Lessons in Being a New Hostess with the Mostest

I have had the opportunity of being a hostess only once since we moved in. We held our housewarming party back in November, and I had to mentally prepare myself for a good week beforehand. See, I’ll talk about how I like to throw parties, but when it comes to the logistics, I’m pretty sure I prefer to attend them (which is interesting, considering I wanted to be an event planner for awhile).

Aside from not realizing just how long it takes for us to clean the entire condo (top to bottom, side to side, about 2 hours), I was so sure I didn’t have enough food. Plus, when a party starts at 7 p.m., do you offer hor d’oeuvres or full-on dinner? Both? For such an organized girl, her planning skills need some honing.

But, our friends are awesome and the party started as soon as they walked in – carrying wine, appetizers and Rock Band. When you’re throwing a housewarming party, I’m pretty sure nobody expects you to have everything all together, so all you need to do is stick to the basics:

1. Forgo the “theme”: The theme of a housewarming party is “we got a new place and now we’re in debt.” Congrats! Don’t worry about having your place perfectly decorated, setting up a drink station, or mapping out a play-by-play of the evening’s festivities. You did your job, you invited everyone to hang out under the roof you now pay for.
2. Provide the “go-to” party necessities: cheese and crackers, tortilla chips and salsa, and pigs in a blanket. Asking your guests to BYOB is perfectly acceptable, and if you’re still feeling unprepared when it comes to food, a bag of frozen popcorn chicken is a great a secret weapon. Hell, you might even want to offer those up first – a little ketchup and ranch dressing for dipping, and you’re all set.
3. Make room.  If we hadn’t borrowed folding chairs from Shawn’s boss, we would’ve been calling fives all night. One of my biggest pet peeves is not having a place to sit at somebody’s house, particularly if it’s a relatively intimate gathering. A frat-style bash is another story. But, sitting on the wood floor with an overstuffed pillow doesn’t count. It doesn’t matter if it’s a kitchen chair, a piano bench, an ottoman or a sectional; get a headcount and then add three.

As we have more gatherings here – like this Saturday night – I’m sure I’ll get a better grasp of what needs to be done ahead of time. I could use a little practice, and if it means throwing more parties for me and my friends, I accept the challenge.