7 Ideas for Hosting a Great Party

If you’re looking to become the ultimate party host amongst your friends this year but aren’t sure how to make the party go off, here are some great ideas.

Of course, there’s the cost, food, party games or activities, and the drinks and general entertainment to keep track of, which can become rather complicated and tricky if you don’t have a clear direction.

With these points in mind, we know hosting a fabulous party might seem near-impossible, and with that, here are some tips for you below; take a look!

For our first tip, it’s integral to get your food and drink ideas out of the way early!

The food will set the tone for the party, as will complementing drinks, so we suggest that you have a plan set in place for the meals you will be ordering or cooking for your guests before you make plans for anything else.

Drink and food are also going to impact some essentials such as table placement, where your guests eat and whether they’ll need a lot of napkins or not. For example, finger foods can get quite messy so an outdoor party might be on the cards this year – and with that, you will need to plan for outdoor activities.

Lastly, getting in on planning food and drink right away will mean more time to snag deals on snacks and drinks. Grays has a great selection of wines, and a site like this will give you time to order online and be delivered straight to your door.

Not only is it more thoughtful to send out invites to your party as early as possible, but you’ll be able to get a clearer picture of who can attend or not. That said, it’ll be easy to organise catering or food prep and seating and general ‘hang out’ spots in the house if you know how many people are attending.

Sending out your invites around three weeks before the event will give you plenty of time to organise and plan.

For the fun part of hosting, it’s always great to pick a theme and attach this to your invitations.

With a theme, you’ll be setting a tone for the party, and often this can add more fun to whatever you’re celebrating (if you’re celebrating anything at all) and will mean that you also have a clearer picture of how to decorate for the party.

By choosing a theme, you’ll also have the chance to play some games based on the idea, such as an ugly sweater competition for the holidays or a best-dressed challenge.

The best parties are the ones that keep us full, and for this, we have a great tip, and that is to invest in some filling side dishes and snacks.

Of course, your primary meal or catering will take care of the main hunger pangs, though when guests start to get a little more hungry into the evening, you’ll want to have some ‘heavy snacks’ like pasta bites or a vegetable bake on hand.

You may also be able to ask your guests to bring snacks to share with them to keep on top of anyone getting too ravenous at the party.

We are referring to the signage for both your home and the street!

We’re sure you will agree when we say there’s nothing more awkward and sometimes anxiety-inducing than not knowing how to get to someone’s home before a party or knowing which house is whose in the street. That said, some simple signage out the front is a great place to start.

Signage for bathrooms in the home is a good idea, too, so guests know exactly where the toilet is. You might also want to include a Google Map in your invite if it is electronic (most are these days).

Ideally, you also want to make sure your home is guest ready. Indeed, now is not the best time to plan kitchen or bathroom renovations. If you are considering home improvement works, it is a good idea to give yourself plenty of time to get professionals to finish and yourself to get used to the new design before you throw a party. For bathroom upgrades, for instance, party organisers recommend finishing home improvement projects at least a couple of weeks before the party is due. Otherwise, your home could still be cluttered with temporarily relocated items!

Music is very subjective, and so for this idea, setting up a public playlist on Spotify or Apple Music and giving your friends and family to add their favourite tunes is an excellent place to start.

Music can also go hand in hand with games if your guests are willing to get down to some of those old-school tunes like Cha Cha Slide.

To end the list of ideas, it’s always great to have a few games ready to go right from the outset. If you have a group of friends who aren’t too familiar with one another, then fun games that you can use as an ice breaker will come in handy here, think ‘never have I ever’ and ‘truth or dare.’