There is a lot of travelling in the modern day life. Some people travel in search of better opportunities.

Others go on holiday's for fun and leisure. No matter what the nature of travel is, moving away from one place can be very difficult. With time, you tend to develop a deep rooted affection for a place. You get used to people around you and begin to enjoy their presence. But then, one day, when you suddenly realize that someone is going to go away from you and shift to another place, it can all get very difficult.

Bon Voyage Party before holiday

Bon Voyage parties are thrown to honour closed ones who leave on a long vacation or move away otherwise. These parties are a wonderful way of showing your friends and family how special they are to you. These parties hold a lot of significance and you remember them all your life. Though the times are sad, there are plenty of great ways of throwing life and fun into these parties to form what could be called one last HURRAH!

One of the most exciting ideas would be to plan a surprise party. Discuss the whole theme with all your friends but keep it at a ‘TOP SECRET’ priority. No matter what happens, your guests of honour should not find out. Give them a wonderful surprise at the party. They’ll love you for it, and remember the moment all their life.
Circulate a poster around your friends with a message saying “You’ll miss Sara and John because……….”. Hand over this poster at the surprise party. They’ll love reading this poster about them.

Relevance of dresses at parties

Fancy dress parties are also a lot of fun, and make a great Bon Voyage party. You can ask your guests to show up in different costumes. Friends could also imitate one another and throw a few jokes around. Remember, the idea is to lighten things up.

Once the party has started, don’t let it fade. Put on some very good music. You could play the departing guests’ favourite tracks. Create conversation, and involve everyone in it. Talk about the times you’d all spent together, and laugh over the silly things you did.

Lovely Food

Serve good food, but don’t get yourself very busy in the cooking as you’d want to spend more time with your friends. You could also order food like pizza, and serve desserts afterwards. Another good idea would be to cook the favourite dish of the guests of honour. These little gestures don’t go unnoticed.

Lovely Gifts adds to glow of Party

Don’t forget the gifts. Honour your friends with special, unique gifts. Keep in mind their destination. Say if they’re heading towards the shores, a beach cap would do very nice. Some great gift ideas could be a bottle of champagne, foreign dictionary of the place they’re heading to, backpack, camera, a good book, or a photo album with many memories of the times you’ve spent together.

Keep in mind that no one leaves before the special guests. See them off together. Wave and shout good byes to them.

Bon Voyage is a difficult time, but little zeal and interest can make the departing people happy.

Relieving the Countdown of the 80’s

There have been countless party themes that have been created and sometimes it’s a bit confusing to choose a party theme because of the numerous options that one have.  One of the most popular party themes is the era party themes that centre on certain decades like the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.  Another is the movie party theme such as Star Wars, Harry Potter and even Lord of the Rings party themes.

What is the 80’s Countdown Party?

If you are a bit choosy on your party theme and would like a party theme that would be a stand- out among the rest, then you can go for something like the 80’s Countdown Party.  
Ever heard of it?

The 80’s Countdown Party is a party theme that is focused on the 80’s Australian music program - Countdown.  This party theme is very unique in the sense that it doesn’t just follow the conventional party themes like era or movies that were overly used. The 80’s Countdown Party is a genre on its own because it is a cross breed between an era and tv show party themes.

This party theme is based on Countdown that is one of well-liked music programs in the history of Australia tv industry.  Countdown ran for 14 long years in Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1974 to 1987 featuring both local artists in Australia as well as international stars.

What to wear in the 80’s Countdown Party attire?

Next thing that you will ask is how you will dress up for the 80’s Countdown Party.
Needless to say, the ideal attire to wear in a party with the 80’s Countdown Party theme should reflect the 1980’s fashion!  The 80’s fashion is a distinctive era because of the chunky accessories and the loud colours and contrasting designs of the clothes.  The signature of the 80’s fashion that is probably the wide shoulder blouses.
Here are some suggestions:

Clothes

Bring out the good wide shoulder blouses with large shoulder pads and matching chunky and glittering buttons.  Shirts with beadworks will also pass as being 80’s.  You may also consider that the colours in this period are loud so it is recommended to use apple green, bright yellow, bright pink, etc.
Hairstyle

This is the era that popularized the huge hairstyles with the use of a generous amount of hair spray.  Flat and conservative hairstyles are out.

Accessories

In the show, the Countdown, Ian “Molly” Meldrum the host of the show has a signature look which is his Akubra Hat.  This accessory item is compulsory for the hosts of the 80’s Countdown Party!  For the guests, the chunky and gold accessories can be worn as well as pearl jewelleries.  Don’t forget that it should be complemented with an equally 80’s bag.  Clutch bags were in during the 80’s.  If you have the money to spare, go for the classic Chanel or Louis Vuitton bags that started their popularity in the 80’s.

How to recreate the 80’s Countdown Party ambience?

From the venue down to the minute details such as the invitations, the 80’s Countdown Party theme should be reflected.

Venue

For the venue, try to combine the elements of the 80’s as well as those of the Countdown music program to create a perfect 80’s Countdown Party ambience.  The cheapest and probably the easiest items where you can create an 80’s ambience would be the use of colourful balloons to decorate the area.   You can also decorate the venue with a disco ball in the centre.

Music

Music is a non-negotiable item in the list.  Play music that has been popularized in the 80’s to set the 80’s ambience.

Would you like to experience having a party in the desert with camels and sand on the background?

Then, you should try out the Arabian Nights party theme!  Arabian Nights is a unique party theme that can be used in various events such as birthdays, anniversary party of your family and company and Halloween party, outings.  Although Arabian Nights party is not a fresh theme of party; however, you can add spice to it to make it appear new and exciting.

