Whether it’s your dream wedding, an anniversary, a big birthday celebration or some other occasion, it pays to think ahead before having a backyard party. Here’s what to do if you have three months, one month or a week! It’s always doable, but the more time you have, the more you will treasure the big day.
Addressing Landscaping Issues
If you are looking three months ahead, good for you. It’s time to assess your backyard and determine what steps you can take now to make it look good for the gathering. The obvious choice is to hire a landscaper to fill holes, flatten unnecessary rises, and make everything look great. You can save money by enlisting friends to help get everything planned out and planted.
Your goal is to create a wide open space or spaces where your friends and family can gather. Perhaps you need to level part of the yard or remove plantings that will be in your way. Between now and the party, you’ll need to be alert to yellowed grass, dead plants, or other problems that would look bad the day of the party.
If you just have a month, there’s still time to plant flowers in the beds and in pots. Remember to add mulch around them and achieve a finished look. If you only have a week, you’ll want to buy potted flowering plants. These may come in handy if you need gifts for friends. At the end of the party, you can invite them to choose a pot to take home.
If this won’t work out for you there are a lot of fun backyard birthday party ideas out there all you need to do is choose the right one for you and your guests.
Planning for Parking
If you have three months, there’s plenty of time to reach out to your neighbors. You can ask them for ideas and perhaps get permission to park certain cars in their driveways. If you have a month, there’s still time to pick a common parking area nearby and organize a shuttle or carpooling to get people to and from that spot.
If you just have a week, you can look up how to rent access mats. These can be delivered and placed on your property to protect the grass. When the party’s over, they will be removed and your grass won’t have been destroyed by large SUV tires. You may need to hire someone or ask someone to be in charge of parking to make sure the process goes smoothly.
Organizing the Interior
Three months is just enough time to assess how your living spaces will accommodate an outdoor event. You’ve got to think about how people will flow through the house, access the kitchen, and find the bathrooms. The room or rooms that open to the outside may be rearranged to appear more spacious. Naturally you will want this area of your home to be at its most beautiful.
This may require hiring a decorator to help you decide what should be on display, where furniture should be placed, and what should be removed from the room. You should include all common areas in this decision-making since outdoor events have a tendency to move indoors. Plus, you need to have some alternatives to the outdoors if it should rain.
If you only have one month until the party, there’s still time to thin out the common rooms and spruce them up before guests arrive. A maid service can do a deep clean after you make changes. This should catch any dust that has been unleashed by rearranging furniture.
With a week to go, you don’t have much time to concentrate on your house. Your time should be focused on getting everything as tidy as possible and let a maid service do the rest. You may want to purchase or borrow some attractive three-panel screens if there are areas that need to be blocked to guests. Plan to purchase some flowers to bring life to the room.
When the day comes, make a promise to yourself to enjoy it. Don’t focus on the things you couldn’t do. Focus on the efforts you made and how happy you are to entertain your guests at this special event in your own backyard.
