Tips for Hosting a Holiday Party in an Apartment

You’ve spent some time recently looking for Valley Ranch area apartments. You’ve finally found the perfect community to call home and now you’re interested in throwing a fantastic holiday party in your new place. With Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, hosting an apartment holiday party is one of the best ways to get in the spirit during the holidays…it’s also one of the best ways to stress yourself out. Instead of stressing out about planning the perfect holiday gathering, keep your party simple and fun with these holiday party tips.

Plan the Guest List and Send Invitations.

In order to properly host a holiday party, you should think out your guest list well in advance. The holidays are busy times and people often need to know of a party well in advance in order to make the necessary RSVP. When you plan your guest list, you should invite a good mixture of friends from all areas of your life. However, you want to be sure that you don’t make anyone feel like the odd ball of the group. Schedules fill up quickly during the holidays, so send out invitations at least three weeks in advance of the party. And when it comes to choosing a day of the week for your holiday gathering, try to choose a day that will not already be booked.

Set rules for gift-giving

If you will be having a gift exchange at your party, be sure to communicate the guidelines for gift purchases. Set a maximum spend amount for gift purchases so no one feels obligated to get a more expensive gift than necessary. This also helps to eliminate gift exchange mismatches by leveling the playing field. Also, consider other gift exchange ideas. Perhaps a white elephant gift exchange, a gift card or DVD gift exchange, or even perhaps charity giving. There is already tons of pressure for gift giving for the holiday season so your goal as host should be to relieve some of that pressure for finding a gift.

Decor

Choose a theme for your holiday party that guests can get into. You can be creative with your holiday party and it doesn’t have to be restricted to traditional Christmas colors and/or themes. You could do a Hawaiian Christmas or a Blue Christmas. The possibilities are endless and are completely up to you. This is especially true for those living in the Valley ranch area since they have spacious floor plans and contemporary designs. You can do something traditional or non-traditional. Completely change your apartment for the holidays and to match your theme. You can do simple holiday decorations such as a wreath, mistletoe, garland, and lights. If you don’t celebrate or aren’t into Christmas, use winter themed decorations, such as snowmen/snowflakes, gingerbread men, etc. Complete your theme by using scented candles or other fragrances that will fill the air with your favorite holiday scent.

Party, party, party

Even though you are the host of the holiday party, you should also be able to enjoy your friends and family that attend. In order to set yourself up to not have to work like a slave at party time, make as many preparations in the days before as possible. Things such as shopping, cleaning, cooking and decorating can be done in the couple of days before the party so that you can concentrate on being a jovial host. Speaking of cooking, your holiday party doesn’t have to offer a full buffet or five-course meal. Serve finger foods in order to keep it simple. If you think your guests would prefer a full meal, perhaps a potluck party is in order. Also, remember that you don’t have to go it alone. You may be hosting the party, but you can certainly delegate specific tasks to close friend or family. Party games are always a huge favorite among guests. Plan activities for your party that will keep everyone involved.

Drink responsibly

This tip is very important and should be taken seriously. If you are serving alcohol at your holiday party, it is your responsibility to ensure that no one leaves your party, after drinking, and climbs behind the wheel of a car. It is best that you remain sober in order to ensure that everyone gets home safely. This may even require that you offer someone a place to sleep or a cab ride home.

When it comes to holiday parties, simple is best. Keeping things relaxed will let you concentrate on enjoying the company of family and friends. For more information on apartment living or if you want to know why it’s difficult to find a complaint for UMoveFree's apartment locating service visit UMoveFree.com