Purse Swapping Parties

The idea of a purse swapping party is that everyone brings a purse that they no longer want and swaps it out for another purse. One woman's junk is another woman's treasure. I've seen this swapping action live and it's quite the site. Imagine black Friday during the Thanksgiving weekend all crammed into one hour of purse swapping. The wildness is entertainment alone.

What is the host responsible for?

1. Make a list of all of the women that you know might be interested in a purse swapping party. Send out the invite list via e-mail or flyer about 3 weeks in advance. This will ensure enough to time for everyone to put the date on their calendar. Request that they RSVP so you know exactly how many people to feed or accommodate. I would suggest no less than 10 women and no more than 20.

2. Make sure to specify whichever types of purses you plan on having. Some people really like to do designer purse swap parties so everyone goes home with a quality purse, however its just as much fun to do older purses as well. It may be wise to ask each person what type of purse they are bringing to ensure they are all fairly similar.

3. Once your receive your head count, plan on making food. Wild women expend a lot of energy and they will need to be fed. Finger foods, wine, champagne, water, pop, fruit, vegetables, and other snacks should suffice. If you are worried about the cost of hosting the party then politely ask for $5.00 to cover your food and drink expenses. You can also use some of the money left over to give extra special bonuses or surprises at the end of the purse swap. See below for more information on party favors and surprises.

4. When all parties have arrive you will be responsible for putting all of the purses on display. Allow about 30 minutes for everyone to mingle and look over the purses. This will get the women exciting and many of them will be pointing and talking amongst themselves about which one they secretly want or desire to take home. You can even display the purses on different pedestals or elevations to give the appearance of a purse shop or shopping at a mall.

5. Try to have a couple of your own purses in the reserves for those women who feel like they may have gotten a raw deal at the end of the purse swapping party. Most of the time you can pick up a few older purses at the goodwill, garage sales, or an outlet mall for a few dollars. This will ensure that everyone goes home happy and has a great time. The idea is to have the women swap purses that they would still consider carrying but don't care for any longer. Otherwise, you'll end up with a bunch of junk that no one wants.

6. Write down a numbers from 1-X, with X being the amount of women you have at the party, and put those numbers in a bag for everyone to draw. Ask for the person who owns the most purses and she will pick her number first. After that the number picking can go by whatever measure you'd like. Last name, first name, age, etc. The easier way to draw numbers is to put everyone's name in a hat and draw names. First name drawn goes first, so on and so on.

7. It's always a good idea to have a mirror available so women can see how the purse would look while they are carrying it.

8. Party favors are always a great idea. If you collect a small fee then you can spice up the party a little with goody bags filled with candles, fragrances, or lotions. My personal favorite is hiding $20.00 in the ugliest purse so whoever ends up with it at the end will not be stuck with a purse they don't want but an opportunity to buy a brand new purse! You can come up with limitless ways to add a little surprise at the end of the purse swap.

Need more ideas and instructions...check out the Purse Party Manual