eHezi 12:39pm • October 9, 2022 Archives, Arts & Entertainment, Entertainment, People Leave a Comment

YONKERS, WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — October 9, 2022 — Have a spacious pool in your backyard, plus room for people to hang out in the shade? Sounds like a perfect place for an ultimate pool party!

But hosting a pool party is tougher than you may think, and if you don’t prepare accordingly, you could find that your guests become bored and leave well before the sun sets. If you want to host a fun and successful pool party, read on – we’ll explore a few key things to consider and prep before your first guests arrive.

Friends having party and dancing in a swimming pool – Young people enjoying vacation in a tropical resort hotel.

People will be more likely to come to your backyard pool party if you send out personal invitations. These can be physical invites or digital invites depending on your preferences. To get as many people to come as possible, consider sending out both types of invitations; that way, people on your guest list are more likely to see at least one of the two invites and respond quickly.

Want to get people to respond quickly? Include a request to “RSVP” and use your guests’ personal names to draw their attention. You can likely find some easy invitation templates online to whip up some engaging and eye-catching invites that aren’t likely to be tossed in an email trash folder.

Naturally, you’ll need to prep your pool in the surrounding area before your guests get to your home. Some good ideas to prep your pool include:

You’ll inevitably have to clean up some stuff after your guests leave your ultimate pool party. But by preparing your pool ahead of time, you’ll make the cleanup step much easier. 

Look at your outdoor storage and take stock of your pool supplies and accessories. When your guests arrive, they’ll want things to do, so you should purchase some toys, floaties, and other stuff to make sure there’s ample opportunity for aquatic adventures.

Just what accessories should you grab? Pool floats are excellent ideas, as they allow your guests to float on the water while sipping a beverage in comfort. Inflatable beach balls, extra towels, and comfortable chairs to position around the pool are also good options. 

Get Some Games to Play Out of the Water

But your guests won’t spend all their time in the water. They’ll probably spend plenty of time in the kitchen or simply outdoors chatting with each other and gulping down ice-cold beer. Sooner or later, though, someone will want to up the energy and get some action going.

Consider buying or stacking some games that your guests can play out of the water, like corn hole or mini-golf (depending on the size of your backyard). Outdoor games are great ways to entertain your guests from the afternoon well into the evening, especially if it gets a little chilly once the sun goes down. Even if the water becomes cold, your guests can stay for even longer playing games and socializing!

Set Up Snacks and Drinks

As noted earlier, your pool party will only reach “ultimate” status if your guests have plenty to eat and drink. Snacks ranging from chips and dip to hard pretzels to candy are great options, especially since they aren’t likely to make a mess if they end up falling in your pool.

As far as drinks go, you can keep things a little tamer with nonalcoholic beverages like soda, sparkling water, and punch. This could be a good idea if kids will be coming to your pool party with their parents. But you can also turn things up a notch by serving beer, boxed wine, hard liquor, and spiked punch.

If you serve alcohol, remember to have someone be the designated keymaster and take everyone’s keys from them before they start indulging in alcoholic beverages. The only fun pool party is a safe pool party.

Hook Up Music and Speakers

The best pool parties have tunes to jam out to while socializing or engaging in pool games. You should set up some speakers so they blast music from indoors to your backyard or out around the pool. Otherwise, you’ll have to turn up your indoor speakers so loud that it’ll be uncomfortable to spend a lot of time inside!

For the best results, purchase some wireless or Bluetooth speakers that can connect to your stereo or television. That way, you don’t have to bring cables through your windows or sliding glass door, which are tripping hazards and which are vulnerable to water damage.

Have Some Spare Swimwear and Sunglasses

It’s never a bad idea to have some spare supplies on hand for guests who show up late or who forget to bring something critical, like swim trunks. It won’t do any good to turn your guests away after they’ve made the trip to your home for the pool party!

To that end, have some spare swimwear and sunglasses, plus plenty of extra towels, stocked up in your closet, on a table in the backyard, or in your bathroom. Spare swim trunks and two-piece swimsuits for women are relatively cheap, so long as you can guesstimate some likely sizes for your guests. Extra sunglasses are also smart to have on hand, especially if your backyard doesn’t have much in the way of shade.

You’ll also need to prep your bathrooms before your guests arrive. You can place some of the above-mentioned swimwear articles or towels in your bathrooms, plus other sanitary and hygiene items. Prepping your bathrooms is a good idea if you want to minimize the messes you have to clean up later.

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