1. Stay Organized – make plenty of notes – refer to it daily until the party.
2. Set up a different folder on your computer or home file for each stage of the party
3. Decide on the invitation early – everyone has busy schedules – send the invitation early so they can add you to their calendars.
4. If you are sending out invitations via email – decide on the email content and be sure you have everyone’s correct email address. Be sure to resend the email invitation within 2 days of the party.
5. If you are holding the party at your home, be sure to set aside a day to clean or schedule someone to come in to give the place a deep cleaning.
6. Decide on the food for the party and make a list of what needs to be bought.
7. Be sure you have the bathroom set up for the numbers of quests expected, i.e., towels, tissue, emergency supplies for the women, etc.

Tip for sending email invitations: To be sure that your guests received your emails use the following method to set up this feature in Microsoft Outlook.

To be notified when email messages are delivered or read

Do one of the following:
To be notified about all messages

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click E-mail Options.
3. Click Tracking Options.
4. Select the Read receipt or the Delivery receipt check box.

To be notified about a single message

1. In the message, click Options.
2. Under Voting and tracking options, select the Request a delivery receipt for this message or the Request a read receipt for this message check box.