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Pulling off an amazing party takes a lot of work, but don't let that intimidate you or deter you from hosting the party of your dreams! All the effort you put in to create a really special event will be worth the time, planning, and elbow grease when you hear your friends raving about what a wonderful time they had. If you follow my tips on how to get organized ahead of time, I think you'll find that the work doesn't have to be a hassle, and you may even have fun with the tasks. I know I do! In this post, I've tried to distill my various theories about how to throw a great house party into a few pieces of practical advice. These are by no means hard and fast rules; they are just some words of "wisdom" I've come up with based on my own experiences entertaining over the years. I hope you will find it useful.  Choosing a theme I find that having a theme for your party, even if you don't ask folks to dress up, adds a cohesiveness that helps inform other decisions, from decorations to music to what food and drinks to serve. An overarching vision can really tie the whole thing together. Sometimes the theme is predetermined, depending on the occasion being celebrated (for example, if you’re throwing a party for Christmas or St. Patrick’s Day), but for other events, like a birthday, you have a chance to get more creative. Some themes I’ve tried in recent years include Jazz Brunch, Boogie Nights, Fall Harvest Festival, and of course, for NYE, the infamous Lemon Grove Party. If you're having trouble picking a theme, try starting with one thing that excites you and work backwards. For my 30th birthday, the only thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to have a “piggie party.” I adore pigs, and I had heard about a company in New Jersey that will bring a pen of 3 sweet little piglets to your home for an hour or more, where guests can hold and play with them. I knew for sure I wanted there to be pigs at my party, so once I had the booking in place, my next task was finding a way to build a theme around the pigs. Because my birthday falls in October and I love all things Autumn, I decided to do a Fall Harvest Farm Festival theme. It felt like the perfect way to incorporate farm animals while celebrating my favorite season. Throughout this post, I'll keep referring back to that harvest party so you can see some of my suggestions in action. Getting Organized The first thing I do any time I decide to host an event is create a Google doc to keep track of all the details. This is a huge help and allows me to free up headspace while planning. The doc remembers everything, so I don’t have to. Start by dividing the document into these sections: Guest list, Menu, Shopping list, & To-Dos. Guest list Having this written down helps you visualize who’s coming. Keep this up to date as people RSVP so that you have an accurate count when buying food and drink. As you put together your guest list, try to make it well-rounded. This means inviting a combination of old friends and new, bringing people together from different areas of your life, and trying to ensure everyone will know at least one or two people there. Even with a plus one, it can be uncomfortable walking into a party with no familiar faces, so try to invite multiple people that you know from the same group or setting to create a more welcoming atmosphere.  An incredible birthday cheese plate put together by my thoughtful and creative co-workers Menu Use this section to think through what you want to serve, keeping balance in mind, as well as any dietary restrictions. You don’t have to provide a full meal at your party, but it’s always a good idea to provide a few snacks and hors d'oeuvres. If you want to offer more than just light fare, you basically have three options:
Here is a sample menu. It's the one I used for the harvest party, and it worked well to feed about 30 people:
Shopping list Once you’ve decided what food and drink to serve, write out all the ingredients to make your trip to the grocery store smooth and easy. To-Dos Write down every task that needs to get done before the party. No task is too small to be added! The list can include things like, “send email invitations,” “clean entire house,” “put up decorations,” etc. It feels good to check off each one as it gets done. Don’t be overwhelmed if you find yourself with a large list of tasks. Give yourself at least two weeks before the party to get everything done. That way, even if you work full time, you can do a few things each day until they’re all finished. I like to break up my To-Do list by scheduling each task for a particular day, e.g. “Monday: buy groceries,” “Tuesday: put up the string lights,” etc. I would strongly advise against leaving everything until the day of, or even the day before the party. By investing time in planning beforehand, you greatly minimize the stress of running around at the last minute, and you can feel more relaxed knowing that most of the work has already been done. Inviting guests Once you have chosen your theme and you have a few ideas in mind for how you want the party to go down, it’s time to choose a date. Saturdays are preferable to Fridays for those who work weekdays, since you’ll want to give yourself plenty of time on the day of the party to get things together. If your event date is flexible, you may want to reach out to a few close friends ahead of time to make sure they will be available. Many people have busy social calendars, so don’t worry if not everyone can come, but you’ll want to have at least a couple of good friends there as moral support and for helping with a task here and there. Once you’ve chosen your date, I recommend sending your invitations at least two weeks before the date of your event, so that your guests can mark their calendars and avoid making other plans. If you are hosting an event during a popular time of the year for parties, such as New Year's Eve, send them out even earlier. Not everyone uses social media, but everybody has an email address, so I like email best for invitation purposes. If you want to invite someone but don’t have their email address, just ask them for it and let them know it’s because you want to invite them to something. Your invitation should include the following information:
