Life is stressful enough as it is—so make this the weekend you stop putting unnecessary pressure on yourself when it comes to hosting. Does your house need to be impeccably clean with a three-course dinner planned and a carefully crafted evite in order to have a good time? No. Is it easy to get swept up in appearances and pretend it does? Absolutely.
Instead of all the hubbub, why not take a page out of your younger self’s book and just decide to have people you like over on a given night? No plans, no making sure everyone’s free, no worrying whether everybody knows each other. Just you and your willingness to host.
Here’s how to pull off the day-of party with minimal effort and maximum success:
1. Decide you’re going to do it.
The first step to pulling off a day-of shindig is freeing yourself from expectations. Decide it’s okay if your living room looks lived-in (spoiler alert: it is!) or your desk is in a state of disarray. You don’t need every corner of your home to be sparkling clean to have a good time. Make the decision that seeing your friends means more to you and run with it.
2. Send the text or email to make it happen
You know your friends best–if they’re a texting bunch, fire off some texts on a Friday morning to get them excited. If they’re more into email, take that into account. The most important thing is to let them know and give them something to be excited about.
Need something to copy and paste? Try this:
“I’ve been really craving some friend time lately so opening my doors at 6:30pm tonight for whoever is free and feeling the same way. We’ll have food and drink covered–all you have to do is bring yourself. Who’s in?”
3. Pizza is always a good idea (also wine)
Remember in college when any occasion was a good occasion to order pizza? Bring that mentality into your adult day-of party, too. Skip the time it takes to prepare finger foods, cook a meal, or build the perfect cheeseboard. Just place the order and wipe your hands of any pressure or pretensions. After all, what’s better that some ‘za in good company?
4. Make it a kid-friendly space
The surest way to get your friends to say yes on the day-of? Don’t make them get a babysitter. Spend a few minutes after work making your space kid-friendly for whatever age groups will be visiting; and set up a special activity that’ll keep little ones entertained (yes, an impromptu movie night counts).
5. Embrace whatever mix of people show up
They say it’s more difficult to find and make friends as an adult, but maybe that’s because you lose some of the spontaneity of your younger years? If you’re inviting friends from all walks of life, embrace it. Dismiss the idea that people have to know each other to have a good time and you’ll be happy making connections between people you already like by night’s end.