How to Throw the Ultimate Divorce Party

By Eileen Velthuis

Are you newly or soon-to-be divorced? The aftermath of a divorce can be very emotional; you may be left feeling heartbroken or angry. A common assumption is that a divorce means you and your spouse failed at marriage, but with approximately 50 percent of all marriages ending in divorce, it’s time to reinvent the meaning of the word!

Divorce can be an opportunity for renewal and for reexamining your goals as you start the next exciting chapter in your life. Holding a divorce party can be a great way for you to heal, and it can be an occasion for your loved ones to do the same. After all, your divorce may have affected others such as your extended family members and mutual friends. If you and your ex-spouse are on good terms, you can host a joint divorce party to demonstrate that your loved ones do not have to choose sides or to signify a continued commitment to raising your children together.

Alternatively, hosting a divorce party solo can symbolize that you’re ready to move on and meet new people. You can poke fun at your ex-spouse, celebrate the warm memories you had with him or her, or concentrate on you and what you want going forward.

Along with step-by-step instructions for hosting the ultimate divorce party, How to Throw the Ultimate Divorce Party goes deeper to look at the situations often surrounding divorce and divorce parties, and offers sound advice about moving on from a divorce in a healthy and positive way.

Topics include:
· A "how-to" party planning guide
· The different types of divorce parties, celebrations, and ceremonies
· Discussions with a lawyer, celebrants, and event planner to answer common questions
· Helpful resources for event planning and for the newly and soon-to-be divorced
· Checklists to keep you organized
· ― And more!

How to Throw the Ultimate Divorce Party contains all the information you need to plan your event, so you can mark the occasion and move forward with confidence!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Self-Counsel Press
• Release date: Sep 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781770408562

Eileen Velthuis

Eileen Velthuis writes and edits for a variety of publications and organizations, and has worked as a marketing specialist/copywriter and as a community newspaper reporter. She is the author of How to Throw the Ultimate Divorce Party.

Book preview

1

Divorce Parties: What’s the Deal?

What’s gaining ground as the newest trend for married, separating couples? Divorce parties!

It is often estimated that 50 percent of marriages will end in divorce, and some people have decided that just as marriage begins with a party, so should it end.

Say the words divorce party and you may receive blank stares, or worse, hostility. But you shouldn’t be celebrating divorce! That’s so dark and macabre! Some people think that by being associated with any divorce party, they’ll be jinxing their own relationship, or celebrating a failure rather than a new beginning.

Regardless of the fact that divorce brings up all kinds of unwanted thoughts and feelings, it still happens; why must it be kept quiet and whispered about rather than be recognized as something that happens whether we want it to or not?

Contrary to the bad reactions others may have, rather than mourn being single again, couples who choose to focus on the positive may decide to throw a party —together or separately— to toast their new chapter in life, and this can be a healthy way to attain some closure while welcoming the future with open arms.

Truly, divorce party is not an oxymoron; it’s a real way to mark a milestone, and it’s becoming a bigger, soon-to-be-mainstream trend in an emerging industry. Whether you are divorcing your partner and looking for a way to celebrate flying solo again (we’ll call this a sole party), or you and your soon-to-be-ex want to get everyone together to let them know that you are parting as friends and you don’t want them to feel they need to choose sides (we’ll call this a joint party), a divorce party may be a great option for you. Of course, if you don’t feel like hosting a party but you do want to mark the occasion so you can move on, a divorce ceremony may be more your style (more on divorce ceremonies in section 3.).

Divorce parties (and ceremonies) are not so much about mourning a loss; they are about celebrating the next chapter of your life and moving toward your new future in a healthy way. This book will approach divorce parties in this way, discussing how these parties have come about, how they are growing, and who (friends and family) and what (legal and emotional aspects) you should consider before throwing the party. It will also cover the basics of planning a divorce event, and it will offer you resources for divorce issues and event planning. Section 6., at the end of this book, provides you with links to the news articles referenced as well as a URL for a YouTube video of a divorce celebration. The goal here is a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind book on divorce parties that offers you, the reader, more than just a how to party planning guide.

As Susan J. Elliott wrote in her book Getting Past Your Breakup: How to Turn a Devastating Loss into the Best Thing That Ever Happened to You, Right now, the best thing to do is to meet this challenge head on, work through your grief, make those plans, and change your life.

No one can tell you how you should feel or how long it should or will take you to get over a divorce and move on, but marking your divorce with a party or ceremony, in the same sort of way you mark other life events, may just be the catalyst you need to heal the old and embrace the new.

1.1 Celebrities Are Doing It

Celebrating singledom after marriage breakdown is a growing phenomenon; you may have first heard of it in North America several years ago when Travis Barker, drummer in the band Blink 182, and his now-ex Shanna Moakler, actress, divorced. She