What is the Arabian Nights Party theme?

The Arabian Nights Party theme is a party theme that revolves around simulating the events in the deserts.  This party theme is inspired by movies like the Aladdin, Arabian Nights and the Dreamer.  Arabian Nights Party uses the usual elements found in these movies which are the colourful and shiny Arabian clothing, sand, camels, bright coloured tents and furnishings, belly dancers, genie, caravans and many other elements!

What should guests wear?

There is a wide variety of clothes that guests can wear for the Arabian Nights Party.  Costumes may range from elaborate to simple.  Guests who really want to go extreme Arabian Nights Party may go for the full costume.  Get inspiration from characters like Princess Jasmine, Lawrence of Arabia, Aladdin or simply a Genie or a belly dancer (if you have the body to go with it).

However, if you are not comfortable to go to that extreme, you may just opt to wear a turban that will cover your head to get an Arab look.
It is important to inform your guests of the items of clothing that they should wear in the Arabian Nights Party.  Otherwise, they might come in unprepared while some guests may look overdressed.

You can also prepare simple costumes such as clothes that can act as a turban during the day of the Arabian Nights Party for those who will not be able to dress their part.

How to create an Arabian Nights Party ambience?

The decoration

you have the funds and you want the party something closer to the real Arabian Nights Party, you may get a tent for your venue.  The tent can be custom fit to resemble like a luxurious Bedouin tent accentuated with Moroccan furnishings and appliances such as brass tables, oil lamps and carpets of different and bright coloured threads.  You can also give the Arabian Nights Party an extremely authentic harem night feel by hanging sheets in the ceiling.

Another suggestion is to place makeshift palm trees and place sands all over the place to give the guests the feel of having in an oasis.
Note that these suggestions are better for parties where the attendees are adults.  Of course, for guests who are in the younger age group, you may opt to use lighter decorations and use brighter colours like blue, green, yellow.

The music

Play music that will enhance the Arabian Nights Party mood such as music in belly dancing or any music played with a flute.  You may get inspiration from music from movies like Aladdin, Alibaba and the Forty Thieves and Lawrence of Arabia.  Again, the choice of music should depend on the age range of your audience.

Food

Arabian food has a distinct spicy taste with the heavy use of onion.  If you want to really go to the extreme Arabian Nights Party, then you may look for caterers that serve Middle Eastern cuisine.  This is not compulsory as not all guests may enjoy the Middle Eastern cuisine.

For kiddie parties with the Arabian Nights Party, hosts may not opt to go to this extent.

Have you been assigned to spearhead your company’s anniversary party?

Last year, I get to chair our company’s Anniversary Party and believe me it was really a HUGE responsibility.  It has been very challenging for me because it was a milestone for my company since they are celebrated their 20th year.  How it was?  Well, everything went well and I got complements both from my bosses and the guests.  However, I could have afforded myself a few more hours of sleep at that time if there is a guide available for stuff like this.

So this article is for those people who were faced with the task of throwing their company’s anniversary party.  Let us divide the section into two main stages: 1) Preparation Stage and 2) On the Day of the Event.

Preparation Stage

The success of an anniversary party is anchored on the leader’s ability to organize and plan ahead.  I don’t believe in what other people say that you will spoil the fun if you will plan everything.  On the contrary, I guess if you are the organizer you should foresee how your guests will react to your programs so you can adjust accordingly.  Poor planning in an anniversary party will lead to a disaster and will have a negative impact on the budget.

Budget

In an anniversary party, it is not enough to just organize a perfectly fun and meaningful event but the cost should also be considered.  Corporations operate for financial reasons.  So it follows that hard earned money should not be lavishly spend.  When organizing the anniversary party, the chairperson should see to it to make a budget and more importantly have the budget approved!  
In making the budget of the anniversary par during the planning stage, allot estimates to all the things that you will spend on.  It doesn’t have to be very detailed but should be realistic.  Always allot at least 10% contingency fund when coming up with your budget.

Committee Members

Being the chairperson, it should be clear in the beginning who will be the members of the anniversary party committee so you will know how to divide the tasks.  It would be useful to come up with a list of tasks for each committee so the committee member knows what are expected from the.  At the start of the anniversary party meetings, communicate the roles and expectations to each of the members and get their commitment.

Checklist

The check list should be composed of the tasks to done, the calendar of activities where each deliverable is listed and the person in-charge so you can monitor that all the preparations for the party are being done as planned.  This check list should be discussed to all anniversary party committee members on update meetings.  As a chairperson, it is your responsibility to ensure that everyone complies with the agreed deadlines.

Theme and other Marketing Materials

At the start of the anniversary party meeting, agree with the other committee members what would be the overall theme of the party so it can be communicated to the company.   Teasers should be regularly sent to employees so that the excitement for the event will be build up.  You may also opt to come up with other gimmicks such as a countdown for the event wherein you will have small activities that culminates on the anniversary party date.
Presentations and banners should be prepared ahead of time because these are time-consuming and has high exposure.

Venue

The venue of the event will depend on the selected theme for the anniversary party.   Go for venues where the staff members are easy to deal with because it will give you a lot of headache if you go to venues that put s a lot of restrictions on how you will conduct the anniversary party.   
The venue of the anniversary party should be reserved immediately as venues, especially the good ones, can be easily occupied even if the event is still far.

On the Day of the Event

On the day of the event, make sure that you check the details way ahead of time; say around 4-5 hours so you can be assured of that everything is working well.
Be always at the look-out for problems that may arise.
But on top of it all, ENJOY!