Customer Reviews

Diane Warner's Big Book of Parties

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the most creative, realistic, inspiring party planning book I have seen! It covers all sorts of parties from Baby showers to retirement banquets and everything in between.

Part 1 of the book covers party planning basics - the where, when, how and why as well as brief chapters on children's and adult party games.

Part 2 covers the holidays - practically every holiday you would want to celebrate. New Years, Christmas, and Halloween are of course included, but so are Chinese New Year, May Day, Mother's Day, Cinco de Mayo, Labor Day, and Kwanzaa.

Part 3 includes life event parties like baby showers, engagement parties, family reunions, housewarming, wedding, and farewell.

Parts 4, 5 & 6 cover birthday parties; children's teens, and adults.

Parts 7, 8 and 9 are may favorite! These are the chapters that pull this book apart from all other party planning books - creative and well-thought-out plans for those of us who love to bring our friends together not just when we have to, but because we WANT to. These are parties just for the sake of fun - food themed parties like wine-tasting and progressive dinners; creative parties like scavenger hunts and mystery nights.

Part 10 covers business functions and Ms. Warner actually makes them sound not horrible.

Part 11 includes menus and recipes.

Part 12 is the organizational chapter with check lists and budgets.

If you love to entertain or if you have to throw a party and have no idea where to begin this book is for you.

As a features writer for a local paper, I've seen lots of different party planning books. Warner's is certainly among the best, with a layout that makes info easy to find and lots of more creative ideas.

Great book filled with cost effective ideas for throwing a great party! Pleanty of variety in the book to suit everyone's taste and budget!

...you've got to be joking. I suppose if you had zero creativity and have never thrown a party before and have no idea where to start, then this would be the book for you. Many of the ideas are just ridiculous and seem to have been thrown in just to fill up space. I found myself laughing out loud many times at the mere thought of actually throwing a party with the suggested theme and elements. There are plenty of other good entertaining books out there with "grown up" ideas. Sorry Diane, but this one is a stinker!

The author actually recommends a birthday party at McDonald's. Then she assumes we all have silk flowers at home to decorate for a party. The book is outdated and boring. There are absolutely no pictures in the book. I would only recommend this book if you have no experience in party planning and are looking for a drab, run of the mill party that looks as though you stopped at the store Party City to decorate!

This is by far the best party book ever! I can't believe how many great ideas Diane has! I had a small part in the research done by Diane for this book, and I know she put many hard and long hours and days into finding the most detailed information possible about every kind of party you could think of. I know I will use this book over and over again!