Have you ever planned an event that turned out a disaster?

[Deleted]

Did you have an inkling beforehand? Or did it catch you off guard? Resolution? 

[msventoux]

I don't have events.  I have an inkling that they would be disasters so I'm quite adept at volunteering/delegating/encouraging others to take on the task. 

[Deleted]

I have 32 kids coming to pond study tomorrow. At the family cabin. I was there this evening setting up and doing trial run with a friend who can't come tomorrow and her two kids. My father was insisting on a level of control that I'm currently sitting up thinking I may not be able to sustain with 32 kids tomorrow... And I planned for us to grill and eat there after... With 32 kids running around the woods. 

When i I was thinking about how I could explain to the kids that, while they are used to a lot of freedom, etc. with Miss me, Mr dad is ... And what comes out is akin to the conversations I have about our rescued dog who is occasionally unpredictable and not chaos compatible... And so I just stop. 

I'm giving myself hives. 

[KaraBoo]

My marriage.....

My life....

My job....

Oh...wait! I didn't plan my kiddos, but they turned out ok (for the most part!).

[msventoux]

Tie the kids together with rope in teams of 4.  Tell them it's a pond study AND a beginning mountaineering course that starts out on flat ground, excellent lesson in teamwork.  If the kids start getting out of hand, scream "BEAR!!!" and watch the groups collide and turn into a human ball of twine.  It will probably take them a good hour to sort themselves out afterwards.  If they get out of hand again, scream "COUGAR!!"  After they get sorted out again it's time for everyone to go home. 

Seriously though, good luck! 

[Peace Of Mind]

May 12, 2015 23:03:07 GMT -5 oped said:

I have 32 kids coming to pond study tomorrow. At the family cabin. I was there this evening setting up and doing trial run with a friend who can't come tomorrow and her two kids. My father was insisting on a level of control that I'm currently sitting up thinking I may not be able to sustain with 32 kids tomorrow... And I planned for us to grill and eat there after... With 32 kids running around the woods. 

When i I was thinking about how I could explain to the kids that, while they are used to a lot of freedom, etc. with Miss me, Mr dad is ... And what comes out is akin to the conversations I have about our rescued dog who is occasionally unpredictable and not chaos compatible... And so I just stop. 

I'm giving myself hives. 

I got hives reading this.    Are there some mature kids in the group that you can entrust to help out?  Usually when kids are given some responsibility and trusted by an adult they'd help you keep an eye out or alert you when somebody falls in.

Seriously.  What were you thinking?  32 kids?!  At the same time?!!!   I'd call the Army for some help.  This could be anarchy!  

[Deleted]

Lol. I had planned on groups of four. Hadn't gotten as far as rope yet, but I do have an inordinate amount of bungee I could utilize... 

Trying to decide if I should let them pick groups, or assign groups for taking things out of the pond part with one older, two middle age, one young kid per group, so there will be more older eyes on the young ones. 

One good thing about homeschool events is (there should be) lots of parents to help at least.

[thyme4change]

I threw the world's lamest bridal shower 20 years ago. My friend is so gracious and smooth, she made the best of it.

Why? Are you planning something that is about to go south? Your story sounds intriguing!

[lynnerself]

My disaster was the other way. We once invited 30 people to a party and no one could come.

[thyme4change]

Doh. I saw all the posts but thought your story was by another poster. I am too old to use my cell phone for web I guess.

[yogiii]

I can't get past 32 kids

[Deleted]

32 kids is not a big deal. I have art day every year, two days in a row actually because when it gets over 50 kids it can be hard to get to all the paint and clay etc I have strewn all about... I routinely have 30+ each day then. And it's no problem. And there are sharp things. And paint ... But it's on my turf.

Parents do mill around. I think it's just that people are used to a certain level of 'free learning spirit' with me. My father is not so , unconstrsined. And there are legitimate concerns. It's just that he's a bit touchy. Not powder keg any more, but small eruption possible. I'm sure it will be fine. But I didn't sleep much. I also dreamed of losing a kid in the woods.

[Deleted]

I was hoping to hear some more stories though ... I thought it might be an interesting topic. Maybe though disasters are few and far between, and of that we can be thankful!

[happyhoix]

I organized a disasterous memorial service for my late sister. We have such picky eaters in the family it was hard to find a restaurant everyone agreed on, and then when we did pick on, the food was cold and gooey when I got it to the venue, 40 minutes late due to the restaurant not having things ready on time (they got the hot food ready first, then fiddled with the salads for 30 minutes, which is why the food was stone cold when I finally got it to the venue).

