Plan for a Party

Written by Linda Palacios

Wednesday, 16 September 2009 06:00

Plan for a Party
Mix work and play by throwing an office party. One local event planner makes it her job to tell you how you can have fun on the job.

From their days in elementary school together, event planners Alycia Wells and Tamara Edmond practiced their life calling. "As kids in elementary school we always volunteered to pour the punch, the little things like planning graduation. We would always volunteer to do something as far as entertaining," Wells says.

Now, Wells and Edmond have partnered for three years in their company Events by W.E . (Pronounced "we," the W.E. stands for Wells and Edmond.) "It's weird that now we're in our 30s, and we're actually doing this for a living," Wells says.

Wells and Edmond strive to provide events that go off without a hitch but with a bang. To do that, Events by W.E. has been set up as "Cincinnati's only event boutique." With the idea of the boutique, the partners want customers to know that Wells and Edmond stand for service. "We want to keep [the business] small and quaint but yet give the best possible customer service," Wells says. "So I don't want to be a huge company. We always want to have our hands in it."

Beyond top-notch service, the Events by W.E. partners work to educate their clients to make sure that they are informed and that they understand what is happening with their events, so Wells offers advice on throwing an office party.

One of the first steps in planning a party is to determine what you and your co-workers will be celebrating. "When you're celebrating something, especially in the work place, you want to be sure that you're not offending anybody," Wells says, and people can take offense to both sides of a coin, depending on the situation.

A Christmas party can offend those who do not celebrate Christmas, but women also can take each other down by lacking consistency in celebrations. For birthdays, baby showers and company growth, a party can be more than in order, but celebrating the respective event in the respective way without forgetting anyone can be a daunting task.

Also, while food options add more flavor (and fun) to the party, make sure that everyone will be able to enjoy. Everyone loves some tasty nibbles, but make sure to follow any dietary needs or restrictions like allergies or vegetarianism.

The timing of the party calls for some pondering. You have to decide on your priorities. If everyone's being there is top priority, schedule the get-together sometime during the work day. Late morning works well so that guests can plan their lunch around the additional food. If you'd rather have a more relaxed event, schedule an after-work happy hour around 5:30 or 6 p.m., Wells says.

When you get down to the details, determine what you and your party-planning committee envision for the event. Make a list of what you would like to have in order of priority and figure out the most cost-effective solutions for each element. Networking comes in handy for this because knowing who can do what well is half the battle. "You know that the girl across the hall makes awesome cake or the awesome artichoke dip," Wells says, so look to everyone's strengths to see what they might be able to bring to the table. This way the party will stick to the budget while offering an enjoyable experience.

For more information about throwing a party at work or planning any other event, contact Wells or Edmond by visiting their event-planning boutique's Web site.

PHOTO CREDITS

Photo courtesy of Events by W.E.

Linda Palacios -
	Linda Palacios is the editor of Cincy Chic. Send her an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .Read More >>

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