Party Prep: How to Beat Hosting Anxiety
Guest Post by Cherie Mclaughlin
Hosting a party can be a handful. Stress, anxiety, and hosting tend to go hand in hand, and if you happen to have an anxiety disorder, this can spell positive disaster. But, never fear, here are some tips you need to make hosting your party fun and less stressful.
Prepare, prepare, prepare
First things first means creating the guest list! Planning out the details of your party is the best way to manage the stress of everything involved, so start small. Decide who you want to invite, and make sure to be mindful of any religious preferences or situations you think might make certain friends uncomfortable. If your intention is to gather old school friends you haven’t seen in years with whom you’ve lost touch, you can find those friends via online tools. ClassFinders, for example, allows you to cast a wide search for friends in Nashville, as well as nearby areas like Whites Creek, Madison and Joelton. Don't let tracking down friends contribute to your stress; you control the guest list, so only invite those you truly miss and will enjoy seeing once again.
Send out invitations about three weeks in advance for parties and family events. You want to make sure that guests have time to rearrange their schedule so they attend your party. If the event is more formal, send out physical invites, if it is more casual, email or online invitations are acceptable. Facebook can be a great way to get your party some face-time and have people talking on there about dishes or anything else that needs to be planned in advance. Also on the invitations should be a way to have your potential party-goer tell you about their dietary needs or preferences - this will make planning a menu easier. Once you decide who is coming - it’s time to plan your party!
Determine Your Theme
Planning any good party usually starts with a theme. The theme could be anything from superheroes and villains to angels and demons - what it is doesn’t really matter, just make sure it is clear to your guests if there is a theme and if they should wear something specific. To clarify the theme, it might be worth including a dress code on your invitation so that there is no confusion, and no one finds themselves under- or overdressed.
Another part of throwing a theme party is setting the mood. You can’t really have an 80s party and not play 80s music, right? Put together a perfect playlist, then check what electronics you have for the music, and if you need to, consider getting a speaker for the party area.
Clean, Declutter and Organize
A party can be a great nudge if it’s time to refresh your home. By decluttering, organizing and cleaning your home, you’ll feel more confident about hosting your guests, and you may even be able to find extra room. If the idea of organizing and decluttering drives your anxiety into overload, don’t fret! Expert and certified organizer Malinda Moseley with Nest Home Organizing can help. Not only can she help you right the ship with home organization, but she will also guide you in preparing an organizational system you can maintain.
Merry and Munching
When you get RSVPs from your guests, you will have an idea of how much food to prepare, and how many table settings to have. If you are planning a large sit-down dinner, make sure you take the time to create a menu for your evening and a master grocery list. Knowing everything you need before you hit the store will keep you from forgetting something and causing last-minute panic on how you’re going to make your dishes if you are all out of salt!
In addition to planning your grocery list, create a cooking timeline. If you’re making the main course that will need to roast all day, and pies that are going to take a few hours - you’re going to end up eating at midnight if you don’t plan correctly. You can also have guests bring dishes and desserts to free up some oven space, but make sure that you have that planned out as well - you don’t need 5 gallons of pasta salad and one pie, so make sure you assign people things if you have a specific plan.
When your friends and family are there, don’t forget to take a deep breath and actually enjoy spending time with them. No one is going to remember that the food that took you a long time to prepare, or that the pie came out a little late, as long as they are getting along and having fun together. The most important thing to remember when you are trying to manage your anxiety about hosting a party, is to lower your expectations from yourself. There is no way everything is going to go perfectly, so just let it go the way it does. The time you spend with your loved ones is where perfection is.