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Hosting a bingo night is a fun but stressful affair. Hosting any event is never easy, but it is important to remember to enjoy it. The more you enjoy it, the more relaxed you will appear to your guests and the more comfortable they will feel and don’t worry, you won’t need a license if its just for fun.
A welcoming atmosphere is instrumental to everyone having a good time, so roll with the punches and have a good time.
Invites
The first thing you want to do is organise the guest list and send invites. You do not need to psychoanalyse to test which guests would be better, just try and invite people you know will be open and willing to have fun.
A Facebook event or group on messaging apps can be a good way to invite people and keep track of responses.
Equipment
The second thing you need to do is organise your bingo equipment. If you do not own the necessary equipment, everything can be purchased online easily or even be made at home.
Marked ping pong balls can be a fun touch, and you can print out bingo cards on your computer. You can also set up an online game which means that all everyone needs to do is buy a phone.
Food and Drink
Next, you will want to sort out what food and drink you will be offering your guests. Cheese, finger foods, crisps and things like that will go down a storm, and if you are pulling out all the stops then you could consider making some dishes at home, like cocktail sausages or garlic bread.
A fun drink suggestion is big pitchers of cocktails like Pina Coladas and Mojitos. These will get your guests in the right mood to play some bingo.
Practice and prizes
After that, you can consider practicing calling out the numbers and how the game will be organised. Do this with family or whoever is around just so you do not have anything to worry about on the night, and you can be comfortable as the host or hostess.
Now, prepare some prizes for the winner. These can be anything so get creative with it. You do not need to make them, they could be literally anything: fun drawings, privileges in the friend group, an offer to go to the cinema…
This is something you can do in advance and will really show your guests you have gone the extra mile for them to enjoy their night the most possible.
Theme
Then you could think about a theme for the bingo. There are increasing numbers of ‘boozy bingos’ being organised across the UK and these usually have fun themes like Peaky Blinders or Harry Potter or you take a look at some of the biggest bingo companies like Bingo Storm for inspiration. Established companies have invested large amounts of time and money in their appearance, so why not learn from that?
You can make the bingo a fun pre going out activity so that everyone can drink enough to go clubbing.
Alternatively, you can also just host a casual bingo party if you would rather do that, and bingo and friends provide enough entertainment on their own!
Raffle
A fun thing you could choose to add is a raffle! Buy cheap but cheerful prizes if you are organising a fun get together with friends, and they can buy cheap tickets for a raffle.
If you do this, the tickets must be very cheap: you are not trying to make money off your friends, just a bit of help to cover the costs.
Playlist
The last thing you need to make sure to prepare before your bingo night is a music playlist. Music is great at starting conversation, makes everything feel more alive and can cover up some potential awkward silences. Make a playlist of some songs for the mood of your evening: party songs if you are planning on clubbing afterwards and your personal favourite songs if you are just having a calm evening with a few friends.
