Hosting Your Party
Delegate. DELEGATE! The time has come: your party is going to start soon. Grab a few close buddies and delegate duties. Or plan in advance and ask specific people or groups to be responsible for specific tasks. It only helps your attendance and trains volunteers to be future leaders.
This might sound tyrannical, but it can actually make them feel more involved — so long as you’re not giving them bathroom duty! Have someone set up the table, someone or a committee doing the decorations, and time will fly by.
- Consider delegating your guests, too, as a party idea. When guests are given a job not only do they feel like they’re part of the party magic but then they have to come! One person can bring a dessert, one person the ice, etc. Only together do you have a party — with way less responsibility on your part.
People need to be able to circulate, sit down, and use the washroom. Make sure there is handicap access and that bathrooms are geographically close. Rearrange the furniture as needed and planned out in your setup. Stash supplies somewhere accessible, but safe — when you run out of something, you’ll be prepared. The place has to be functional for you, too!
- To a certain extent, it’s just going to get messy. So while you should have a clean floor, a clean toilet, and a clean table, don’t bust out your toothbrush and start etching away years of grime. You can do that after the party, when you’re already on your hands and knees mopping up patches of mysterious sticky goo.
This can be as simple as throwing on a tablecloth and waiting for the potluck dishes to show up or as extravagant as lining the entire room in glitter snowflakes, making fake snow, and turning the AC on high. Luckily, there’s no wrong way to go about it.
- The one thing you shouldn’t forget, it’s lights. People love shiny things, especially if your party is outside. So, tiki torches, candles, Christmas lights (or variations thereof), and light-up decorations put the icing on the cake. Think what a lighting committee could come up with to add that extra something!
- If your party is hard to find, put up signs! Going to a new place can be nerve-wracking, especially with the fiasco that parking can be. A few signs can alleviate your guests’ frustrations. This applies to not only parking, but bathrooms, chaperone rooms or large venues with large geographic area like churches. Don’t make guest come into your party frustrated because you have sent them on a hunt to find your party on a large church or public center. Again…. think committees. A logistics committee is a sure fire winner where guests are concerned.
This should only partly be your job — you should be having fun, too! You might think of assigning this to particularly bubbly or extroverted attendees in advance. Give them a simple list of communication ideas. Maybe a different colored wrist band, glass or name tag. But do keep an eye on the feel of the room — does the music need to be changed? Has anything run out? Are people mingling appropriately? Mix ’em up and get them talking if you have to! New people may need a nudge in the right direction.
- You can suggest games or activities for your guests, too. Turn your sundae bar into a sundae eating contest or your cartoon sandwich into a photo shoot. It’s normal for guests to want to follow the host’s lead, so show them what kind of party you want to be having!
- If you have different groups of friends present, you’re the glue that brings them together. So break out your inner social butterfly and find ways to get them talking to each other. Remember to have a few mingler games on hand in case one flops or the party starts to become dull. Parties are so much more fun for everyone when new experiences are had and new relationships are made.
