subject: Thinking About Your Party Planning Menu? [print this page] When it comes to planning a party, there are quite a few things that you have to think about, especially if you plan on having more than a couple of people over to your home (or another venue). Quite possibly the biggest challenge you will face is the menu. There are many things that you have to consider and plan for and without a party planning menu you will find yourself lost.
The first thing that you need to think about is how many people you are inviting to your party. The reason that this is more important than the food is because once you know approximately how many people you are going to invite; you can then establish what type of food that your budget can afford. You may want to have surf and turf but if you have 200 people and a five hundred dollar budget, then you will have to think about something different. Yes, a party planning menu starts with the amount of guests you have so that you can establish your food budget definitely.
As you can imagine, your budget is then next step. If you are a creative person or if you plan on doing all of the cooking yourself, you can have a better menu than if you hire a caterer with the same budget. That is something to seriously consider when you are developing your budget. You may need to shorten your guest list if you desire to serve high end foods and your budget is limited.
The next part of your planning involves the food itself. You have a lot of options here. If you are having a themed party, a luau for example, then you might want to have a fire pit and cook a whole pig and include traditional Hawaiian foods. If you wanted a breakfast for dinner theme, you could have cooks on a line cooking pancakes, waffles, eggs, omelets and so on to order for your guests. A romantic theme might include filet mignon, salad, caviar, wine or champagne and chocolates.
Lastly, you need to decide how involved you are going to be in the making of the food. With a party planning menu, you can choose options that allow you to pre-make everything (such as finger foods and appetizers) so that you can spend more time with your guests. You could prepare a menu that requires you to be cooking the whole time or you can hire a caterer. The decision naturally is up to you and what your budget will allow.
