Tips for Throwing a New Year Party at Home

When you’ve got young children but you want to celebrate at this time of year, sometimes the best option it to throw a party in your home. Must we be mad?  Who throws parties at home? Quite the opposite of mad, though, Just thinking about things practically.

If your party is at home, there is no need for babysitters or driving out to set up a venue elsewhere. It is nigh on impossible to try and find a babysitter for new year parties, as they are all out celebrating too. Your kids can just be in their beds and guest can bring their kids for a little sleepover too. Here are a few tips for planning and throwing the best party that you can, from home.

Plan & Organise

There isn’t anything I love more than making a good old list. Seriously! Organisation is key for a party and it starts by setting a budget. This has to be the first thing you look at. How much do you have for food, drinks and decorations? The budget will mainly decide on how many people you can invite, which is why it is so important to start with it.

Once you know what there is to spend, you can look at the guest list. If you have had to cut down the guest list a little, you could ask a close friends or couple that are coming, to share the cost with you. They can be co-hosts and help out in other ways on the night too. Up to you, of course, though! When you know the names of people, you can start on the invites.

From parties we have had at home in the past, they are pretty casual. We have usually just sent out text messages to let people know about it. There are email options for this too, as well as using social media and making a Facebook event about it, for example. If you want it a little fancier, though, you can easily get some perfect invitations to post out or hand deliver. If you wanted to save a little, though, think about making the invitations yourself.

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Think of a Theme

Will the night have a theme? This can help decide on things like decorations and food. Sometimes having a potluck style party will make the planning, and cost, easier for you. You could also opt for a ‘bring your own bottle’ party, so you know that there is plenty to drink. Think about your guests and what will work best for them. If there will be lots of young ones there for some of the time, make sure you are catering for them too. Could they all watch a movie in a different room? If something like that would work, be sure to get some treats and popcorn for them. It will make such a difference and the kids will love being at our house.

Music & Games

Have a think about what kind of music or games you will have. You may have some top DJ equipment but chances are you don’t. I think that preplanning a playlist on something like Spotify is a great option, or even using something like YouTube.

As for games, these are a must, right? Before you decide which games are best, think about your guest. Do they know each other? If the answer is no, or not well, a few ice breaker games are good to start with. One of my favourites is ‘two truths and a lie’. You all share two true facts about yourself and then one that is made up. They can be as random as you like! Then the other guests have to try and guess which is the lie. They can ask you a few questions and it can be funny when they ask you questions about the lie. It is a good way to get to know the group.

The final point to note when planning a party at home is the exit plan. Will there be a ‘finish’ time? Will the guest be staying over? Once that has roughly been decided, make sure you are ready to go with the clean up too. Maybe that is just me, though? I can’t stand the mess. Make sure you have plenty of black bin bags at the ready just to chuck everything in.

I hope that you have a great festive season and enjoy all the parties you will be going too. Good luck if you opt for a party at home!

Rebecca x

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