Throwing a Party?

CaptainNemo

This will sound very silly, but I'm planning on putting together a birthday part in June, when I turn 22. Thing is, I have no experience in this sort of thing. I made a facebook event, invited a bunch of people I know and like, but I have absolutley no idea what I'm doing.

Any advice?

Gaslight

Well it all depends on how many people you're inviting and what type of people they are. What are they into? Are they people who are going to want to drink a lot and dance to loud music, or are they a more laid-back crowd?

The setting is also a factor. Do you live in a house, or an apartment? Basically, how much space do you have?

Rainfall

Buy enough snacks/drinks. People should bring some when they come over, but you want to have a strong base regardless.

Talk to everyone. Unless you're only gathering very close friends, make sure you circulate from group to group so everyone feels welcome.

Everything else really depends on how many people and what kind of party you're aiming for.

CaptainNemo

Well, most of my friends are in another town, so I was thinking about going down there. Maybe go barhopping? I'm not sure. I need to figure out a safe place for everyone to crash at, but I have a couple of options in that regard. Fortunatley, I have a month and three weeks time to figure all this out.

ASimPerson

First, figure out about how many people you're expecting. I personally don't like large parties. I turned 30 last month and I had 8 people max at any given time the entire evening. Basically, the threshold for your options are somewhere around 8-12 people when it transitions from "a small gathering of your closest friends" to "a party".

Since I was turning 30, my first idea was to do a group activity that everyone might enjoy. Several cities in the US have varieties of what are known as "the escape game", which is basically where you and your buddies have to solve puzzles to escape a locked room. However, I started looking at this too late. So lesson 1: if you want to do an activity that you need to book in advance, start looking... now.

If you're going to have, say, 10 people or less, you can do my usual fallback plan if I don't have any better ideas: dinner and drinks. If you have 6 or more people you really should make a reservation in advance for dinner, especially if you want to go anywhere reasonably popular/good. If the city in question is walkable, try to book a place near some bars that you would like to go. (Remember: it's your birthday, it should generally be stuff you like.)

If you're going to have more than 10, your options start narrowing. Restaurants, if they accept parties that large, may force you to make a deposit or go with a fixed menu. Unless you're going to huge bars, this will start to be a lot of people to try to cram into potentially crowded spaces, especially on a weekend. (Then again, I'm speaking from my experience here in the Bay Area, in other parts of the country your establishments may be larger. Also, I tend to like small, intimate cocktail bars, so...) Basically, once you start getting near 10-15 people, you may consider trying to have a party at someone's house. Of course, the problem with this is that you will have to ask someone to host (since you said they're in another town), which can be awkward depending on how close you are to the person in question. (You will definitely have to make it up to them, don't expect this as a favor.) You're turning 22, so based on my experience this could be a pretty large affair when all is said in done. If you have 30-40 people, you could even consider getting a keg. Otherwise, stick to asking people to bring stuff. If you're not comfortable with a large, late-night house party, then consider having a cookout, which, since it takes place in the afternoon, will be more chill.

tl;dr: how many people you're expecting to show up, where you are, and what you ultimately want are the biggest factors here.

davidsdurions

My answer to what to do for a party is always bowling. Or miniature golf if you want to be outside.

If you want to do it at a home though, then plenty of bbq foods and beers is pretty much all I would need to have a good time with friends.

minirhyder

If you're doing it at home, have a backup plan in case there are lulls. Board games, video games, etc. Basically any activity you can do with a group of people.