Day before party: The day before the party/get-together is when I like to go over the timeline of when I need to start cooking the next day and when I should decorate (if decorations are called for). I first go over my list (yes, there is that word again) of ingredients to double check if I need run out and pick-up something I might have missed while grocery shopping. Once I have gone over the list (most times I haven't forgotten anything thanks to making a list ahead of time) I look to see what I can prepare the day before to streamline the cooking process the day of. For example, the day before this particular birthday party we (hubby, kids and I) sliced and chopped all the veggies that would be needed the next day like green chilis, bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, cilantro (yes, we like cilantro, no it doesn't taste "soapy" to us). Once they were prepped, they all went into plastic containers for easy access the next day. I then made some of my "Accidently Vegan Queso" because it tastes best once all the flavors have melded together overnight. Plus, that gives me one less thing to do the day of. By prepping some of the food or simply chopping vegetables the day before it makes my day of cooking much more streamlined. For example, all of the tomato, onions, and cilantro that was already chopped, I can just add into each recipe that needs it, no extra cutting/chopping needed. It may sound like only a little bit of help on the day of but let me tell you; when you need to cook majority from scratch every little bit you can get done ahead of time helps!
Day of party: On the day of the party, I like to start off the cooking by preparing any recipe that needs to go in a crock pot or tabletop roaster. For example, for this party we made 30 ponds of Carnitas in our tabletop roaster. You can find the Carnitas recipe in the "Main Dish" section of the blog. In one of our crock pots (yes, we have multiple) I prepare the Mexican style beans recipe (coming soon to the blog) and the other crock pot we used for the nacho cheese for the normies. By starting this early (getting everything in the crock pot), we can choose to turn them on then or later depending on cook time, or we can just keep dishes warmed in them. The convivence of using a crock pot or tabletop roaster for parties is one you should definitely consider if you haven't done so before.
Once the food is started, next come the "touch up" cleaning or "refresh" of things like the bathrooms, a quick sweep of the hallways or vacuuming high traffic areas. It's not necessarily a full redo of things, just making sure it's up to your standards for guests. Like refilling the hand soap, making sure there are clean hand towels in the bathroom, things of that nature. The kitchen won't get it's refresh until the cooking is done and no more food needs to be prepped. For instance, during this party once all of the day of tasks were done, the counters were wiped down and a tablecloth was put on the tables and the center island. While in the kitchen, if this is where you'll be serving your food buffet style, make sure there is a flow to the order in which you put out the food. You want to avoid traffic jams or people running into other people with plates of food and make sure you direct people to the start of the food set up, of course if you are serving completed plates to your guest while they are seated, you can skip this step. The way our kitchen is set up (you'll be able to see in the pictures below) we start the front of the line for buffet style eating at the end of the center island closest to where you walk into the kitchen. Hiding behind the tabletop roaster is a giant bowl full of tortilla chips, and a basket of plastic silverware and plates. This way you can get your plate and silverware and then continue down the line to make your nachos.
The order in which we set up the food goes: chips, carnitas, beans, cheese, and then toppings. In the blue & white containers in the background are charred veggies that hadn't been put out yet. Once they make their plate, they walk around the back of the island and out of the kitchen to the garage where we set up the drink station. By setting up this way it helps make sure there isn't everyone in the kitchen or garage all at one time, and you can set your plate down on your way to get your drink (that way you're not struggling to carry and carry both). For the drinks we like to use two inflatable "coolers" one for alcohol, and one for mixers (keep in mind this was a 21st birthday). We put a beach towel underneath the inflatable coolers in case of any ice leaking or drinks spilling. See below for the example.
As for the other drinks, like bottle waters, sodas, juice boxes and ice for drinks specifically we like to mark our rolling coolers on the lids of what is inside. This easy step is done with a chalk pen that wipes off easily (and won't get wet or torn off like a paper sign tapped to them). This also helps to keep any little ones away from the adult drinks.
On the tables throughout the house, we have bowls of "snack type" food like chips or sweet. This way if people aren't quite hungry yet for a full plate of food, they have something to munch on. Once again, this helps to alleviate too much traffic in one area of the party.
This concludes my party planning tips; I hope that you found some of my ideas useful.
Kim