Swap Party - Steps 1 & 2

1. Let's Do It!

A hallmark of the homemaker, is her ability to entertain a crowd.  This is one of my favorite activities.  I love the whole thing... the planning, the menu design, the invites, the set up, the activities, the interactions between friends, and ensuring it's all clean before falling into bed at the end of the night.

So for this season, instead of doing a standard holiday party, I've invited 30 of my closest lady friends over for a Swap Party.  I've been wanting to do one for a while and despite the craze of the season, decided to just do it! 

I'm now in the midst of my first step - committing to the idea.  It's my favorite: the planning stage, envisioning and starting my To-Do lists.  Join me as I document the process, learnings and outcomes along the way!

We'll share together these steps:

1. Let's Do It!
2. The Invitations
3. The Party Plan
4. Menu Plan
5. Decorations & Set Up
6. Par-TAY!
7. Survival (The Recap)

2. The Invitations

I had high hopes.  I always think a formal, printed invitation with a hand-addressed envelope is the way to go. 

But let's get real for a minute... It's 3 weeks away and I have finished the design but not the printing, and don't have addresses for the whole party. 

Time to reevaluate. 

So I pulled the trigger on an Evite to ensure the ladies had enough time to reserve the date and prep.  I sent out these invites this evening.  My list started with 15 but as I addressed, I just couldn't help adding in some of my favorite ladies I hope are able to join... thus the 30-guest-list result.  (Read: Where in the hell am I going to put all of these ladies if they all show?!  Will figure that out in step 3, I guess!)

Here was my invitation text and explanation of the Swap Party:

Now on to the Party Planning!  Yipee!