The ultimate guide to throwing an epic house party

A raging house party doesn’t happen on its own. Planning, attention to detail and a healthy dash of caution are a few of the ingredients needed to throw a successful rager, according to some Halifax students. 

With Halloweekend around the corner, a few partygoers, throwers and police officers weigh in with their advice.

The early stages of a house party can be uncomfortable. After throwing multiple parties in her university house, Marin Regan, a fourth-year science student at Dalhousie University, has developed a way to avoid pregame jitters. 

“You want to have people there before the stragglers come along,” she says. “You want to have your key friends arrive early, so by the time people are trickling in, it’s not awkward.”

Regan cautions against poor lighting, sticky floors and uncomfortable expectations for guests.

“If they ask you to take your shoes off, game over,” she says.

Vincent McGee is a student at Nova Scotia Community College, but also visits Dalhousie, St. Francis Xavier University and Acadia University to interview students for his social media accounts. 

For McGee, known as @cluelessgringo on Instagram, a great house party is multi-locational.

“Have a space for people indoors and outdoors; I like to go outside during the party,” he says. “Also, have some kind of theme or something going on, rather than just people standing around.”

Regan says a natural feng shui in a house party set-up can enhance the fun. When setting up for the party, she says to consider how guests will move through the space.

“There should be a group game [near] the dance floor, so you can have some people going back and forth.” 

Hosting is not for everyone. A good host has to be comfortable relinquishing control to the mercy of their guests. 

“You have to be someone who is chill,” says Neveah Henson, a second-year psychology student at Dalhousie. 

Henson says the guest list is also important. Invites should only go to people who interact well with each other. 

“You have to invite good people, people who all know each other. But also mutual friends, people you can meet.”

It’s not only who shows up, but how many. Size does matter. The size of the house, that is, and the number of people it can accommodate. 

“Personally, I would throw the max possible option; the more the better, says McGee. 

“When it’s past 40 [people], that’s when the house party really gets going.”

When a party starts to heat up, a new challenge can arise. Have a nagging neighbour, and law enforcement may land on your doorstep. 

McGee says, if the police show up at the party, students should “just respect the law enforcement doing their job.”

“If you can hold everybody in, and get them to quiet down, then keep the party going by all means.”

McGee says he’s noticed an increase in police responses to house parties. 

“Here in Nova Scotia, [house parties] get shut down really quickly.” 

“I think the police at Dal, Acadia and StFX have been way too harsh on house parties.”

Const. Martin Cromwell, of the Halifax Regional Police, encourages students to “respect their surrounding community” and communicate with their neighbours.

In an email to the Dalhousie Gazette, Cromwell said, “A simple conversation with your neighbours about your plans beforehand would likely be appreciated.”