University often represents the best years of your life – living apart from your parents for the first time ever, unshackled from the rigours of school and meeting like-minded new people left right and centre. Your first house party will be a memory you’ll treasure for the rest of your life, if you remember much of it the next day that is! As such, it’s important to get it right; here’s how to plan your first student house party.
The Invitation
Social media is the easiest way to organise your house party – simply create an event on Facebook, and invited everyone you would like to attend. You can also select whether or not your friends can invite their friends to the event, giving you more control over how rowdy it could get.
In the description of your event page, outline the plan for the party. Maybe you have a fancy dress theme, or perhaps you plan to have different activities in different rooms. Here you can leave some information about what your guests may need – for example, buying booze for everyone can get quite expensive, so outlining that everyone will have to bring their own in advance (or ‘BYOB’) will save any heartache when the party begins. Lastly, include the start and end time you plan your party to have. A word to the wise: lie about the start time. Tell your guests the party is starting at least 90 minutes earlier than you actually intend for it to start. Many of your guests will be fashionably late, making for an awkward first few hours – but faking an earlier start will ensure things kick off when they should.
Decorations and Supplies
Now to decorate your house ready for the party. You may have a theme in mind, so decorating for that theme is key; otherwise, source some standard party fare such as banners and balloons. Party supplies like paper pom-poms and table confetti are all available at Card Factory, making your decoration shop very easy indeed.
You will also need other supplies to ensure the smooth flow of your party. Invest in paper cups, so your attendees don’t raid your cupboards for cups and mugs; and make sure to buy straws as well, for those with sensitive teeth – or for strawpedo-ing purposes! Don’t forget to sort out your own drinks situation ahead of the party either.
Activities
There are many games you can play to liven up a party, and you should plan to include them on the night. Paper cups and a ping pong ball can be used to play beer pong with friends, while a pack of cards can lead to any number of fun drinking games, from Ring of Fire to Horse-Racing. Twister is always a fun game to surprise your party-goers with late into the night, and will be hard to forget the morning after.
The Playlist
Lastly, you need to make sure the playlist is up to scratch. Ballads and contemporary classical will not cut it; you need bangers, and lots of them. A great way to involve your friends in the playlist is to create a collaborative one, letting everyone add to it ahead of time, and even on the night.