celebrate

a guide to simchahs

studio of phorogRApiiy
248.626-3666

Continued from page B34

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B 3 6 celebrate! I

March 2008

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picked up at garage sales with leftover paper napkins from other parties for an inter-
esting buffet table.
"Prepare a couple of large pitchers with mixed drinks or serve a cold punch drink.
Keep in mind, it's the good friends and conversation that make a party work well."
Dee Dee Hoffman suggests using a theme for home parties of 25-30 people. "Use a
leaf, for example, as your theme for a fall party," she says. "Use it for invitations, place
cards and the centerpiece and decorations throughout the house. There are so many
paper products you can buy on-line or at a craft store that have stencils and colored
paper. Be adventurous and pick something up at a thrift shop or flea market that
goes with your theme."
If a dinner party is an informal gathering with friends, serve family style with guests
helping themselves. Creating a menu that uses seasonal products helps keep food
costs down. Consider making the party pot-luck and have everyone bring a dish. If you
need help in the kitchen, consider hiring your own teenager or borrow a neighbors.
Birthday parties for young children are just as likely to exceed your budget if there's
no planning.
"When our two kids were 4 and 6, we'd invite the entire class to the party," says
Marilyn Chandross of Bloomfield Hills. "Not only was it noisy, the numbers made it
costly. Now our children are 8 and 10 years old and we plan smaller events with four
or five friends. We may attend a movie and spend more per child but the total is less
costly."
If your home is too small for the children, take them to the local park. Rather than
buying gifts for everyone, have the children create their own. Buy the first letter of
each child's name in wood and have the kids decorate their initial.
If your neighbors garage band offers to perform for free, be sure to audition the
group first. Free is good, but keeping your guests at the party is better.
Above all, let the experts be experts. Your job is to be upfront and firm about your
budget; their job is to stay within it. Ask what they can do in your price range. The pro-
fessionals will offer lots of suggestions. [1: