Howdy Y’all. I’m so sorry it has been so long since I’ve posted. I’ve been in a sort of ‘funk’ as some would say. I started a new job recently that has kind of put my out of the mood and I’ve been un-inspired. Luckily, we have the holidays and that generally brings people back to their right senses. [most of the time]
I thought this would be a great opportunity to bring in some tips and tricks when hosting a party in your home or at a particular venue. Often times, it can be quite stressful to be the host of a party whether it’s for friends, family or even co-workers. I mean, the food alone can dry out your pocket! I know, I know – – I’m not making hosting a party sound very exciting. But, just one moment – I’m going to show you exactly just how to make it so exciting that you will want to host the next soiree!
Here is the best thing about my tips: You can utilize them for any occasion! This can be — your upcoming holiday party, your New Years Eve party, or even hosting your own birthday! Are you ready to learn how to be the next go to person that all your friends want to plan their next big event?
1 – Send Out An Invite – Formal or Informal
An invite can seem over the top – however, in my opinion, it is not. An invite provides the attendee the following things:
- A hard, concrete date, time & place to be at.
- It allows the attendee to get excited about something they do not regularly do.
- It shows the attendee that this event is serious.
To be clear, an ‘invite’ can be a mailed card, an evite via email, or you can even make a facebook page for it. Personally, I tend to lean towards a mailed invite because it is a bit more personal and I enjoy helping the guests know how important the event is to me.
However, if that is not your thing — here is an example of my evite I created for a holiday party I hosted a couple years ago.
2 – Send Reminder Emails/Notifications
Here is my opinion regarding reminder emails or notifications of some sort… Your guest may complain about how they are hearing from you too much but haven’t you ever heard someone complain about not knowing something?
My tricks for this particular tip is this:
- When sending an email or notification provide new information or an update regarding the party plans. Try to not just say hi and continuously tell them the event is next week.
- Make your notification fun and/or interactive – no one likes reading long boring emails or texts
- Space them out – at some point your guest might stop reading your email if you send them 5 minutes apart from each other
The nice point to make about sending reminders is that – as the host, you know your guests were provided with detailed instructions regarding the upcoming event. You can check that off on the Hosting To Do List!
3 – Pick A Theme For The Event
This particular tip is by far one of my favorite tips. Sure – to some, it may be really obvious but – to others, it is not and that’s okay! Decorating or providing a theme for your guests is important because it not only adds excitement to your event but it also helps your guests partake in something that they don’t normally do on a daily basis.
Often times we get stuck in our everyday life that we forget to have fun and step out of the norm. Luckily, this is where social events come in handy. Telling your guests to wear plaid to your holiday party is an easy way to get your guests involved without stressing them out. (Plus it makes for memorable photos later!)
Once you know what your theme is going to be – use this theme everywhere from your invites to your dinner plates. It will surely bring your gathering to a new level and your guests will definitely get into it especially after seeing all the hard work you put into planning it!
4 – Make Sure Your Space Is A Clean Environment & Offer Guests To Stay The Night
Question for you… Have you seen that show where it follows a person who has a particular hoarding problem? Like someone who is literally buried in their own trash. Gross right? Extreme, I know. Here is my point: Don’t let people see your ‘every day living nature’. People want to enjoy themselves when they go to a party not feel like they are going to get a rash after they leave your house.
We all have things that people don’t want to see so my tip is to stow it away for the day. It isn’t going to hurt putting something into a room that won’t be used just to make the space that much cleaner. In my opinion – if you are hosting at your house or apartment, it should feel like a venue that you paid hundreds of dollars for.
My second piece to this is allow the guests to stay the night. I believe in this obviously for safety reasons but also because I want my guests to have the best time that they can. Guests may be traveling a long distance to attend your party, offering them a place to stay means that they don’t have to leave early to drive home — and it makes them more likely to attend! I also don’t want them to feel like they can’t have that second glass of wine. So – if you are able allow them to stay at your place so they can continue the fun until they fall asleep!
5 – Be On Time & Greet Your Guests
The really cool thing about this point is that… it’s really obvious. You’re hosting of course you should be on time. However, ‘on time’ can mean multiple things.
- Make sure you are at the location when you said you would be there
- Providing food? (of course you are..) Let’s make sure that it is out on the table ready for guests to eat
- Greet your guests with a big smile and explain to them where they can put their things (if they have any), where the bathrooms are, and where they can find the food & beverages!
Being on time – is being ready. If you aren’t ready by the time your guests arrive then the party starts off on a bumpy note and no one wants that!
6 – Always Have Food, Beverages, Music, & Seating
Ahh this is a really good one. I have a feeling that I know what you’re thinking.. ‘Not everyone has the money to provide food and beverages’. Here’s the thing, I’m not loaded with money either! However, there’s ways you can plan and coordinate so you don’t have to! Here’s how:
- Plan a Potluck! Just because you’re hosting doesn’t mean your guests can’t bring something delicious to pass! I’ve hosted several potlucks and to be honest, they’ve been some of my favorite parties! Tip: Suggest a potluck theme such as: Mexican Dinner, Cozy Goodness (chili, hot foods, warm chocolate & strawberries), or Desserts Only – trust me this is so good.
- Make the party at a time after lunch or dinner. This doesn’t mean that there shouldn’t be food provided this just means that less is required. Think snacks instead of a full meal.
- Invite guests to donate to the food intake – this would mean you buy all the food and then your guests Venmo, PayPal or pay you back by bringing a beverage or something of the sort.
- Host your party at a location that provides food if guests choose to want to eat or drink – for instance – a bowling alley or a restaurant.
- Always provide a variety of music – I’d like to say this is obvious but to some it might not be so, I’ve added it to this list of must haves.
- My tip for seating is this: Always make sure you provide enough seating depending on the style of you occasion. If you are having a cocktail party, at a cocktail time of day, for a cocktail amount of people then no – I don’t think you need a seat for everyone. However, anything other than style or a dance party should have plenty of seating. If you don’t have the seats – Borrow some! It’s okay!
7 – Always Let Your Guests Eat First
Okay this one is just a point to be courteous to your guests. It is a sign of respect that you appreciate your attendees for coming to your event so if you do nothing else – let them eat first!
8 – Give A Favor
Number 8… This one not all of you are going to agree with and hey… that’s okay! Something that most of you won’t know about me is that I can be a tad bit… dramatic. Luckily, it is 2019 and we just have to accept this little fact about me – I do.
This point got on my top 13 because providing a favor (big or small) tells your guests that you were thinking about them as well as shows them that they are appreciated for attending your event. My favorite part about it all is that most of the time they aren’t expecting it! Any time you can surprise your attendees you should do it!
I’m going to write a post sometime in the future on some favor ideas for hosting an at home party but for now trust me it’s a good idea. 😉
9 – Have At Least 3 Interactive Activities & Provide Back Ups
Ok, I did not realize I put the two dramatic ones right after each other. Though, maybe this one is a bit easier than #8. A party is a party. What do I mean by this? I mean, when you’ve told your friends, family or co-workers you are putting on a gathering for them at X location you could just stop there. But why?
Whenever I plan/host a party I always like to provide activities. Here are some reasons why:
- A party is [sometimes] hard to get started in the beginning – Why do you think most people go straight to the bar for a drink first? So, how about you kick off your shindig with a party game to get things rolling quicker? (after they get their drink of course)
- Do you ever get those stories that people start off saying… ‘Remember that one party…’ and most people are like ‘Which one?’ How about ‘Remember when you had to go bobbing for apples at Fall Harvest Party?’ – Provide a reason for them to be remembered
- Listen, I’m going to give you the obvious – I don’t ever want my guests to be bored. Yes, there could be times that too many planned games can be ‘too much’ but if you provide these options – you always have a reason to do something.
I also like to provide my guests with prizes for each game that I plan. Prizes don’t need to be pricey or fancy – but competing for a prize gets even the quietest wallflower involved. Now, not all games will have a prize but I do like to surprise my guests by giving them a prize as a thank you for playing and of course congrats on winning.
At some point, I will provide you with a post on my suggested activities for various types of gatherings.
10 – Provide Clear Instructions On What Guests Are Suppose To Do
I, especially, like this point because I tend to have quite a few things going on during my parties that I always want to make sure that my guests know what the 411 is. That being said however, I also want to make sure I don’t reveal any surprises but just hints as to whats to come!
So, my tip is to just make sure that your guests are clued in to what is important like – Do they need to be somewhere at a specific time, do signs need to be made for things that don’t need announcing, or when is food being served?
Things like these need to be told to your guests so make sure you have an efficient way of telling them!
11 – Clean Up After Your Party
Okay, this one is one of my pet peeves. I’ve worked in the event industry and I’ve noticed -so many- hosts leave the venue trashed. Honestly, it is unacceptable.
Respect the venue and the employees that work for them and pick up after yourself.
One of the rules to hosting is to clean up afterwards. Making sure you leave the space the way you found it is just as important as all the planning that happens before the party. If you are using a space outside of your home you want to leave a good impression in case you need to use that space again in the future! Plus: picking up after the party also allows you to make sure that you have not forgotten any of your personal items and the items of your guests.
12 – Stay At The Party Until The Last Guest Leaves
If I have chosen to host a party – I never leave before my guests; I always stay until my last guest has left the venue. Even at my own wedding my dear friends – my newly wedded husband and I were helping the staff pick up after our wedding.
The big point here is gratitude. I always want to make sure that each and every guest has enjoyed themselves to the very last second. Many of you may not completely agree with this point but it is important to me because hosting a party is a big deal.
Wouldn’t you be a bit concerned if one of the hosts left their own party early?
13 – Say Thank You
Lastly and most importantly, Thank everyone. I do not just mean your guests – thank the venue, thank the staff, thank the security, thank you family, your friends, your pets even and of course – Thank your guests.
In my opinion – you can never thank too much. As a host, you have so much to think of and so much to do that sometimes you just want to go in a corner and not speak to anyone but trust me – a Thank You goes a LONG WAY.
My point to this is that – the people you invited, didn’t have to show up but they did and I know that if you followed steps 1 thru 12 they had an AMAZING time so an extra thing you can do to top it all off is show them so much appreciation for stepping through the doors to your party. And guest what – they are going to definitely be at your next one, I guarantee it.
I realize that was a great deal of information that I just unloaded on you, but I hope you use these 13 tips to make your next party amazing!
Planning and hosting an event can often times be extremely stressful but my final tip to you is this: make it fun and it won’t be too stressful.
Thank you so much for reading and I sincerely hope this post was helpful in some way.
Please leave your mindful thoughts and kind suggestions in the comments below! I’d love to hear about some of your parties you’ve hosted or been to!
In the meantime,
