Ready to break in your new apartment? It’s time to show if off to your friends by throwing a party! We’ve got you covered from how to decorate to who should be invited and how to entertain your guests in every way possible. Before the big planning begins, make sure all of your housemates are on board with the idea—and don’t worry, the clean up process is NOT as bad as it might seem! Here are the ins & outs for knocking this party out of the park.
Light it up
Decorations are a #1 priority when it comes to throwing a knockout party since the atmosphere sets the mood for the night. The ultimate goal is to spice things up enough so that it doesn’t look like you’ll just be spending another ordinary night lounging around with your roommates, munching on popcorn and getting caught up in re-runs of Modern Family. Sounds easy, right? Well, it actually is! Lucky for you, since you won’t be overwhelmed with decorating an entire house (leave that one to Martha Stewart), there isn’t that much space to work with—which works to your advantage.
While you might hear many people encouraging decorating according to a theme, sometimes it’s fun to go with the flow. Birthday celebrations, Halloween parties, and costume masquerades are obviously all great ideas when hosting a party, but you can also just go with the flow and let your inner creative abilities shine too!
No matter what you choose—theme or no theme—decorative lights are an absolute must! You won’t want those florescent kitchen or living room lights turned on all night (where’s the fun in that?), so string multi-colored Christmas lights all over the apartment and you’ll create just the right blend for a sultry yet friendly and welcoming party atmosphere. You can even replace regular light bulbs in the lamps with UV bulbs to emphasize that nightlife vibe. Just remember to decorate with this in mind: people WILL want to see who they’re dancing with during the night.
Please Don’t Stop the Music…
What’s a party without music? Pretty much nonexistent! Be sure to create an awesome playlist that won’t let the atmosphere fall flat at any point during the night. You can never go wrong with picks from the Top 10 Singles on iTunes or SoundCloud’s top playlists. Just choose music that will appeal to a mass crowd—not just One Direction (even though they are simply amazing!) It’s best to have a set of speakers hooked up too (instead of an iHome device or laptop) since they’re powerful enough to drown out all the chit chat amongst the noisy crowd, so borrow from a friend or neighbor if you don’t have any speakers of your own.
Hostess with the Mostess
Without hostesses who know exactly what they’re doing, you can’t expect the party to be very good. As a host, make sure to mingle with the crowd—don’t just gravitate towards your close friends the whole night. You should also designate a safe spot where people can keep their jackets and do your best to make sure everything runs smoothly and safely during the night!
Blame it on the Alcohol
Of course, there can’t be a party without the booze. To put our own special touch on things, my roommates and I made close to one hundred Jell-O shots in an assortment of rainbow colors for our first party, which turned out to be the hit of the night. It only took about an hour to prepare them the night before, and they truly added something special to the party (just don’t make them too strong!) To cut down on the cost of all the supplies (since throwing a party is anything but cheap), buy inexpensive beer and Vodka along with plenty of chasers (Coca-Cola, Hawaiian Punch, Sprite, etc.) so that people have a variety to choose from when preparing their drinks.
Think of this mess as a sign of a successful night and nothing but.
Set it up
You’ll want to transform your apartment from living environment to party central. Rearrange the furniture in the living room so you open the space up into a small dance floor, but keep a couch against the wall so people can pop a squat if they’d like. Put away everything fragile (we mean it) or you’ll wake up in tears the next morning when your pet fish is lying dead on the floor because someone knocked over the fishbowl—not a good memory. If you want to play some drinking games like beer pong or flip cup, clear off the countertop, but leave some red solo cups behind so people can get a jump-start on those games.
Promote it!
Lastly, and most importantly, you need people at your party! Create a Facebook event to spread the word (but make sure you set it privately so you don’t get random creepers walking through your place). Tell your friends they’re welcome to bring along others and expect to invite around 50% more people than you expect to show up—not everyone who clicks “attending” will actually make it. If ten thirty rolls around and you’re still parading around with your roommates anxiously awaiting your first guest’s arrival—don’t take your party clothes off yet. People will show up! Remember, everyone likes to arrive fashionably late.
There you have it, collegiettes! Keep these tips in mind when throwing your apartment party, and I guarantee everyone will be asking you exactly when the next one will be.