Diane Warner's Big Book of Parties: Creative Party Planning for Every Occasion (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Diane Warner's Big Book of Parties is the most complete party book ever published...and the most helpful. Whether you're throwing a child's birthday party or a 50th anniversary gala, Diane Warner tells you everything you need to know to make the party special, unique, and perfectly appropriate to the occasion. Diane Warner's Big Book of Parties covers everything from when to send out the invitations to making a list of guest, planning a menu, creating a theme, and much more. There are literally hundreds of ideas in this book for every kind of party you could imagine. And besides giving you great ideas, Diane Warner gives you step-by-step instructions, shopping lists, timelines, menus, and activities: Everything you need to make the party fun and hassle-free. Diane Warner believes that in addition to knowing the mechanics of hosting a successful party, you also need to have a heart for your guests, making the guests-and especially the guest of honor-feel very special. She talks about today's trends in party giving, and in a section called "Party Planning 101," she covers all the general elements that should be considered for every party: etiquette, venues, invitations, creating the right ambience, entertainment, and much more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 335 pages
• Publisher: New Page Books (July 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564143988
• ISBN-13: 978-1564143983
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #129,309 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Party Planning 101, 201 and the Graduate Course, July 10, 2006

By	Ashley Schinella "Editor of Connections Newsl... (Connecticut Shoreline, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Certainly one of the better party books!, May 16, 2001

By	Sara Westhead "Sara Westhead" (Southampton, Bermuda) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Uninspiring, February 25, 2007

By	Cal Party Planner "Cal Party Planner" (Bay Area California) - See all my reviews

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!