A Party for 50 for $250?

Some people are very budget conscious – I definitely include myself in this group – I’m excited not by how much can be done but rather by how much can be done with so little.

 

Since I’m also a compulsive host, who has made sure over the past 15 years that I host at least one party every week, I’ve learned how to host parties that are really fun and satisfying for guests at very little cost.

So here are some if the things I’ve discovered about how to put on quite a nice party for 50 people for under $250.

Invite Sociable People

I’ve found that what makes parties work is the people that come along, so focus on having the right people there, not on how many people come – if your throw a good party for 6 people that’s much better than a crappy one for 600, and also you will find that as you regularly throw parties that are great more people will want to come along.

Learn How To Cook

Another thing is to learn how to cook good basic food and serve drinks – cooking classes are a good way, but these days I learn most of my recipes of YouTube the day before I do my food shopping. By buying your own food and drinks you can bring food costs for a full dinner down to as low as $3 a head.

Make a Party Space

Once you know how to cook and serve drinks, the next thing to do is to pimp out your house, or some other space you have access to at no cost (when I was a kid the church hall was my spot!). It doesn’t have to be lavish, but you need all the basics – you can get 50 fold up chairs from Ikea for $325 (I have 20 of these that sit in the corner of my entertaining area), trestle tables are cheap from Bunning’s, and you can make long tablecloths from raw fabric that you hem yourself. And then you just need 50 glasses, plates, bowls, knives, forks and spoons. Once again Ikea can work well for this stuff. From there you can add other cheap but effective touches – tea lights, fairy lights, paper lanterns, all of these things look great but don’t bust the budget. You can get yourself set up for dinners for 20 for around $400 and then build up from there as more people start accepting your invitations.

Provide Fun Stuff

With this done you now need fun stuff for people to do. What this is will depend on your age and friends. For me it’s a projector with an X-box, board games and a good sound system with great CDs to play, but chat to the people you are inviting and get some ideas that will work for them.

Invite People Powerfully

Now that you have a pimp space and fun stuff, and all the basic gear you need the next step is to invite people – I have a blog post about this here.

Decide what to cook

Here are my suggestions for great cheap dinners that will leave your guests raving:

·      Curry

·      Paella

·      Baked Potatoes

·      Roast

·      Mexican

·      Pasta / Risotto

·      Bangers & Mash

·      Soups & Casseroles

Menu Plan

Once you know what you want to cook, you need to make a menu plan. Here’s an example. Just list of all the recipes and then a shopping list so that you have all the ingredients. Don’t forget the drinks!

Buy & Cook

Once you know what you need, it’s a matter of buying everything you need and then cooking up on the day. If you like cooking like do, then have fun, but if not don’t be shy to enrol your friends that do like to cook in helping out.

Throwing parties doesn’t have to be expensive if you are organised

I throw a party at my house every week for 20-50 people and it can always come in at $250 or less, even for the big groups because I have a good reputation for a good party, a pimped out space with fun things to do, and I’m willing to buy the basic ingredients and cook them up for my guests. These parties for me, as a compulsive host, are absolutely the highlight of my week!