On 2015-07-19 5:35 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 7/19/2015 1:12 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
>> It was my wife's birthday yesterday and she had wanted a party. She
>> looked after the invitations and my son and I looked after the rest.
>> Holy cow it is a lot of work to plan a party.
>
>>
>> It was not quite as hot as I expected it to be, and thank goodness the
>> rain in the morning only lasted a half hour and then it was nice and
>> sunny. The last time we had a birthday party for her it was blistering
>> hot.
>>
>>
>>
>> Maybe we should be thinking about hosting a pot luck. We can provide the
>> wine and beer with the leftovers and not worry about preparing the food.
>> The unfortunate part of hosting a party is that you are so busy
>> preparing and serving food, and picking up plates, offering drinks etc
>> is that you don't get much opportunity to socialize.
>>
>>
>> Something to think about for dishes etc. It is surprisingly affordable
>> to rent. There is a party shop a couple miles from here and we rented
>> two 6ft. tables, four 48 inch tables, 20 folding chairs, 60 wine glasses
>> and 60 plates for about $85. We could have rented a tent, but a 10x10
>> tent would have cost $175.
>
> It has been a very long time since we had a party. Only reason is we
> are not up to the amount of work needed to do it, as you now know.
> Sounds like you did good though.
>
> The rental cost is quite reasonable. My guess is that the tent is high
> because they set it up and take it down?

I don't know if they set it up and take it down, but I would think that
it would be a higher quality tent that would be used over and over. I
won't count on mine lasting for years and years, but we certainly needed
something yesterday. Being able to buy one for half the price of the
rental and borrowing a second one was a bargoon that could not be beat.


>
> My wife's birthday is July also and to plan an outdoor event is risky
> with heat. We go to a restaurant instead. This year she will have two
> dinners. I take one of my co-workers out to dinner for her birthday
> too, but I'm doing that Sunday and I'll take my wife again on her day,
> Tuesday.


It is a bad time of year for a party. We had a big bash on her 50th and
it was hot and sticky. A bunch of her co-workers and their spouses
parked themselves in the shade and drank a lot of beer. One year we
stayed with her cousin in Stratford. It was stifling hot. We spent the
day going from one air conditioned store to another and then went back
to the house and sat in tub of cold water. It was hot and sticky
yesterday but on the near side of being too hot and sticky.

My birthday is in the middle of November. I can count on it snowing on
or before my birthday, so outdoor parties are out of the question.