For some reason, people have this crazy idea that in order to throw an EPIC event; you need to have an EPIC budget. False! It’s totally possible to host an EPIC event without having to empty out your piggy bank, and here’s some tips on how!
GETTING THE WORD OUT
Unless it’s super formal like a wedding or some hoity toity event, you don’t need to send out paper invitations. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but there’s this really cool thing that everybody and their grandma has (literally, people’s grandmas are on there) called Facebook. And email. And Twitter. And you can send all the information about your event to your friends for FREE!
DECORATION
This is the part of planning your event when it really helps to be creative. The best way to save is by DIY decorations! All you have to do is get those creative juices flowing and the dollar/craft store can have everything that you need to make your event look fabulous! I’m a poor college student so trust me on this one; the Dollar Store is everything. Especially if you’re doing a themed event like New Years or the Fourth of July. The dollar store has cute paper pom-poms to hang or even use as centerpieces, colored paper for DIY confetti, balloons, and some stores even have artificial flowers.
Ya’ll, this paper chandelier is so great. And so cheap to make!
FOOD
If your event isn’t too big, making the food yourself is a great way to save. But let’s face it, not everybody is a Betty Crocker. If that’s the case then you can do more of a “potluck” style event and have everybody (or just the people that you know can cook well) bring a dish! Food always tastes better when somebody else has made it anyway.
DRINKS
Alcohol can really be a budget buster when planning an event. Making it “BYOB” (Bring-your-own-bottle, for those not in the know) not only saves you a boatload of money, but also allows your guests to drink whatever they want because they brought it themselves! You can also keep it simple by just offering one “specialty” drink for the night that goes along with the theme of your event. That way, you’re not spending tons of money on every kind of liquor or wine at your fav liquor store.
If you remember nothing else from this blog post, remember this: KEEP THINGS SIMPLE. Planning an event doesn’t have to cost you tons of money! You think your guests are going to remember those humongous centerpieces with 1000 different kinds of flowers? Probs not. What they will remember is the great time they had and memories they made with their friends, and you know what? That’s priceless.
BAM! You can go ahead and quote me on that. It’s brilliant, I know.