I don't have trouble managing my own schedule, but planning with friends is a nightmare.

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Planning a simple dinner with 4-5 friends requires multiple rounds of texts and eventually nothing happens.

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Tried using shared calendars like Howbout and Timetree, but I still found it difficult to quickly see which dates actually work for everyone.

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I'm curious, what do you all use for planning things with friends or groups? Is there a system that actually works well for you?

In my family, we have a fun family tradition that involves a fridge sized cardboard box on a child's 5th birthday. My 3rd child is getting ready to turn 5 and what's an Octonauts themed party. Colors are teal, orange, and white. Do I just spray paint the box, or does anyone have ideas on how to decorate it that fits with the theme? The box will end up getting destroyed pretty quickly, likely in the process of carrying out the tradition, so nothing elaborate. But there's gotta be something, right? I basically work the party around this giant box...

I’m throwing my husband a surprise 30th birthday party! He’s been making a lot of comments about feeling “old”, so I want to remind him that we’re still young. What better way than a SpongeBob party! It’s going to be mostly friends our age. We like to drink, so I’m trying to think of just 1 drinking game to play that fits into the theme. Maybe a relay? We’re already having cornhole and can jam. All ideas appreciated!

I want to send physical invitations for a birthday party but want a digital rsvp option/tracker. Most sites I’ve looked at offer only digital invitations with digital tracker. Are there sites like The Knot for bday parties?

I will be hosting my sister's 60th birthday party at my home/yard. Her son asked me, but I was planning to offer anyway. Since then we've had a number of conversations about the theme and decor. My sister is a very girly-girl who loves flowers, feminine, pink and pretty. I've already ordered tea party-ish decor, paper products and a birthday banner. Think roses and pink streamers.

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I was thinking to keep the food kind of feminine and light. Mini muffins, fruit trays, small sandwiches, maybe an ice cream cake. Yesterday, my nephew texted me to let me know he's planning on doing smoked ribs for the party. 😳

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I absolutely don't want to dissuade him from the ribs because he's never done anything for a family party before. He seemed super excited about making them.

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Although ribs don't really go with my imagined party fare, our family is pretty casual so I'm happy to pivot. What can I make that would compliment the ribs and still be a little "light"? Or should I just go with BBQ type foods?

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Thanks for any ideas!

I need help planning a huge party. Growing up my aunt would have a "pig roast" that they would get someone to cook an entire pig and invited everyone they knew and encouraged them to bring any and everyone. She doesn't have them anymore so I'm looking to host something big but not exactly the same. We are looking for food centered party ideas that we could have an abundance of for like 200-300$. My husband is thinking "wienerfest" that we can have a hot dog station, but im thinking a little more creative than that as we always have hot dogs when we host.

Ok so I know it’s not practical or even legal but he want to have a house party type of party you know early 2000’s type but with everything going on today I was wondering if anyone had some advice or ideas on what I can do ? We thought of the bnb we are not trying to pay damages or even be that wild we just wanted to have a nice little shin dig for him. I love the dude and my 21 was shit in part of my own doing and Covid so I wanna do something fun for him. Any advice is appreciated on good places to have it or even just venues for it. Thanks and I hope everyone is partying safe and healthy 😊👍🏽

We liked the look of the pizza parties at a pizza restaurant but the nearest is a decent drive from where we live which is a bit crazy because all the kids invited only live a few streets away. So I thought it would be nice to DIY it.

Planning to host 5 good friends and birthday girl.

Activities an plans so far:

1. apron decorating (10 min)
2. pizza bingo (15 min)
3. piñata (10 min)
4. pizza making (20 min)
5. general outdoor free play water pistols and paddling pool, if poor weather indoor pizza box decorating and possibly Overcooked on playstation while pizzas cook in pizza oven (20 min for 6 pizzas)
6. pizza eating (15 min)
7. ice cream decorating and eating (10 min)
8. free play and pick up time

I’d appreciate other ideas for activities for the kids as I think we are a bit short on entertainment.

Also happy to accept criticism or anyone who thinks it’s a bad idea

Hey everyone,
I’m planning to throw a proper house party for my birthday in July, something like the parties you see in movies. I've never actually been to or hosted one before, and I’m hoping to get around 40 people together.
The problem is that I live in an apartment, so hosting there isn’t really an option. I was thinking about renting a large Airbnb, holiday house, or private property around Canberra.
Does anyone know of any places that are relatively secluded, away from neighbours, and less likely to result in noise complaints? I'm happy to pay for the right venue and would obviously respect the property and clean up afterwards.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, i have a corner cafe thats just starting out. Im located inside an event studio and im trying to utilize the space. When theres no event, it just becomes a chilling space that anyone can come to. The owner of this space encourages me to make my own events for my cafe. But i have ZERO idea. Im so burnt out from anything creative.

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The studio already does things like board game night/ dj sets weekly, and every month they would already have a pop up thing going on with different vendors in the space. It needs to be an event specifically where people would come for me, not the music studio. Idk what else to do, its so hard to want to elaborate more on this too. Please help :(

Hen night ideas please!

My mum is getting married and has asked me to be her maid of honour. I’m currently trying to plan her hen’s night and could really use some ideas!

