Learn how to throw a party for all eaters with less stress and more fun! Get everything you need from planning to when your guests arrive!

I love a good party, but throwing a bash that everyone will enjoy can be stressful! Alli is a party master and she's dishing out all she knows!

Alli Ward is the head Maker behind Made with Happy. She is a color obsessed creative mom sharing easy crafts, Home DIY Projects, Entertaining Ideas and Travel that the whole family will love! We at Made with HAPPY are all about celebrating the HAPPY everyday!

And while you are doing all your planning and prepping, check out Alli's amazing crafts to keep the kids busy!

Planning a Party

When it comes to entertaining, there are so many aspects. But if you break them down and tackle one thing at a time, it's much easier. Here are some questions to ask yourself when you plan your next party:

Who is coming? Is it kids or adults?How many people will you have? How big is your space?Is there a theme? Is it the holidays, a birthday or just any day kind of party?What is the flow? Is it an open house or a scheduled activity party? Will you be sitting or standing?What are you going to serve?Are you going to decorate? Do you need to tidy up?

Tips for Parties

If you get overwhelmed easily, here are some tips to get you started. Throwing a party can be easy and fun if you go into it with the right tools.

Start small. Plan a small dinner party, invite a few close friends or even one other family. A small kids only party is a good start point too.If you know what guests are coming, you can have an idea of where to go from there with the rest of the party planning.Get everyone's dietary needs. This makes it easier to make sure you are serving something for everyone.Decide on drinks. If you're serving alcohol, make sure you have an option for those that don't drink.If you decorate, keeping it simple can go a long way.Having parties is about getting together and relationships, it's not about keeping busy because people just want to spend time with you. So keep it simple.

Kids Parties

Throwing a party for kids can be a good way to get your feet wet with entertaining. Kids are easy to please and keep happy!

You need to decide if you are just having kids or if you will have the adults as well. This will drive the rest of the decisions.

Also, decide how long the party will be and at what time. If it's in between mealtimes then you do not need many snacks. If the party is only a few hours, you won't need to worry about people being fed too much.

If you have the adults, you'll want a few snacks for them too. But if it's only kids, you can keep it very simple with a few snacks your kids love. You can even buy individual snack bags and put them in a basket for easy grab and go.

Keep the decor simple, kids truly don't care. Heading to your local dollar store is a great way to keep it very inexpensive.

If you have a theme, focus on getting one thing from that theme to save money. Then buy things within that themes color. For example, streamers are lower in cost and can be used in many ways!

Have one section that is theme focused, it can be the food table or even just an entrance decor, and then use pops of color to bring the theme other places. You can keep it simple with one or two banners or get fancier with themed food.

A photo wall can be fun and cheap. Use those streamers by taping them down a wall as the back...