Marissa’s Top Tips for Hosting a Party At Home

With my easy tips for hosting a party at home, you too can entertain with style, confidence, ease and panache.

Before hosting a party

Inform neighbors that you plan on having a party
Consider how you plan on inviting guests. It is not a good idea to advertise the party on social media as this may call for extra preventive measures.
Keep guest lists manageable. For very large parties, ensure you have enough adult supervision. You might even want to consider hiring security personnel.
Make sure to keep definite start and finish times for the party and ensure that your guests know of these too.

Make sure that your home is fit for hosting a party. Is it adequate in size or is it too small?
Consider climate control for the room. Make sure there is adequate lighting particularly if you have dark hidden spaces around the house.
Are there sufficient toilets? Also consider parking and other amenities.
Provide a safe/designated space for people to keep their coats, purses, bags etc. If needed, allocate a locked room for guests to keep their stuff. Close off rooms you do not want guests to use.
Keep emergency numbers handy at all times.

Consider having the food pre-prepared or professionally catered. This way, you are not kept away from your guests and can supervise young children as well as your friends who may be drinking.
Watch out for signs of inebriated behavior. If someone is shouting, picking fights or misbehaving, deal with it immediately.
Make sure there is adequate food available. Serve non-alcoholic drinks as an alternative.
I personally collect all car keys at the start of the party and keep them away until it is time for guests to leave. This way, I avoid letting drunk guests to drive. If I feel someone is too drunk to drive home, I call for a cab.
I often have a wind down time leading up to the finish. You can start turning down the music or clearing away stuff.
If you have pets, make sure they are comfortably placed. Tie the dog away from the noise but do check up on it from time to time to ensure it is okay.
Restrict noise of music, especially after midnight. You can be considerate to neighbors by locating music systems and stereos away from windows.

For kids parties alongside the pool, consider adequate adult supervision. If needed, get other parents to supervise.
As stated above, consider hiring security personnel or lifeguards etc for huge parties or parties with young children. Security personnel can also help prevent gate-crashing and unwanted people.
Ensure there is no alcohol accessible to under-18 year olds. Keep plenty of non-alcoholic beverages and water available for this age group.
Consider nominating adult supervisors for adults above 18 who may be drinking.
Have one entrance and exit so you can monitor and control who goes in and comes out.

Remember: it is your party and you have full right to set up acceptable and non-acceptable behavior.

Mop the floors using a solution of white vinegar. Floors will glisten.
To clean up food dropped on floor, especially foods like eggs that leave stains or smells apply some salt or baking soda on the stain and rub it in. Let sit for a while before sweeping or mopping it up.
Clean up kitchen counters and backsplashes using mixture of water and vinegar.
An excellent recipe for wall cleaners: Add a cup of baking soda, ½ cup of vinegar and ½ cup of ammonia to a gallon of water to clean marks, grease and crayon scribbling on the walls.
To remove tough grease stains, use aerosol cleaners.
To remove grease from wallpaper covered walls, dust some talcum powder and let sit for 20 minutes, before wiping off.

I hope these tips help you when hosting a party, be it for a birthday or the upcoming holidays.