Preparing For An Outdoor Party At Your House

Entertaining at home is a great way to show off your space and have fun with the people who you enjoy being around. Try not to stress yourself out or feel overwhelmed by the process. Take it one step at a time and be sure to plan ahead.

There’s a lot to think about when prepping for a party. Make lists and get excited about how wonderful of an event it will be if you’re properly organized. Remember to have fun during the planning phase and make decisions based on what you think will be best. See how to prepare for an outdoor party.

Guest List

Start by making a guest list and outlining how many people you want to have at your party. Consider the amount of space you’re working with and the purpose of the event. Write down names and then start adding or subtracting based on your own discretion. Ask yourself why you’re inviting particular people and if you think they’ll be enjoyable on the day of the party. Don’t invite someone just because you think you have to. You’ll regret it when it comes time to host the party. Think about how large you want the gathering to be, and remember you’re going to have to feed everyone too. Decide if kids will be invited or if it’s an adult only celebration. Go over the list with your spouse or close friend and make sure it’s where you want it before you start sending out invitations.

Invitations

Come up with a party theme and design the invitations around the main focus. Print them off or go online and create your own. This is your chance to win people over with your festive invitations. Let the invites reflect what a great time it’s going to be and that they’ll be missing out if they aren’t able to attend. Choose attractive colors, images and fonts to get your message across. Take your time designing them and coming up with the right language to catch their attention. Remember to include all of the important details like date, time and location. Let guests know how to RSVP to your party, so you know how many people will be coming and eating. Call them up individually if you don’t hear from them to confirm if they’re attending or not. This will help you plan the meal and any activities.

Location

Walk around your yard and think about where you want the party to take place. If you have a patio or deck, it’s a great spot to have everyone gather when they first arrive. Maybe place a tent out in your backyard for serving the food and shading people from the sun or rain. Decide where you want people to gather and place the drinks and bar nearby. Also, check your outdoors for any pests or mosquitos. If you see any signs of pests around your home or lawn, call the professionals at Lake Norman pest control who specialize in this line of work and will be able to help you eliminate them. You don’t have to live with hornets or have uncontrollable weeds popping up everywhere. It’s important you speak with a technician who can pinpoint the problem area and rid your home of these pests.

Toilets

It might seem obvious, but providing adequate toilet facilities for your party guests is crucial. Consequently, why not rent some portable toilets? Two of the biggest concerns when renting portable toilets for a party are comfort and size. Therefore, for smaller events or parties at home, a portable luxury toilet trailer could be the perfect solution. When shopping around for amenities for your party, be sure to contact portable toilet hire companies in plenty of time prior to your big event to ensure that you can secure the best possible toilets for your needs.

Seating

It’s important to have enough chairs and seating when throwing a party. It’s easy to forget this when you’re planning and looking outside your window. You think you have plenty because there’s enough for your family. Recall how many people you invited and where they’re all going to go. Not everyone’s going to want to sit, but you should plan to have enough for most of the people. You can rent chairs from a company if necessary or borrow from the neighbors, but it’s a good idea to buy the kind of chair covering you can re-use time and time again for events you throw in the future; they’re such a quick fix for creating the perfect party look. Put down blankets in your yard if it’s more of a casual setting where guests can relax. Use your indoor furniture for extra seating options. When combining these ideas, you should have more than enough to please everyone.

Menu & Drinks

The best part of any party are the food and drink selections. Decide if you’re going to cater the event or try to cook a meal. Grilling is a great option for an outdoor gathering. Buffets offer lots of options and feed a large amount of people too. Calculate the amount of people you’ll be feeding from your RSVPs. Always have more than enough food in case people want seconds, or more guests show up than what you expected. The last situation you want is to be short on food. Provide a mix of drink options suitable for anyone’s taste. Serve guests their first drink and then let them serve themselves after that if you prefer. Keep the coolers full and the food warm. No one will complain or be unhappy if they’re well fed, and the drinks are flowing. If you want to add something a bit more special to the party, why not try Custom Water bottles for your guests, it can have the name of your party or everybody who attends name on it! You can decide on the size of the bottle too, the possibilities are endless.

Decorations

Use your party as a chance to decorate your home in style. Buy decorations based on the theme. Put some in your kitchen and back door area leading to the backyard. Include décor on your back patio and throughout your backyard. Buy items people can wear like sunglasses and necklaces or that they can decorate their drinking glasses with like a fun umbrella. Guests will love the festive ambiance. Include lighting options for when it gets dark. String lights along the deck, use tea lights and hurricane lanterns for an extra spark. You’ll want to be able to see each other and still enjoy the party when it gets dark. Get creative and make your backyard look like there’s a party going on.

Activities & Entertainment

Every party needs to have a few activities, games or entertainment. What you do all depends on the type of party you’re throwing. Some ideas include a volleyball game, hiring a band or comedian and setting up an obstacle course for adults. Come up with solutions that’ll get people talking and laughing. You want guests to feel relaxed and comfortable. It’s not necessary to force anyone to participate, but have options in case there are those who want to join in. Having an activity is nice when the party gets dull, or the energy is low. Tell everyone just to have fun and let loose. Give them an incentive to play by having nice prizes for the winners.

Music

It’s important to have your playlist lined up well ahead of time. Come up with tracks you know will be a hit with the group of people you’re with at the time. Stick to classics and plan to have a playlist going for at least five hours. Start running it from the beginning of the party and play it at a level so you can hear it, but that you’re still able to have conversations. Avoid cranking the speakers and interrupting the flow of people talking. If you want the music to be a bigger part of the event, hire a local band to play for your guests or get the diamondboxx xl2 speaker so you can play your tunes loudly and get the party going! They’ll love the live entertainment and probably spend part of the evening dancing. No matter which way you go, the point is to have music present and give the party a good vibe from the start.

Pictures

You’re going to want lots of pictures from your gathering. If you don’t want to be messing with it during the evening, hire a professional photographer to come and take the pictures for you. It’ll be worth the money, so you don’t have to take time away from the night to attend to the task. Otherwise, if you don’t mind taking the time to snap shots with your phone or ask a friend to help you out. Get a few action shots of guests and pictures of the décor and party setup. They won’t mind once they’ve had a few drinks and are enjoying themselves. It’ll be fun to look at the photos the next day and see your successful event in action. You’ll want the memories and be able to use the images to remember how to throw a party.

Cleanup

Enjoy your party as it’s going on and don’t worry so much about the mess. Pick up items as you walk around and mingle, but don’t let it be the focus on your night. You deserve to have fun after you planned all of the details. If you’re feeling awake, clean up a little bit after all of the guests have left. Avoid cleaning up in front of people, so it doesn’t look like you’re kicking them out of your home. Do what you can and then get some rest. You’ll be able to finish the remainder in the morning when you’re more refreshed.

Conclusion

Don’t panic if you become the party host. Make a plan and adhere to your multiple lists. Give yourself a chance to throw a successful event and impress your guests. It takes practice, so the more you do it, the easier it becomes. This is how to prepare for an outdoor party at your house.