While covid-19 restrictions vary from country to country, it’s safe to say that in most places things are easing up. This means that the lost art of party planning is about to make a comeback. If you’ve forgotten how to plan a party after such a long absence, not to worry. We’re about to provide you with the ultimate post-Covid party planning guide that you can use the next time you host an event.
Things have changed a little since the last time you would have thrown a party. There are some extra steps that you need to take to make sure everyone can have fun and stay safe. So, let’s get into how you can throw a post-Covid party and forever say good riddance to the zoom events that have filled our social calendars for the last 18 months.
Post-Covid party planning checklist
Before we get into some of the best post-Covid party ideas, we’re going to outline a simple post-Covid party planning checklist. It will help to make everyone attending a little safer and at ease with attending an in-person event once again.
Ask your guest to do a Covid test
The first thing to do is ask your guests to take a Covid test within 24 hours of the party. Lateral flows are being given out for free by the NHS so it will be quick, cheap and easy for your guests to find out if they are carrying the virus.
Even though lateral flow tests are not 100% accurate, they are a lot more accurate than guessing. If everyone turning up to your party has a negative lateral flow result within the last 24 hours, it will put everyone’s mind at rest and significantly reduce the risk of Covid gatecrashing your party!
Think about the venue
Venues have always been integral to the success of a party, and post-Covid, they matter even more. The main thing to think about is the size of the venue. You will need to make sure wherever you host the party that it’s big enough to fit everyone in with enough room for social distancing.
Always opt for large open spaces with ample room when possible. Even if you don’t use it, having the extra space will make people feel more comfortable and will give people who want to avoid getting too close to others somewhere to go.
Ensure good ventilation to keep everyone safe
An essential part of post-Covid party planning is to make sure that the venue is well ventilated. This is because virus particles from people breathing, speaking, or sneezing can build up in poorly ventilated rooms and increase the risk of airborne transmission.
Bringing fresh air into the room can help to remove the stale, virus-filled air. The more fresh air coming in, the quicker the virus particles can be removed from the room. So, open as many windows as you can to reduce the risk of airborne transmission. For more information, you can check out the government guidelines here.
Guestlist only
Creating and sticking to a guest list for a post-Covid party is essential. If you’ve hosted a party before, you know that +1s can get out of hand quickly and turn into +3s or 4s. Before covid, all that meant was there was less room to dance and the drinks you got in for everyone went down a lot quicker. However, post-Covid too many people turning up simply increases the risk of getting coronavirus.
Be ruthless with your guest list. It will make everyone feel safer and probably more excited to come to your party. After all, they were one of the people to make it onto your exclusive Covid-party guestlist!
Hand sanitiser stations
Finally, the last thing on your post-Covid party planning checklist is making sure that you have plenty of hand sanitiser dotted around the venue. This will allow everyone to keep their hands super-clean for the duration of your party and reduce the risk of people catching covid from touching contaminated surfaces.
Post-Covid party ideas
Now that we’ve covered the essential post-Covid party planning checklist, we can move on to providing you with some ideas for a covid-friendly party. We’re going to start with something we know best…
Silent disco events
Silent disco events are great for hosting a covid-friendly party. All of the equipment needed takes up very little room and compared with a regular disco you have a lot more flexibility with the venue. You don’t need to worry about noise restrictions and the headphones can pick up the signal from the transmitters for hundreds of meters. So, you take your time picking the right venue. Here are a few types of silent disco events you could use for your next party:
- Silent disco – the most obvious is the traditional silent disco event where you have three channels of music playing at the same time and your guests tune in to what they like the best. Seeing people dance to different rhythms never gets old and an added benefit is that you don’t need to shout to speak to someone like you would in a regular club. You just slide your headphones off and talk normally which helps to reduce the number of virus particles in the air.
- Silent cinema – it’s just like going to a regular cinema but instead of the sound coming out of speakers, it comes through your silent disco headphone set. Silent cinemas can be set up anywhere including big open rooms and outdoor venues which will allow for social distancing. There are companies who will hire you with everything you need to host a silent cinema party including the chairs and big screens. If you already have the screen, we can help you out with the audio equipment for your silent cinema party too.
- Silent disco tours – partying on the move is a unique experience and probably one of the most covid-friendly ways to throw a party because everyone will be outside for the duration of the event. There are a bunch of silent disco tour operators in every major UK city and you can always hire your own silent disco equipment and take the reins as the tour guide.
Outdoor events
Following on from silent disco tours, in the post-Covid world, any party hosted outdoors is a winner. There’s no need to worry about ventilation and as long as there is enough room for people to social distance, everyone should be as safe as walking down the street.
So, why not throw a garden party? You could get everyone over for a BBQ or host a cocktail garden party. If you really want to go the extra mile for your guests you could put Quarantinis on the menu. They’re made with 3 oz vodka (or gin), 2 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 tablespoons water, and one sachet of vitamin c powder.
For the colder months, bonfire parties are a great way to stay warm and get rid of all the old wood lying around in your garden! Kids will love it too, especially if you get some marshmallows for them to roast.
Dinner party
Finally, hosting a dinner party can be a great way to keep numbers down while still getting the chance to socialize with your nearest and dearest. The main thing for planning a post-covid dinner party is ventilation. Simply opening up a window in each room you plan to be in will be enough to keep fresh air circulating and the virus particles down.
