Planning a Party - Novum Crafts.*

I set off for London in six days time, so most people would consider now the ideal time to plan a party - I know I did. I had planned on throwing a leaving party to say goodbye to my friends. I had everything planned; the food, the decorations, who I have going to invited... Thanks to the lovely people at Novum Crafts*, I even had a costume. I ended up not throwing the party - I think it had something to do with the fact I couldn't bare to say goodbye, even if it was going to be for a short period of time. Even so, I thought I'd share with you some of the ideas I had for the party...

*If you're offended by that, please know that I mean no harm. You can read my post about Cultural Appropriation to know my thoughts on the matter.*

• The Costume: I'd planned on wearing normal clothes - probably the tight black dress that I recently bought from Stradivarius that has fastly turned into my most worn item of clothing. Wearing all black is very me, and I knew the colours of the headdress would be plenty enough. As well as the headdress, I had planned on adding some purple, hot pink and yellow face paint, all of which go well with the headdress given to me by Novum Crafts. The theme of the party wasn't going to be full on fancy dress, I just wanted there to be a touch of something. Whether that be a feather boa, a mask... I just thought it sounded like fun! Heels are a definitely no as you're likely to spend most of the time on your feet.

Move photos will be coming soon! My camera is playing up :)

• The Decorations: The party would have started mid-afternoon and gone on well into the night. Given the fact I live on top of a mountain in the middle of no where, it is very dark where I live, which means I would have needed a lot of lights. I own a lot of fairy lights anyway, most hang in my bedroom and the others belong to the Christmas tree, so I had planned on wrapping them all around the doors and windows outside, as well as hanging some solar panel Chinese lanterns and electric candles in trees. You can't go wrong with fairy lights. I also have a giant terracotta jar, which takes a long candle that looks incredibly pretty at night, due to the star prints. We also have some floating candles for the pool, which always look nice. You can also never go wrong with balloons. Another nice touch is sticking photos of yourself and the people attending the party all over the walls and then giving them away when the party comes to an end. 

• The Music: If there's one thing a good party needs, it's excellent music. As mentioned, I live on top of a mountain, which means I can have the music as loud as I want without getting any complaints from the neighbours. Even if I had actual neighbours, they'd be at the party anyway, so it's a win-win situation. I have a fully-functioning pink discoball which is actually a speaker. You just have to plug your device in and away it goes, spinning and lighting up the night. I'm not 6 or 60, I swear. Some songs I would have included are Eurythmix - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), Beyoncé feat. Nicki Minaj - Flawless, Childish Gambino - V.3005, Haim - My Song 5 and Frank Ocean - Sweet Life. You can see what else I would have added to the playlist by adding me on Spotify by clicking here.

• The Food: Considering my Mam is a professional cook, when people come to my house, they know they're going to get good food. When we have parties, people genuinely put in requests. Those requests normally include her chocolate and raspberry fudge, flatbreads and hummus, chilli and butter corn on the cob, and more. The most requested item would have to be her dark chocolate and pecan brownies. They're actually orgasmic. If you want the recipes of any of the foods mentioned above, then comment below! 

• The Extras: I seem to be quite good at planning parties. I always like to add something special to them. To this one, just like at my graduation where I surprised my friends, I was planning on making a photobooth. I'm not talking about the one that the Kardashians seem to bring out every weekend. No, I'm talking about making a border with something written around the outside, and then making lips, moustaches, hats and buying wigs, just like shown below. There doesn't have to be a designated photographer - whoever around can take it. Make sure they're all taken on the same camera. That way, one person can upload them all to Facebook or send them out on Facebook. It went down really well at my graduation, as did the photowall. The photowall consisted of photos of us all from the past eight years, which is another thing I'd planned on doing at my party, before giving the photos away at the end of the night as a mini gift. Customised straws are great too - adding a moustache for the guys and a pair of lips for the girls.

PHOTO OF PHOTOWALL

• The People: The guests are obviously the most important part of any party. You don't necessarily need food, music, decorations or music. As long as you're with good people, you're good to go, because that's what life is all about - spending time with people you love. Not many of my friends or family members know about my blog, so they won't see this, but they really do mean a lot to me and I will miss each and every one of them. I'm talking like I'll never see them again, but I'll actually be seeing them in just over two months and then again a few months after that. Here are photos of some of the people I'll miss...

As sad as I am that I didn't get to throw a party, I still think I preferred saying goodbye to some individually and to others at a meal. I do think I have a talent in party planning though...

What are your top tips for throwing a party?

Let me know in the comments below!