My Take Away on Having a House Party

Deciding to do a house party is something you have to think more than twice.  Why?  It is very tiring.  Neo celebrated his 1^st birthday twice: first, a birthday party at Jollibee Cagayan, and second, a swimming party at Laguna.  These 2 parties were not tiring as we don’t have to do a lot of things before, during, and after the parties.

So what are things we considered when we decided to throw a house party for Neo for his 2nd birthday?

·         Preparing the Food – you can order the food and you can prepare it too.  We are lucky enough to have Ate Espie with us because she is a very good cook. 

·         Amount of Food – caterers can estimate the amount of serving versus the number of visitors.  But we as normal people, really couldn’t.  You have to make sure you have enough food to feed all your visitors.  We prepared so much food that all of our guests were able to take home foods plus we were able to give foods to the neighbors and the guards.  And we still have food left.  Talk about over estimate hahaha :D

·         Cleaning the House Before – since you will be inviting guests over, you have to thoroughly clean the house.  Of course, you don’t want to entertain guests in a house that’s unclean and guests will be leaving nasty comments on how you keep your house, di ba?

·         Arranging the House – this is very different from cleaning.  There are things in the house that you are proud to let the guests know, but there are things that you want to keep for yourself.  Like example, I am okay that Neo’s over-large foam is in his crib but not all guests are comfortable seeing a foam that is not fitting the crib exactly.  So we have to arrange.

·         Designing the House – well, you can opt for no decors but it would be much festive if you decorate.

·         No Time Constraint – since this is your house and you didn’t pay a venue for some hours only (most venue a lot 2 to 4 hours for the party and off your guests go), be prepared to entertain guests until the wee hours of the morning.  Even if you’re tired already, you have to be the hospitable host.  You can’t shoo your guests away just because you are tired.

·         Cleaning the House After - you have to clean the house again after the party.  My suggestion is to use disposable plates and cups so you won’t need to wash dishes after the party – this is not healthy for the environment, but is very healthy for your sanity.

These are some of the things you need to consider before deciding for a house party.  Yes, it really is practical to have a house party, but you have to exert a lot of energy in doing this.  You have to store up a lot of patience in doing a house party. 

Hope this helps J