Then instead of spending the lunch remembering my late sister, my mom, who has dementia, kept asking where she was, and where her kids were (she had no kids) - we'd already told her once before that DS had passed away, and Mom had gotten very upset about it, so no one wanted to tell her a second time (and get her upset all over again) so we ended up trying to talk about my sister without mentioning that she had passed.

Horrible lunch, horrible memorial service.

[Value Buy]

Yep.
 2008, the night of the election.
It was supposed to be a Republican victory party..........................

[Deleted]

Every event that I have ever planned has been a disaster.  I just can't get it right.  (I'm a perfectionist.)  I have friends who thrive on every little detail, which I refuse to focus on because that would drive me nuts.  One in particular spent $75 handcrafting the invitations.  Do you know what people do with the invitations once the event is over?

So I "help" with events, but it is usually money or something I can buy.  A Costco cake is my usual contribution.  I refuse to be in charge. 

[MJ2.0]

DS's first birthday party. I tried to do everything myself and it was a disaster. He hasn't had a party since. His 4th birthday is at the end of July.  I'm thinking of having a very small "play date party" with 3 of his little friends - just go to a park and either grill or get pizzas ordered, bring cake and refreshments, and let the kids run wild. No gifts!

[thyme4change]

May 13, 2015 7:30:55 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

Every event that I have ever planned has been a disaster.  I just can't get it right.  (I'm a perfectionist.)  I have friends who thrive on every little detail, which I refuse to focus on because that would drive me nuts.  One in particular spent $75 handcrafting the invitations.  Do you know what people do with the invitations once the event is over?

So I "help" with events, but it is usually money or something I can buy.  A Costco cake is my usual contribution.  I refuse to be in charge. 

In general, my theory is that mostly people who come just want to be together and hang out. A party that isn't perfect is usually more fun than a party that doesn't happen.  Granted - I am not talking about the kind of 'event' that involves invitations and all.  But a good portion of the time, getting a group of people together, giving everyone a beer and a taco and everything else will be fine.

I will say that I started being more careful about the guest list.  We had a dozen parties where we would sort of invite everyone we knew, but it didn't mean they all knew each other.  I was stressed out, because I felt like I needed to talk to everyone.  Of course, everyone did fine, but when I go to parties where the only thing everyone has in common is the host - sometimes I have a great time, and sometimes not.  We now have several groups of friends, and a small house - so we try to limit the parties to include one cohesive group.  That way everyone knows each other and has lots of people to talk to.

There was one big exception to that rule.  A couple of years ago there was a three day weekend, and I posted on facebook "Are we the only ones in town?  If you are around this weekend, come by tonight."  It was the largest and weirdest party we ever had.  Friends from high school, co-workers, neighbors - totally random people - some I hadn't seen in years.  We swam and had a movie going (that you could watch in the pool) and ate ice cream and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Usually people try to get out of town when it is that hot - but now I know that the ones who actually make it are a smaller percentage and just louder about what they did.  The rest of us are sitting around wishing there was something to do.  

[Deleted]

My mom always says 'don't cross streams' when inviting people. Ie. two different groups to same event...

Tacos and beer! Good idea

[Lizard Queen]

May 13, 2015 8:05:18 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

May 13, 2015 7:30:55 GMT -5 @southernsusana said:

There was one big exception to that rule.  A couple of years ago there was a three day weekend, and I posted on facebook "Are we the only ones in town?  If you are around this weekend, come by tonight."  It was the largest and weirdest party we ever had.  Friends from high school, co-workers, neighbors - totally random people - some I hadn't seen in years.  We swam and had a movie going (that you could watch in the pool) and ate ice cream and everyone seemed to have a good time.  Usually people try to get out of town when it is that hot - but now I know that the ones who actually make it are a smaller percentage and just louder about what they did.  The rest of us are sitting around wishing there was something to do.  

This sounds like the best kind of party--no expectations, just hanging out!

[thyme4change]

May 13, 2015 8:07:44 GMT -5 oped said:

My mom always says 'don't cross streams' when inviting people. Ie. two different groups to same event...

Tacos and beer! Good idea

Sometimes it is good - sometimes it is neutral.  It has never gone terribly wrong (that I know of.)

I have met some great people because friends had a party, and I ended up meeting someone who lives near me/has kids my age/works in my field, etc.  

The best part of meeting my friends' friends is that if something weird happens later and my friend wants to gossip about it, I have at least spent a little time with the person we are bagging on.  

[NancysSummerSip]

Not an event that we've done, but we've been to a few done by a car club DH belongs to. The club president is a problem drinker. As in, when she drinks, she's a problem. She's in charge of these events, and they always start out pretty well. They would stay that way, if no alcohol was served.
Some of these events have been in county parks, where no alcohol is allowed, but she brings her own and an adult sippy cup and just has a blast. Dances on picnic tables, yells at imaginary people, etc. She did the happy dance on the bar at a luncheon once - the luncheon was at a very exclusive country club and right after a funeral. People still talk about that one.

