If you know a trustworthy older teen or twenty-something who can handle a crowd, recruit them to chaperone the party. Explain rules to the chaperone and party-goers and then head upstairs or into a room where the party isn’t being held. Check in every once in a while by getting something from the fridge.
How much should you spend on food and drinks? Decorations? Activities? Plan it out so that your budget isn’t busted like a piñata after a party. Luckily, a lot of teens are too cool for themed parties, so unless your teen has requested otherwise, your safest bet is probably to keep the party simple.
Be prepared for bad weather. [4] X Expert Source Christina MillikinProfessional Event Planner Expert Interview. 11 February 2020. If you are hosting your party out in a garden/backyard, make sure that you have a gazebo just in case the weather changes. Either that, or be ready to let the teens come inside your house.
Plan on accommodating a few more guests than you expect. Parties, especially teen parties, rely on word of mouth and can grow depending on which invitees are going or not going. Have a contingency plan. Be sure to think about parking when planning the guest list. Just because your backyard can accommodate 20 people doesn’t mean your driveway can. Don’t let your teen invite anyone you aren’t comfortable with.
Set aside a soft end time and a firm end time. The soft end time is when your child or the chaperone is expected to start shooing people away. The firm end time is when the party must be completely over by. Make sure that you plan the party in the beginning of the weekend or the holidays so that your guests don’t have to worry about going to class the next day. Also, be sure to find out whether other teens at their college/school are having parties around the same time; the last thing your teenager wants is having nobody come to their party because someone else is throwing one on the same night. Be sure to let your neighbors know about the party in advance. This will make them more forgiving of the noise. [8] X Research source
Be flexible. Teens aren’t known for their promptness or consistency, so don’t be surprised of many more or fewer guests show up than expected.
If your teen decides it’s acceptable to decorate, look in dollar stores or goodwill/thrift stores to find cheap decorations; those things can come with a hefty price tag. Provide large, clearly-labeled trash and recycling bins. The fewer excuses they have to be messy, the better. If there are rooms in your house you would like to keep party-goers out of, lock them. Invest in a dimmer switch. Dancing teens scurry faster than cockroaches when an adult turns the lights on. Since you probably don’t want to have to deal with the consequences of keeping them turned off, a dimmer switch should make everyone happy.
Use disposables. Using disposable plates, cups, and utensils will make it easier to clean up the mess after the party.
Let your teen come to you if there’s a problem. Tell them in advance that you’re giving them the responsibility of alerting you if anything goes wrong. There is always a possibility that alcohol or drugs will show up at the party. If you trust your teen and know that they hang out with respectable and responsible teenagers, this probably won’t be an issue. If it does happen, however, you shouldn’t necessarily take this as a poor reflection on your kid’s character. Keep an eye on things and if you do see drugs or alcohol that you do not approve of, stay calm and politely ask those responsible to leave. If the teen resists, call the teen’s parents or, if you are too worried, call the police as well as the folks just in case things might get out of hand even more than they did when you first approached them.
Offering to let them keep the cash collected by recycling any cans or cartons associated with the party. If it’s a big party, they can clean up in more than one way! Keep the music going, a movie in the background, or a few select friends around to help with the clean up. Six hands is always better than two.
