How to Throw a Grandiose Mansion Party

There are lots of reasons to throw a mansion party: maybe you’re in charge of planning your company’s year-end party, or maybe you’re putting together a lavish family reunion for your big family, or maybe you’re a professional event planner who’s trying to add a big new something to your portfolio. But you don’t actually need a reason to throw a mansion party—you can do it just to check it off the bucket list. Everyone dreams of partying like a bigwig at least once in their life.

If you’ve never thrown a mansion party before—and if you’re one of those folks who doesn’t actually own a mansion—here’s a brief guide on how to throw one that’s absolutely grandiose.

Consider How You’re Going to Fund it

Mansion parties are expensive—which should go without saying—because you’re paying for an expensive venue and because you’ll have to provide food, music, and drinks for a large number of people. But there is a large amount of people that are going to attend, so you can easily get funding or recoup your expenses by selling tickets or by collecting contributions from attendees (as would be the case with a family reunion).

If you’re planning a corporate party, then you’ll probably be given a preordained budget to work with. If you’re selling tickets, then you should think carefully about how many tickets you’ll have to sell and how much you can sell each ticket for to recoup your costs. You’ll get a better idea of these things as you plan the following facets of your party.

Secure an Amazing Venue

Finding a mansion that fits your budget can be the easiest or hardest thing about planning your party. Search online for a luxury rental that suits your party needs and budget. Obviously, the outdoor portion of the mansion is bound to be the most utilized party space, so look for a mansion that’s got a luxury pool, dazzling backyard view, and plenty of standing room.

But the indoor space is important, too, and your party-goers are bound to want to hang out inside the beautiful home. Try to find a rental mansion that has lots of indoor seating and plenty of bathrooms.

Establish Security Protocols

There’s going to be party crashers wherever there’s a mansion party. You don’t want these people interrupting your party—especially if it’s a very private family affair—and oftentimes, it’s these party crashers that wind up causing the most problems (getting belligerently drunk or destroying valuable items inside the home). Make sure you think carefully about how you’re going to run security in the mansion.

Consider hiring a private security service for your event. If you’re going to be selling tickets, consider getting custom Tyvek wristbands to give to each attendee to verify that they actually have valid ticket.

Pick a Theme (or Not)

You can make a mansion party even more exotic by incorporating a theme. “Gatsby” parties are incredibly popular at mansions, and they’re going to be even more so now that we’re in the 2020s. You can also do a rave (just replace the light bulbs with black lights and add strobes), or a masquerade (but that’s typically how an episode of CSI begins).

Of course, you don’t have to choose a theme for your mansion party—a mansion party is a theme in and of itself.

Music Matters

Like with any kind of party, you should consider hiring a DJ to provide tunes for your guests and to take requests from party-goers. But the difficult thing about a mansion party is that the music might not be loud enough to reach all parts of the venue. Hire two DJs, one for outdoors and one for indoors. Or, make sure that your DJ has speakers that can be placed all around the property.

Don’t forget that it’s also nice to have an area where there’s less music so people have a space to casually chat.

Allocate Your Alcohol

Unless you have a very high budget, you probably won’t have enough money to buy large quantities of the best wines and spirits. And that’s okay—most people that go to a mansion party are just happy to be there, and they’re not so picky about the drinks. Stick to light beer and champagne, and if you’re able to hire a bartender for the event, then have them stick to a small menu of cocktails.

If your mansion party is a rager, then keep the expensive alcohol for the backrooms and for VIP guests.

Once you’ve planned all of these aspects of your mansion party, it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out your budget, collect your funds, or spread the word to sell tickets. Everyone desires luxury to some degree, so you’re bound to have an enthusiastic crowd of people in attendance.