First-time hosting – 7 Essentials Checklist  

Being a first-time host can be very overwhelming and stressful. This post provides the five easy essentials you need to navigate hosting!

Welcome to your Journey of hosting! This is a great hobby, a nice way to romanticize your life, and a great way to build and honor connections with friends and family.

Hosting has many perks; however, it can be overwhelming and seem too much when you first get into it. As a new host without direction, you may also need to spend carelessly! Which is what we don’t want

This post will give you a headstart by making it easier, practical, and cost-effective to be a successful host.

With that, Here are 7 Hosting essentials

1. Venue

Before anything else in hosting, you need a venue. This is the first and most important essential to check because you will plan around that, and securing it takes away the anxiety of last-minute searching after all that planning or the venue being already booked on your ideal hosting day.

2. Hosting Invitations

Invitations are essential to consider when hosting, but mainly in the sense of Date, Time, and venue ( this is why the venue is necessary).

Thinking about invitations makes you prepare for a specific date and time you want to hold your event, and how it works with your venue ( if it’s not your home, you might probably book a space ), so this is very important for you.

Invitations can be sent as simple messages, including date, time, dress code, and venue location, but you can take it up a notch and create E-vites, which are free to do, and add elevation to your event

an example of an E-vite is above. The E-vite was created here, but you can use many other great free tools to make them online.

An RSVP notice will help you manage your stress during hosting. RSVPs should be received at least one week before your date. It’s easier to put your date at least two weeks after you have decided you want to host.

3. Guests List

Once you’ve decided on your invitation details and how you plan on sending them out, it is time to move to your guest list

This is your first time hosting, and it’s recommended that you host 5-10 people to test the waters. A bigger group may be too much for you, and you need to get comfortable with hosting bigger groups

Important: If you have a smaller guest list, prioritizing is essential. A good way to do this is to put a guest in the strict limit 5-10 limit and avoid the temptation of over-adding so you do not commit to what you can’t handle

You should choose guests based on how you feel about each one and not on the ‘anxiety’ some hosts/hostesses gain from mixing personalities! After all, it’s your event, and you have complete control. You should feel at ease during it!

4. Hosting Theme

In hosting, you don’t have to prioritize choosing a theme before Invites, but it is advisable because that way, you can easily map out the details you want in your invites.

A theme can be of different types, based on seasons, holidays in a year, or inspiration.

Picking a theme is a time for you to experiment and play with your favorite colors and make your hosting events around that

Theme and activities are connected because your theme will help you quickly find the activities you want for your party.

5. Hosting Decor

This is super easy after themes because you determine it based on your theme.

You now look for items and have an understanding of the DIY you can use to bring your theme together beautifully

As a first-time host, your decor can be minimal, with maybe adding little accessible extra touches; for example, in the image below (Which is an Iftar-themed party), The name tag and Menu represents the Iftar Theme

Candles were also used at this dinner party to make it more classy and cozy, but it was simple but beautiful!

Under the decor, it is best to invest in disposable plastic spoons, cups, and plates.

That way, clearing up after is less stressful and more affordable!

6. Food and Drinks

Food and drinks are highlights in hosting. You can decide whether to have a ‘Pot-Luck’ or ‘Everybody bring their own’ event or have a set menu where you provide the meals.

Note—Guest allergies are essential in the invitations and RVPS; this informs your set menu. If it’s a potluck, you need to decide during the invitation process whether to include ‘the pot-lock’ in the invites.

If you decide on a potluck, informing guests of allergies under general allergies in the invites allows them to prepare around that.

You should cover the water and Ice part!

7. Enjoy your party

As mentioned earlier, hosting can create anxiety.

With the constant feeling of always wanting to make guests happy. You tend to forget to be happy and enjoy yourself, too

The most important thing is being ‘in the present’ at your event and having a great time!

Now you have an idea on how to succesfully host your first dinner party or gathering, you can smoothly start the process. To make these essentials more practical for you use this Checklist below ‘Simple Hosting Essentials Checklist For First-Time Entertainers’

Congratulations on successfully hosting your first dinner party!