Hosting a party with friends can be difficult. Many friend groups make the mistake of setting a date and spending one day planning together. However, without the right amount of collaboration, your party can go from fabulous to boring and even chaotic. Here’s how you can host a holiday party with friends.
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Make a Task List
The holiday season is busy, so it’s important to keep everyone on task as much as possible. Once you have decided on the date of the party, you’ll need to make a task list so that everyone understands what their responsibilities are.
For example, your friend in charge of the holiday food needs to make sure they have enough food for the entire guest list, while someone in charge of invitations needs to ensure that they design, print, and send the invites in advance so that you allow the guests enough time to RSVP.
Your task list doesn’t have to be anything special; you can write it on a piece of paper or use a list or task tracker app. No matter how you choose to do it, the most important thing is that each one of your friends knows what they should be doing and by when.
Give Each Other Gifts
While you should never feel the need to get your friends gifts, you can get them something to remind them of the holiday party you hosted together. You can choose from personalized gifts with the date of the party on them or any other fun Christmas gift.
Pick a Leader
There’s a reason that there’s always a project manager even though an entire team is working on the project. Leaders can help keep everyone organized and ensure there are no miscommunications. You can pick a friend to be the leader of your group for the holiday party, but make sure that they aren’t already overwhelmed with tasks.
Plan Activities Together
Even though one friend might be in charge of the party activities, the entire group should decide which activities to choose for the party together. Whether you want to do a gift exchange with white elephant gifts or a dinner party with holiday food, you’ll need to make sure that everyone involved in planning knows what to expect.
Communicate Regularly
After your first party planning meeting during the holiday season, make sure that you continue to communicate with your friends about the party. You can create a group chat and even a task board with a list of everyone’s responsibilities, so everyone stays on the same page throughout the process.
Communicating regularly will prevent miscommunications, help you collaborate better with your friends, and ensure that no one is falling behind on their responsibilities.
Plan the Food Together
Again, although one friend might be responsible for ensuring the food gets to the party, you should plan any meals, snacks, and treats together.
Remember to Have Fun
Planning a party with other people can be stressful, but you know your friends best. You can make hosting a party fun by giving your friends tasks that you know they’ll excel at. For example, if one of your friends doesn’t know how to cook, then they probably shouldn’t be in charge of bringing the food.
In addition, try to have fun with it. While planning is necessary, don’t become someone who has to plan every detail of the party, as that makes the process stressful for everyone. By choosing a leader who you know will do a good job organizing your friends, you can put yourself in a better position to enjoy your party.
Planning a holiday party can be difficult whether you’re doing it alone or with friends. When hosting a party with friends, the most important thing you can do is plan ahead to avoid unnecessary stress.
