Parties, it seems, have come a long way. I recall birthday parties of my youth consisting of gloppy sloppy joes, potato chips (off-brand, of course, because we could never afford the much-coveted, Old Dutch), a boxed cake my mom made with yummy chocolate frosting (that invariably had finger marks of one or more of us seven kids because it was just too dang long to wait until the actual cake-cutting time), and pitchers of lukewarm grape Kool-Aid (ice was also a coveted item).
Other parties in my growing-up years consisted of crinkly bags of snack-type items, peanuts and homemade lemon bars. Who had time to plan lavish parties with seven kids running around?
So I am in awe of the parties nowadays; the care, the creativity that goes into planning and executing these wonderful get-togethers. And, after meeting all these great party pros we’re featuring in our April issue—Maggie Conway of Clever Celebrations, Sheree Bochenek, creative director at Après Party and Tent Rental, Rita Swanson, owner of Premier Planning Services, and Laura Mullen, president of Laura Mullen Event Designs—I am inspired. I vow to bust out of my shell and have an honest to goodness party… a well-planned, well-executed, (and hopefully) well-attended shindig that will make even Martha Stewart, with all of her party planning sass, just a tad bit jealous.
Heck, I might even bring out my sofa.
To read all about how you can plan the perfect summer party, complete with tips from our area party planning pros, check out the April edition of Edina Magazine or visit edinamag.com starting April 1.
