Organising a house party can be a stressful time – particularly if you’ve never done it before.
On top of finding the right outfit and deciding on who you want to invite, you also need to think about the right music, the right food and the right alcohol. To give you a helping hand, we’ve rounded up four top tips for throwing an amazing get together.
Music makes a house party
Getting the right tunes for your house party is essential. With streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music making it easier than ever to find the right songs for your event, consider selecting one of their pre-made playlists for the big day. Alternatively, ask your guests to add a favourite song or two of their own when they enter your house party – that way, everybody has a song to look forward to, and there’ll be no disappointed guests.
Perfect your guest list
Deciding who to invite to your next house party may be tough, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to avoid the invitations altogether and post your event on Facebook. Take the time to think about who you’d like at your event – your best friends, closest family members and some select work colleagues. Don’t invite too many people – be realistic about how many you can fit into your space – and make sure you know who’ll be tagging along if you offer plus ones. If you’re hosting the party on your own, consider asking a couple of your friends to help organise the big day and provide some moral support.
Think of the finger food
Giving your guests something to nibble on when they step through the door is an excellent idea, so look around and consider some finger food for your house party. Martha Stewart’s easy party foods include goat cheese stuffed mushrooms, pigs in blankets, artichoke dip, creamy deviled eggs and homemade hummus, but if you’re not feeling as adventurous, opening up a couple of packets of crisps and ordering a pizza is enough to keep your guests fed.
Stock up on booze
Let’s face it – no house party would be complete without at least some alcohol! An excellent way to stock up your bar is to ask your guests to bring their own tipple, but you should also visit the local supermarket and get all of the necessary spirits, beers and wines for your guests to enjoy when they arrive. Consider filling an oversized serving bowl with ice to keep your drinks cool, or take advantage of one of the many bar fridges for sale. It’s easy to turn your drinks preparation and management from a chore into part of the celebrations.
There you have it – some of our top tips for the perfect party. Before you send out your invites, make sure you’ve got everything covered. If the property you’re throwing the party at isn’t yours, be sure to ask for permission and let the neighbours know that there could be a noisy night ahead. Party on!