What Guests Secretly Want at Your Celebration

The happiness of your guests can make or break the event — so be sure you know what your guests would secretly love to see at your celebration! Here are a few party extras that we are absolutely loving this season, whether you're hosting a bridal shower, an engagement party, a milestone birthday or any big reception.

A Solid Playlist with Mixed Genres

Although it's great to have a personalized celebration to honor the guest of honor, make sure there's something for everyone when it comes to the music selection. To maximize the amount of guests hitting the dance floor, play a variety of songs in all different genres. It's important to mix oldie classics with popular trending songs so guests of all ages can find hits to enjoy. Another perk of choosing your own playlist is that you can save money and skip on hiring a DJ. Just set up your speakers and hit play! Bonus: you can have a song request station where guests can let you know what song they want to hear.

Food Stations

To make your party stand out, skip the traditional chicken-and-pasta buffet line and opt for food stations. This will easily add variety to your guests' dining experience, and get them excited to try different options. To kick it up a notch, try adding themed stations that show off foods from different countries. Having a ton of options to choose from is not only a fun experience for the guests, but will also be easier for guests with stricter food requirements to enjoy their meals, too. Guests with food allergies, vegetarians, and vegans will be especially thankful for the variety!

Unique Party Favors

Let's face it: every guest is going to want to go home with a memorable gift. This is a great opportunity to create a personalized experience for your guests. For a host who loves bar crawls and trying out new breweries, place a customized shot glass with each guest's name at their chair in place of a name card at the reception tables. For the green-thumb crowd, try out planting kits or send each guest home with a mini succulent to adorn their house. For the host who always hosts game nights, your guests will love customized playing cards with their initials. Whatever your passion, you can find a party favor to reflect it, and your guests will love taking home a piece of the party.

A Photobooth

I can speak from personal experience here: a photobooth is a crowd-pleaser. This is a chance for your guests to sneak away from the party for a few minutes and get some entertaining pictures to remember the celebration. I've been to a party that had a box of props to use in the photobooth — and I still have the pictures of my family and me dressed like sailors and dinosaurs. It is incredibly fun and will have your guests laughing and getting creative with their photos. If they hang it up at home (like my family who has all of ours on the fridge), they'll always think of your party when they see it and remember the good times they had. To ramp it up even further, try out the new 360 degree photobooths that add a unique and exciting quality and variety of angles to the pictures.

Signature Cocktails

Having signature cocktails at your celebration is a fun and simple way to add another personalized touch. Pick a signature drink or two to add to the menu, typically an upscale spin on a favorite bar order, and name each one after the guests of honor. If you want to add another drink to the signature cocktails, you can create a crowd-favorite order too, and name it whatever you'd like.

Free Parking

Nothing will anger a party guest quicker than a frustrating parking situation. Make sure that you have ample room for your guests to park, and that they don't have to pay for it. Ideally, have your parking spaces close to the venue so your guests do not have to circle around to find closer places to park. Your guests should be able to walk up to your venue easily, and not walk six blocks in heels and suits to get there.

Space

It sounds simple, but without enough space, your guests will feel crammed and uncomfortable. Be sure that your reception venue has a considerable amount of space for your guests to freely mingle without feeling like they're going to bump into something or someone. Your guests should be able to move easily from the table, to the food line, to the dance floor, and anywhere else they want to go.

Open Bar

An open bar is typically a hefty expense, but one that is well worth it. If your guests show up ready to have a few drinks and hit the dance floor, they're going to be let down when they realize there's a price tag. Your guests are traveling to celebrate with you, so be sure they are able to order your signature cocktails on the house.

Room Blocking

To encourage more guests to join in on your day, offer an easy hotel stay experience by room blocking. This is when you rent out a certain amount of rooms in a row for your guests to stay overnight. Room blocking is practically an essential for those with out-of-town guests or destination celebrations. It will take a lot of the stress out of the guest's agenda when it comes to finding a hotel to book when they are not familiar with the area.

If you add these elements to your upcoming celebration, your guests are sure to enjoy your special day with you, and they'll remember it for years to come.

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