Your email should aim to answer any questions that might arise, such as “Can I bring my roommate?” or “Should I eat before I come?” so that you don’t have to spend too much time responding to follow-up emails. *Parties can get expensive quickly when you start to add up the cost of food, alcohol, live entertainment, etc. To try and offset that a bit, I have started including a “suggested donation” in my email invitations. For my last party, I provided my Venmo username right in the email and asked guests to donate $25 to help cover the costs, which most people did. The idea of asking for money when your guests are already at the party is kind of awkward, but I find that asking for it up front in an email is less so. You can additionally put out a labeled “party donation” jar, but in my experience, people seem to be better about paying by electronic means. **If you prefer, it's always OK to tell guests to BYOB, but make sure to stock extra. What I have learned is that people will generally stay until it either gets too late, or the alcohol runs out: whichever happens first. You don’t want to have to leave your own party to make a beer run, so play it safe by stocking up.  A friend enjoying some apple cider punch at the harvest party Punch I love making punch for gatherings. It's an excuse to actually use that punch bowl I bought, and I feel it makes for a festive, communal atmosphere. It’s a nice alternative to beer or wine without forcing people to find ingredients to mix their own cocktails. I also like that there is an easy-to-make punch to fit just about every theme. For example, if you’re doing a '70s party, Tequila Sunrise punch is both retro and delicious. For the harvest party, I made this apple cider punch, only I wasn't able to find alcoholic ginger beer, so I used regular ginger beer instead. People really liked it, but it wasn’t very strong, so if you want your punch to pack more of a punch, you may need to add a bit more alcohol than the recipe calls for. Taste and adjust accordingly. For serving the cider punch, I put out some rustic, reusable mason jar glasses which looked lovely. Decorations Second only to dressing up in costumes, decorations are what makes a theme party really feel like a theme party. Decorating is also probably the most fun task on the list because you get to use your imagination and let your creativity take center stage. As a huge nature lover, I tend to decorate by bringing the outdoors in whenever possible. Every time of the year has its own seasonal plants, so there are always plenty of choices when it comes to nature-inspired adornments: the evergreens and bright red berries of winter, the autumn foliage and squash, the delicate first blooms of spring, and the juicy fruits of summer. My goal for the harvest party was to transform my apartment into a place that would feel, at least a little bit, like a barn in the midst of fall's bounty. To achieve this, I used the following:
Many of these items were already lying around my house before the party (like the banjo), and didn't need to be bought new. I also plan to reuse a lot of the fall-themed decor each year around Thanksgiving. As I start piecing together my vision, I often use Pinterest for inspiration. Creating a board for your theme is such an easy way to keep all your decorating ideas in one place, along with any related crafts or recipes you may find. Adding an element of surprise I’ve noticed that people really seem to respond to the promise of a "surprise" at a party, so I now try to entice my guests in the invitation by appealing to their curiosity. Think back to the best party you’ve ever been to. Chances are, something happened there that you didn’t expect and were delighted by. Maybe it was an awesome musical performance, or maybe it was nothing more than a watermelon soaked in vodka. Whatever it was, it created a special experience, and a new cherished memory, which is what I aim to do when I host. For the harvest party surprise, all I said in the email was, "There will be a very special surprise from 8-9pm, so whatever you do, don't leave the party before this time, or plan to arrive after, 'cause you'll be real sad you missed it." When the piggies arrived, nobody knew what hit them. The kitchen erupted in high-pitched choruses of "awwww!"  A marvelous trio I brought in to play at my birthday jazz brunch Live music Back in college, it felt like nearly every house party I attended featured some sort of live band. The music had a way of filling the entire room with a unique and exciting energy. I remember thinking at the time, “Now THIS is how you throw a party!” To this day, I still opt to bring in live entertainment whenever possible. The kind of tunes the band plays may be different depending on your theme. For a classy birthday brunch, I once had a jazz trio perform in my tiny living room while guests listened and sipped mimosas. For the harvest party, a four-piece old-time band fiddled away in my kitchen. If you know some folks in a band who would be willing to play a set, here are a few pieces of advice:
The big day Once all your hard work is done and the date of your party arrives, the only thing left to do is try to go with the flow, spend time with your friends, and enjoy yourself. You’ve earned it. Keeping things running smoothly during the party does require some effort, as does dividing your attention equally among your guests. If you have your hands full at any point, just remember that it’s okay to ask friends for help clearing dishes, flipping a record, making coffee, or anything else you need. A lot of folks actually like being given a task at a party, especially those who are shy. You don’t have to do it all alone. Most importantly, do your best to relax. This is something I have to constantly remind myself. Everything will come together, and your party will be fantastic. Cheers!
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