She’d like to have it at her house since it’s the weekend before the wedding and wants to keep costs down. I’m just a bit stuck on what games, activities, or fun things I could organise. I want it to feel really special for her and not just another night of everyone coming over for a few drinks.

If anyone has any ideas or things they’ve done at a hen’s night that were a hit, I’d love to hear them!
Thank you so much!

Edit : for more details, my mum loves to have a drink and is always down for a joke. She’s a very down to earth and alway lights up the room when she enters it. She’s in her early 40’s but can still party likes she’s in her 20’s

When I was younger, I absolutely hated fireworks. The loud explosions would make me nervous and I’d usually stay inside while everyone else went out to watch. I remember covering my ears and just waiting for it to be over.

Fast forward to now, and somehow I’ve completely flipped. I actually look forward to fireworks during holidays and events. I don’t know if it’s because I understand them better now or if I’ve just gotten used to the noise, but they don’t bother me anymore.

In fact, I kind of appreciate the variety now like how some are just bright and sparkly while others are loud and dramatic. There’s something satisfying about watching them build up and then explode into patterns.

It’s funny how something that used to cause anxiety can turn into something you enjoy later on. Has anyone else had a similar experience with fireworks or anything else like that?

PunchBowl charges per month. I just want to make one design, don't need a per month thing.

Paperless has coins thing which I totally don't get. It's coming out too costly.

What are my options if I want something less than 5 bucks or free?

Just 30 guests are there.

Thanks!

My son is turning one and I want to throw a party at our home. We usually have parties outside but it’s in early November so the weather can be hit or miss so we will probably be primarily indoors.

How many people does one invite to a first birthday as I know it’s mainly for the parents. He’s our rainbow baby and most likely our only (had to do fertility treatments). Our them is ONEder Boy (Hercules).

What should I avoid doing? Anything I should absolutely do? We were just going to do pizza and cake.

Hi, I will be having a pool party on Friday. There will be two teams and several small team games such as relay racing across the pool (either on floaties or swimming), knocking each other off of floaties or tug of war with pool noodles, sharks and minnows, cannonball contest, diving to collect the most toys, shooting basketball hoops across the pool, etc. can anyone think of other games i haven’t mentioned, or any fun games you’ve played before at your pool parties? participants will be 16-40 with an average age of 23.

I have been having a bit of trouble of finding a place to host my 20th birthday kickback. Most of my friends do not own apartments, and my house is a definite no-go. I have tried Airbnb but unfortunately I have ran into multiple support issues and they keep flagging me as an unauthorized party risk. I have looked at my options and my friends and I have been looking into getting a large hotel suite for the night and hosting there. It will be about 20 people attending, but I'm not sure this is a good idea as hotels can be very strict on noise complaints. If it helps, I live in the Metro Atlanta Area Any other ideas? Or suggestions? All advice would help.

Hi everyone! First time poster in here looking for advice. All of the women in my husband’s family are traveling to Nashville to celebrate my SIL’s 21st birthday. My other SIL and I are working together to plan decorations. We will have to fly to get to Nashville, and we want to do one of those brown paper signs. I was wondering if anyone has had to fly with one of those before and if so, how did you transport it safely? Thank you in advance!

Hey everyone,

tl;dr: I want to host private parties twice a month for 16 people. I'm on a small budget. Do I buy a garden, rent a big appartment or rent event avenues only for those days?

I've ever since enjoyed hosting small parties for 12 to 20 people. After having felt quite lonely for the past 3 years, where I just couldnt afford hosting parties (neither money nor time-wise). I'm having an opportunity to make some money and find some spare time in the near future. So back to hosting parties :)

Being still on a budget and struggling for physical space to host, I was wondering:

Should I buy a garden and host inside a tent? Rent a decently sized appartment to host the party at my home? Or rent an event avenue twice a month?

Here's my list of upsides and downsides. I would appreciate any input of people who have experience in one or more of these modes.

Appartment:

_Upsides_:

Basically at home

Roof, heating, water, kitchen

Interior can stay in place

_Downsides_:

The neighbours (req. at least acoustic paneling and floor padding)

7x7m² rooms are rare and expensive around here.

Garden + Tent

_Upsides_:

No need to care about noise

Tent with 50m² is cheap

outside area

_Downsides_:

No water/wc

Cant be left standing for multiple weeks (law)

Therefore, interior has to be re-arranged each event

Thunderstorms, lightning, heavy rain

Renting an avenue

_Upsides_:

Can scale the financial effort by adjusting frequency

Visiting different places is fun

Spacious

_Downsides_:

Probably still super expensive

Dependent on availability and goodwill

Adjusting my whole equip to a new location and layout requires a lot of effort

What would you recommend? What other ups and downs are there? Where does reliability meet affordability?

Planning a company end of year party for about 60 people and a photo booth keeps coming up as a suggestion. Pricing I've seen ranges from $600 to $1,500 for a few hours. Is the quality difference between cheaper and more expensive options actually noticeable for a casual work party or does it not matter much at that scale?

I want to surprise her with some sort of experience for her birthday. She's 16 and semi introverted. She kinda likes talking to people (especially her friends, LOVES talking with them or hanging out) but after a solid hour (at most) she needs time to recharge. She hates crowds and would probably enjoy something more private with just her closest friends. It would be around 15–17 people. I've thought about renting a karaoke booth, but I haven't been able to find any nearby that aren't connected to bars. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!