How to host the ultimate house party

Hosting an epic house party invariably leads to legendary status amongst your extended social group, but it’s a tough thing to get right. The build-up to having your own gathering is pretty nerve-wracking and there’s always that nagging worry that no-one will come. Well, never fear, because we’ve put together a handy collection of vital tips that will ensure your shindig goes with a bang and draws a crowd:

Let people know it’s happening. This means more than just creating a Facebook event. You know no-one really pays attention to those anymore, right? Instead be personal with your invitations. You know, like picking up the telephone and calling your chums. Oh, and invite groups of people who don’t know each other. Let’s create some new friendships. 

Theme your night and encourage dressing up. If you make people put in a bit of effort beforehand, it’ll keep your gathering at the front of their minds and also ensure they turn up. After all, if they’ve spent all week sorting out a dress-up costume, they’re not likely to bail on the party. Keep the theme broad and fairly simple. Organising an outfit should be fun for your guests, as opposed to stressful.

Prepare. Clean up beforehand. Barricade the places that need barricading. Convert milk crates into extra bins. Have plenty of disposable cups at the ready. Fairy lights make any room a touch fancier and fill the crowd with the warm and fuzzies. Always have enough toilet paper. Because, well, just because.

Invite your neighbours. Even if you don’t like them. They probably won’t come anyway, but they’ll be less inclined to complain about the noise if you’ve been courteous enough to invite them along.

Lay on food. Not too much, but include something homemade like chocolate brownies or strawberry and pink peppercorn iceblocks to whip out later on. Also good are chips, cabanossi and cheese squares. People flock for finger food.

Provide booze. Obviously tell people to bring their own, but it’s also nice to have some on hand to keep the party swinging. You should have some generic beers for the fools who didn’t bring enough of their own. They will consider you a saviour/hero when you see their sad face and drop a cool one into their hand. Furthermore, have some drinks on hand that others might not have thought of. Pour some glasses sporadically and hand them out randomly to revellers. You’ll be like the Pied Piper of Partyland. We suggest something like JD Honey. Refreshing and a little bit different, ‘Jack Honey & Dry’ is the easy drink of choice and perfect for you to share with friends when you are getting the party started. Seriously, honey and alcohol is a ludicrously underused combination.

Music selection is crucial. Don’t just rely on iTunes shuffle. Remember, you’ve got How To Learn German on there and those self-help seminars too. No-one wants anything like that to drop when the dancefloor is pumping (oh yeah, and be sure to clear a space for a small dancefloor). There are lots of cool and easy-to-use DJ apps that can help you seamlessly drop banger after banger.

Most importantly… have fun and chill out. If the host is clearly having a good time, so will everyone else. If you spend all night checking your bedroom to see if anyone’s swiped your Macbook, then that uncomfortable vibe will spread like wildfire. Hide your valuables/put away your breakables beforehand and then let loose!

Tell us what good times have you had with your crowd and a Jack Honey & Dry and be in with a chance to win one of 8 x Jack Daniels Honey prize packs. Each pack has a bottle of Jack Daniels Honey, glasses, limes and swizzle sticks, plus a 3 month subscription to Spotify Premium. Click here to enter.

Something You Said and Jack Daniel’s Honey encourage responsible drinking.