Easy Party Planning: “U” is for Unique

Wouldn't we all agree that Pinterest is amazing? It's like, what did we all do before that glorious electronic pin board came about? One thing is for sure. It's a great resource to get party inspiration quickly and visually. And we just love how easy it is to store all those great party ideas in one place.

But, the downfalls to Pinterest are 1) Comparing your parties to all the "perfect" ones you see on there, 2) Thinking that a celebration has to be pin-worthy to be a success and 3) coming up with unique party ideas. While the first two points could be a discussion in and of themselves, we'll focus on the third one today: making your party unique.

There is no rule that a party or event has to be unique. Any celebration in our book is a celebration and sometimes just slapping a candle in a cake is a huge accomplishment. (For that we commend you, because we promise that not all of our parties and celebrations are magazine worthy.)

But, don't you ever kind of have the hope of doing something even slightly different than what is blasted and re-pinned all over Pinterest? We make like to take inspiration from Pinterest, but it's always more fun (and a fun challenge at that) to make the idea your own. You know. make it unique.

Here are 5 ways to make your next party unique:

(And, by no means do you have to do all of these! Just pick one or two to spice up your party!)

1. Pick a theme no one has seen before.

Take the Color Party that I shared last week for example. None of our guests had ever heard of a Color Party before. For that reason alone, they were even more excited about it. And it was super fun to plan.

2. Celebrate at a unique time.

Most parties begin at 7:00 pm. Why not celebrate at a different time? Try doing a brunch. Among the many things you can do is prepare delicious brunch dishes, decorate your home, choose a beautiful outfit from your collection of Brunch Outfits, invite guests, and you're ready to host an amazing party.

3. Send a unique invitation.

It's really easy to send a text or email invitation, but why now think outside the box and send an invitation that will get a WOW? Hand deliver invites, send a singing telegram, or put all the details inside a balloon for them to pop. This will definitely make your party unique--even if everything else at the party is traditional.

4. Celebrate something different.

If it isn't a birthday you are celebrating, why can't your party be based around a completely unique event? It sure can! Pick a Simple Celebration (they are always featured daily at the top of this site) and base your party around that.

Here's a few ideas to get you thinking:

• Cinco de Mayo today! (May 5)
• National Chocolate Chip Day (May 15)
• National Brown-Bag-It Day (May 25)
• Donut Day (June 3)

We've never celebrated National Brown-Bag-It Day, but how fun would it be to have everyone bring a brown paper dinner and switch them up? In fact, you could this with your own family, friends, for a play-date or with lots of guests. You know everyone else's lunches are always better....

5. Have unique activities.

It takes a little more effort to have unique activities at a party, but it can be easy if you're throwing a party for adults only. For example, you can have everyone (and yourself) try something new instead of drinks, like THCv cartridges for example, to add an extra zing and surprise yourselves. For kids however, the easy route might be to rent a bouncehouse or hire a princess. But....what if you actually did some actual party games that got kids moving around, making something, or creating emotion? We don't think any kid would complain about a party where they actually got do some unique activities.

Remember, you don't have to do all of these to make your party unique. Just have fun and the ideas will come!

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*Images styled and photographed by Marcelle Calder Photography

Click below if you've missed any of the previous lessons in this A to Z series!