Having people over on a Friday to complain about the week and have a drink requires very little effort – but what about when you’re hosting a significant event like a birthday party? You need to make sure your home looks great, you have enough space for your guests, everyone is entertained, and there’s enough food and drink to go around. This can be overwhelming, especially if it’s your first time, which is why we’ve gathered together the following helpful tips and ideas.
Defining the Event
Before getting caught up in the chaos of planning a home event, you need to add definitions and work out the format. For example, are your trying to wow your guests? Are you imparting knowledge? Or are you trying to raise funds? There are many reasons for throwing an event at home, and once you’ve defined it, you’ll find formatting much easier.
Set a Budget
In an ideal world, you’d have a bottomless pit of cash to use for your event, but that’s likely not the case. Spend some time working out how much you’re willing to spend for the event and then stick to it. If that means hiring partial catering and picking up the slack, so be it. If that means you can’t bring in the ice sculpture, leave it at the door.
If your budget begins to deplete, you can always turn to your guests to help out. For example, if you fear the drinks cabinet will run dry, have everyone bring a bottle. That way, you know that everyone’s had at least one drink of choice.
The Planning Stage
If you want to make your event a success, you need to spend time in the planning phase. The best way to do this is by splitting the event into sections including theme, catering, and entertainment. Within each section, you can write out a list of tasks and considerations that need to be completed before the event. When you’re writing the plan, it’s important to write down deadlines for each task.
You don’t need to accomplish everything on your own. In fact, we encourage you to bring in the help of your loved ones. Ask around to see if anyone is available to help out and let them choose a task from the pool. If you want to go all out, you could use a program like Trello to plan and track your project.
Keep It Simple
There’s no point in making life difficult for yourself, so keep the event as simple as possible. As long as you know what you’re trying to accomplish and you tick off the different elements of a great home event, you’re onto a winner. The more complicated your event, the more opportunity there is for something to go wrong.
Detail Is Key
If you want to bring the wow factor, you need to focus on every single detail from the decor to the greeting procedures. When you serve food, it’s important to make sure it looks great because people eat with their eyes before they consider taste. If you’ve set a dress code, are you leading by example? Is there anyone not taking part? If your event looks and feels incredible, your guests are less likely to notice any minor errors.
Check Your Home the Day Before
The day before your event, make sure everything in your home is functional by running a few checks. For example, is your toilet operating properly? If you need to have any work carried out, you can head over to MyBuilder to find qualified plumbers near me. As well as your home’s fixtures, it’s important to make sure you’ve got everything set for the event including enough food and drink supplies.
Have a Plan B
“Okay, time for plan B!”. Hopefully, you won’t have to say these words, but you never know what’s going to happen. You should always make sure you have a backup plan. For example, if you planned events outside, make sure you’ve got enough entertainment inside. If your caterers fall through, have you got a plan for feeding your guests?
Hire a Photographer
After putting so much effort into the event, it’s only right that you capture it. Therefore, we recommend hiring a photographer so that your guests won’t be distracted from your event by taking endless photos. Let the photographer get on with their job, leaving you free to keep everything running smoothly.
Take Away
The prospect of planning and throwing a successful event at home can be daunting. Spend time defining your goals and planning, which will help to keep you on track. Call in help from your loved ones to lighten the load. Finally, remember to check your home the night before and have a plan B in place.
