Having a party planner is a luxury, especially since I know how to plan an event. As a corporate communications executive, I oversaw corporate events. Big and small.

But just like those days, when I had event managers working for me, having a planner has taken a whole lot of stress out of the process.

I highly recommend it. Especially if you don’t have the $250,000 budgets we used to have in Silicon Valley.

My planner negotiated contracts, helped us finalize our venue, found us caterers, arranged tastings and DJ meetings, worked through decor issues and in general, has made this a pretty easy effort.

The venue is probably a little oversized for our party. And I am a big fan of crowded parties. When you’ve got less space, people mingle, there’s a good party buzz and everyone has more fun.

So part of this week’s confab at the venue was planning a design that would force people closer together. My planner, the decor consultant and the caterer all weighed in on that.

My planner and I have, however, teamed up on decor. I like color and since M. is colorblind, we’re going to use some that he can actually see.

(Can you imagine not being able to see the blue of an ocean or the green of a spring day?)

Besides flowers, our party will have dim lighting and candles. M. and I have already started looking for just the right candles and vases. But as usual, my planner had great money-saving advice on where and how