Use these 5 easy steps to host a Pinterest-worthy party, without the stress!
With the holidays quickly approaching, ‘tis the season for hosting. Whether it’s setting up the perfect pumpkin carving get-together or making plans for your annual Friendsgiving potluck, hosting all of your closest friends and family together truly is the reason for the season. If you’re anything like me, you may find yourself falling down the Pinterest rabbit hole of DIY decorations and cute recipes just to find yourself spiraling or stressing.
Don’t worry, I’ve got you. Hosting a holiday get-together is a lot simpler than it seems, and can actually be lots of fun. So, from decorations to invitations, here are five easy tips to make your holiday-themed gatherings Pinterest-worthy.
1. Plan Ahead
We all know that college, especially this time of year, can be extremely busy. Between classes, exams, work, clubs and internships, it can seem nearly impossible to get all of your friends in the same place at the same time.
To start, choose a day that tends to be less busy – maybe a Thursday or Friday instead of a Saturday – and pick your date at least a month in advance. You want to give your guests time to take the day off work, plan around the event and add it to their Calendar. You don’t have to have the whole event planned down to the last detail this early, but sending a text in the group chat with a “save the date” will help people keep the date reserved for you.
About two weeks out, send out your official invitations. This can be a cute Canva-designed invite, an e-vite or a simple text message. Guests should have more details about the specific time as well as if they need to bring anything to the event, such as food, drinks or appetizers.
Not only do you want to give your guests enough time to prepare, but you want to make sure you carve out enough time for yourself, too. Slowly buy food, decorations and essentials for the party, and start to set up bit by bit throughout the week leading up to the party. This will make the setup feel less overwhelming on the day of the gathering, especially if you plan to make or customize some of your decorations.
2. Pick a party theme and Stick to it
This is where Pinterest might actually come in handy. Search for themes or ideas that are more general and Pinterest can help you narrow down your options. For example, rather than throwing a general Halloween party, you could host a “Ghouls Night In” or “Mummies and Memories” night. This will help the whole party feel more cohesive and make your gathering unique.
A “Mummy Party” might focus on cute appetizers like pigs in a blanket and decorate with mummy bandages, whereas a “Ghouls Night” would focus on greens and pinks in the decorations and the food.
Keeping everything cohesive and specific under one theme helps your party stand out and really drives home that whole Pinterest aesthetic.
3. Reuse Your Decorations
As much as we want this party to be cute, we also want it to be affordable. With a little creativity and elbow grease, you can make the party budget-friendly while keeping it aesthetic.
DIY painted banners are all over the internet right now and are not only a great photo backdrop, but are also fairly inexpensive to make. Large acrylic paint sets are sold at most art stores and can be reused over and over again; you could also mix them to create any color your heart desires. Brown craft paper is sold in rolls at Michaels inexpensively and, as a bonus tip, you can even use both sides of a banner before moving on to the next one.
If you’re thinking, “I have no artistic ability,” don’t fret. All it takes is a little focus to paint bubble letters and, if you’re feeling crazy and want to add some designs, go for it! Don’t overthink your banner; simplicity is key here.
White balloons can be bought in bulk and used for absolutely any occasion. When combined with one other color for each event, you suddenly have double the balloons for half the hassle.
Lastly, anything you have around your house can be decorations. With Halloween in mind, use tissues to create little tissue ghosts, black paper to cut out paper bats or even old newspapers to make a cute background. All you need is a little creativity and maybe a few Command Strips.
4. Collaboration is Key
As a host, we all want to make the experience as much fun as possible for our guests. But when it comes to giving up time and money, sometimes it’s OK to let others help – the entertainment of your guests doesn’t all fall on you.
BYO parties can be a lot of fun and take some pressure off the host. Turn your holiday parties into cookie exchanges and have each guest bring a different flavor and trade amongst themselves. This splits the burden up while also allowing guests to leave with a box of goodies from different people.
Your distributions don’t have to cost your guests anything either; if someone offers to make a playlist or help blow up balloons, let them. Sometimes the best way to make sure everyone has fun is to distribute tasks so you can relax and let yourself have a good time too.
On that note, once the party is over, don’t be afraid to send guests home with leftovers or let people stay to help you clean up.
5. Remember to Have Fun
Yes, we all want that Pinterest-worthy party with the cute Instagram photos and the compliments from every guest on your creativity, but remember not to use this as an excuse to compare yourself to others.
At the end of the day, what matters is that you and your guests are gathering together to enjoy one another’s company, and when you’re with the right people having fun, you may find you no longer care how cute the party is and are just glad to be around the people who want to spend their time with you.
So there you have it, the best tips for hosting the gathering your friends will talk about for years to come. Now you can start sending out your save the dates for all your holiday parties. And who knows, your get-together may just end up on somebody’s Pinterest board.