[milee]

May 13, 2015 9:16:29 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Not an event that we've done, but we've been to a few done by a car club DH belongs to. The club president is a problem drinker. As in, when she drinks, she's a problem. She's in charge of these events, and they always start out pretty well. They would stay that way, if no alcohol was served.
Some of these events have been in county parks, where no alcohol is allowed, but she brings her own and an adult sippy cup and just has a blast. Dances on picnic tables, yells at imaginary people, etc. She did the happy dance on the bar at a luncheon once - the luncheon was at a very exclusive country club and right after a funeral. People still talk about that one.

Note to self - one of next year's goals is to wrangle invites to Nancy's DH's car club party and Cawiau's family reunion. 

[NancysSummerSip]

May 13, 2015 9:35:35 GMT -5 milee said:

May 13, 2015 9:16:29 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Not an event that we've done, but we've been to a few done by a car club DH belongs to. The club president is a problem drinker. As in, when she drinks, she's a problem. She's in charge of these events, and they always start out pretty well. They would stay that way, if no alcohol was served.
Some of these events have been in county parks, where no alcohol is allowed, but she brings her own and an adult sippy cup and just has a blast. Dances on picnic tables, yells at imaginary people, etc. She did the happy dance on the bar at a luncheon once - the luncheon was at a very exclusive country club and right after a funeral. People still talk about that one.

Note to self - one of next year's goals is to wrangle invites to Nancy's DH's car club party and Cawiau's family reunion. 

Actually, you may be able to kill two birds with one stone. Stand by for a PM.

[The Captain]

I guess my wedding kinda counts.

Let's see - I wanted to elope.  DH wanted the whole dog and pony show.

Sigh.

A close relative passed a few days before the wedding so we had a wake and a funeral the day before, then at the wedding the focus was on the deceased (which I get but it was what it was).

Two cousins (with dates) who had RSVP's causing us to book an extra 25 seats didn't show, so we had a whole empty table. 

THEN DH dumped a whole serving dish of French dressing on my wedding dress during dinner, yep - right in my lap.  Yes, seltzer got most of it out but I had a big wet stain over my *ahem* crotch and DH wanted to do a dance with me, wet stain, pink spot and all, on the dance floor.



THEN we had the obligatory drunk uncle get too loud. 

Did I mention I wanted to elope?

At least the cake was good.

 

[wvugurl26]

A dinner party where the invited guests decided to head out of town to go skiing. Luckily substitute guests were found and dinner was delicious.

[wvugurl26]

Or a couple weekends ago we had friends out to the lake house. We caught a band earlier in the day then went back to the house for dinner. The dinner was wonderful. After dinner I was feeling badly. I ended up puking up my dinner. Discovered the next morning the onion soup mix we used for seasoning the potatoes had sulfites. The other package of mix went in the garbage. The sulfite allergy is fairly new. Nice reminder to read the dang labels on things I haven't had in a couple years.

[muttleynfelix]

I didn't plan it, but my local bridal shower was more or less a disaster. My coworkers wife who was helping my best friend plan it had to go on bedrest. My friends from college decided not to make the hour trip down for the shower. My boss decided to take a trip that weekend and my one coworker who was going to come ended up with pink eye. It was me, my best friend and my sister and at the venue some one kept trying to kick us out of the room my friend had reserved and paid for. I felt terrible for her to go through all that effort and no one showed up.

[muttleynfelix]

Oh when DS was a baby and SIL came to visit, I had meals plannes for every day well in advance since I had a 6 month old, MIL and BIL had just moved the previous week and going out to eat was difficult from our house. One afternoon we went to the nature Center amd after our hike, DH and I took DS home to nap and get supper started. At 3pm in the afternoon, the rest of them (6) went out to Red Robin without telling us and knowing that I had supper planned.

[andi9899]

Thing 1's sweet 16 was a disaster. Everything was fine until a week before when the lady from the church called and said due to frozen pipes, we couldn't have the party at the hall. I asked if she was referencing the pipes that had frozen 3 months prior. She said yes, they hadn't been fixed yet. I lost it and said some not very Christian things about how they had months to fix that and that she needed to figure it out. She suggested bringing in port a potties since there was no running water. I told her that was gross and it's February, so it's cold and not an acceptable option. Luckily we have sister churches and she opened up the hall from the other church and I had to put a sign at the original church saying to go to the other one and call or message anyone I had contact information for. So she ended up having her party in what looked like the 1970s since that hall hasn't been rented out in years. It was a good time, just not what we wanted for her. Oh well. I got my money back for the inconvenience.