Choosing Your Suppliers

Your dream debut party happens once in a lifetime. You’ve probably daydreamed about it a million times – how marvelous you look on your dream gown as guests cheer on during your grand entrance; how lovely your dream venue is with those natural foliage or how appropriate the beautiful drapes and decorations are for your chosen theme. How your guests rave about the cuisine and how organized your party is. But before you fall into a deep slumber to dream some more of your perfect debut party, it is now time to wake up and make your dream into a reality. Plan it!

It is important to plan everything up to the tiniest details. Some debutantes want to be hands-on with everything – from the invites, dress, party favors, and even the menu. This is actually achievable but is too much to handle. If you are on a tight budget, it is advisable that you do it yourself (DIY) but plan way ahead of time. However, not all DIYs are cost effective. You should be able to assess when to DIY.

To DIY or not to DIY

Some DIY projects are just too much to handle for an almost 18-year-old even with the help of friends and family. That is where our dear suppliers come in. But the question is how do we choose a supplier?

Choosing a supplier is crucial most especially if you are on a tight budget. A supplier who will give more for what limited budget you can give is certainly heaven-sent. Choosing a supplier through referral is sometimes the way to go. A friend of yours who was satisfied with a supplier may mean she’s a happy customer, although this may be subjective at times. What works for her may not work for you, and so on. However, relying on someone else’s opinion and experience may help you in choosing a party supplier.

Tips in Selecting a Debut Party Supplier

Set your priorities straight. Are you budget-conscious? Are you choosing according to location and accessibility? By determining first what your number one concerns are, you will have a better picture in selecting your debut suppliers.

Don’t ignore testimonials. Even if you are being given a good deal by a supplier but your friend testifies of poor quality, be cautious. Of course, you want value for your money. And you won’t get that if you pay for something less than what you expect.

Scout for suppliers within your range of budget, services and accessibility. Gather as much suppliers as you want and narrow down your choices as you start calling them one-by-one. Don’t just ask someone who they can recommend to provide you with something. Do your own research as well because in the process, you’ll gain a lot more insights than what you already have.

Don’t be too lazy to just settle for the first company you come to know about. If you don’t have the time to get suppliers and plan your 18th birthday party, you might be better off hiring a party planner or organizer because that might be cost-efficient for you in the long run.

The trick here is to plan way ahead of time. When you do, you can avoid as much stress as possible especially as your debut party approaches.

To see a list of debut party suppliers in the Philippines, you can click on our SUPPLIERS page.

Photo Credit: © HBSS/Corbis

4 thoughts on “Choosing Your Suppliers

  1. hi debut ideas!!

    i am celebrating my debut this march. we are holding it in a bar/bistro. i wanna know when is the best time to feed my guests. you see we indicated on my invite that they should come at 7pm. but as we know, they are never on time. so if there will be early birds, do i feed them as they arrive? or can we just have the dinner for everybody after the program, which i am guessing would start at 8pm and end b4 9:30. do i serve them pica-pica first or should i reserve the pica-pica for the party people/dance party which is after 10pm? pls., pls. advise!!

    btw, how should i tell them that open bar is up to a certain extent only and that they will have to pay for their orders after we have already consumed the allotted budget for drinks? hope you can reply asap!!! thanks very much!!

  2. Hi CJ,

    We have a debut program flow that might help you in your dilemma. http://debutideas.com/?p=48. I guess you could allot 30 minutes of waiting time for your guests to arrive. You can serve the pica pica for early birds so that they will not starve until 8:30 when you will serve dinner. After that, start the program where you will start with introduction of your parents, some AVP perhaps and then your grand entrance. You can also do the 18 roses by this time so that by 8:30 you have at least finished half or one-third of your program. Then by 8:30, have dinner. I’m sure all your guests who will be attending would have arrived by then. After dinner, resume your other 18s or games if you will.

    With regards to the drinks, distribute drink stubs to guests who will be drinking as they enter the venue. That way, you can monitor the number of drinks that are still available and if there are any excess, you can give them to whoever wishes to drink more. Ask the host to announce that there are available drinks at the bar and that they surrender the stub as they claim their drinks. Hope this helps and happy birthday.

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