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Sometimes Things Don’t Go As Planned
Saturday was my daughter’s 1st birthday and I have been planning her party for the last couple of months. I was so looking forward to seeing her face when she ripped into presents and got to eat cake for the first time. Unfortunately, NONE of it turned out how I had envisioned.
The weather didn’t quite cooperate and the party was cut super short when the rain came and lightening started flashing. There were also several people that didn’t end up making an appearance because every news station had weather alerts letting us know of severe thunderstorm warnings and tornado warnings and to stay home if possible.
The worst part of the party was the fact that the birthday girl slept through her whole party!!! She woke up briefly so we could let her have cake, but because she was so tired, she wanted no part of it and screamed the whole time. So needless to say, we didn’t force the cake on her and let her go back to bed.
The people that did make it seemed to have a great time and it was so great to see people who we don’t see very regularly. Some people even made a 2 and 3 hour drive despite the weather warnings!
Overall, while I had initially felt like the birthday party was an epic fail, I realized that it really wasn’t that bad and I actually learned a few lessons from it that will hopefully help me in the future.
1. Hope for the best; prepare for the worst.
I knew bad weather was a possibility for the party, but I had hoped that the storms would hold off until it was over. Just in case, I had decided to keep all of the food indoors with plenty of decorations and the games for the kids would stay outdoors. This way, should the rain come, there would be less stress with moving things indoors at the last minute.
2. RSVPs will only give you an estimate of how many people will arrive.
When I sent the Evites for the party, I knew that not everyone would come, let alone RSVP. Sure enough, less than half of those invited even responded to the RSVP. And of those that RSVP’d yes, there were still some that weren’t able to make it. Luckily, as the party date grew closer and I knew the chance of severe weather for the day, I knew there would be a strong possibility that people would be unable to make it.
3. Take all the pictures you can.
The biggest mistake I made the day of the party was not taking pictures. Granted, I was running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off and barely had time to sit down, but I should’ve made time to take pictures. I’m now trying to track down pictures from anyone that was there. Hopefully I’ll find some of Madeline while she was awake, the decorations, and the other guests enjoying their time.
4. Your friends will still be your friends even if your party isn’t perfect.
I’m a perfectionist, so it pains me when things don’t go as planned. Planning and executing this party really tested me and helped me to understand that although I want things to be perfect, it’s really not about that. My friends and family didn’t care about all of the little details – they just want to spend time together!
Even though the party didn’t go as planned, I’m so happy we had it. And although everyone said “well let’s see if you decide to do another one next year,” I think I most certainly will!
Have you ever thrown a party that didn’t go as planned? I’d love to hear your stories or lessons learned!
