Planning the Party
Pick a theme. The best farewell parties revolve around a specific theme that honors your guest. Themes typically highlight the next part of this person’s journey and commemorate your time together. If your friend is moving away think about what kind of themes would work. You might want to host a "bon voyage" party that utilizes themes of travel and exploration. Maybe your party highlights some of the best local things your friend loves. In addition, you can introduce some culture and cuisines that are local to the next place your friend is going. Maybe the guest of honor is leaving work and moving to a new company. You might want to throw a party that highlights all the great work this person did at your office. Incorporate your theme into the invitations, food, decorations, etc. For example, if your friend is moving to another state or country, you could make cupcakes with that place's colors. You can even make toppers that have a map of the new location on one side and the place your friend is moving from on the other.
Find a great location to hold the party that fits with the theme. Choose an appropriate place to hold the party. It could be at an office, a restaurant, or even at your own home. The location should be a combination of someplace easy to throw a party and a place your guest will enjoy. For a family member going overseas for a while, home is a good choice. For a co-worker who is retiring or changing jobs, the office or a favorite local restaurant is suitable. Think about what the guest of honor would like. Remember that you’re holding the party for your friend. It should be somewhere this person will cherish. For example, if your friend is moving away you could hold a party at the bar or restaurant you all frequent. See if you can rent it out for a few hours. The location should be somewhere special and somewhat intimate. You want to be able to have a good time without other people distracting you or being distracted by you.
Send out invitations. Invite people well in advance so that most people will be free to attend. When sending out invitations, think about who the guest of honor would want at the party. Invite close friends and family first. Think about your budget and keep the guest list intimate or smaller if you have a smaller budget, or if you know your guest of honor wouldn't want a large party. Unless it's a surprise party, don't forget to invite your guest of honor. You could even send a personalized special invitation. Sending out physical invitations is a great way to get people to attend the farewell party. Decorate the invitations in a way so that these are part of the theme. If your friend is moving, you could make invitations that look like a plane ticket. Print where the person is leaving from and going. Add information on the ticket that details the time and location of the party. Ask guests to RSVP by a date a two or three weeks before the party so you can plan for food accordingly. You can also create an event on Facebook. Social media is a great way to invite people and discuss the details of the party. Create a social media event along with physical invites. People won’t always track the invite if it’s solely from social media. Plus, the physical invitation is a great party favor and can be used as part of a farewell gift or memory board. However, if you don't want to do physical invitations you can design a colorful e-vite as well. Be sure to include all necessary information on the invitation, like where the party is being held and the start and end times. Reader Poll: We asked 116 wikiHow readers who've hosted parties, and 59% of them agreed having a specific end time is helpful for people to know what to expect. [Take Poll]
Ask for contributions for a gift. You should get the guest of honor something to remember this time by. A sentimental gift is a great way to send your friend or co-worker off with lasting happy memories. Ask the people who are attending to contribute in some way. If you feel uncomfortable asking people for money that’s ok. You can let the guests know that you are planning on getting or making something for the guest of honor. Explain that you'd be grateful for any contributions. Offer alternative ways for people to pitch in. If you don’t want to just ask for money, consider asking people to help get decorations, setup, make or bring food, etc. Any type of contribution helps.
Organizing the Party Details
Assign roles to people. It will be hard for you to throw a fantastic farewell party on your own. But chances are you won’t have to. There should be plenty of people in your group who are more than willing to pitch in. Assign certain roles to people so that it’s easier to get everything done on time. You could assign one of your friends the task of getting decorations. Put someone in charge of the food. Maybe you have a crafty friend who wants to help you make that perfect memory book or gift. Dividing up roles will ensure that your party is the best it can be. And when it’s time to have the actual party you can focus on the guest of honor. EXPERT TIP Rachel Weinshanker Rachel Weinshanker Certified Event & Wedding Planner Rachel Weinshanker is a Certified Event and Wedding Planner and the Owner of San Diego Life Events, an award-winning wedding and event planning business based in San Diego, California. Rachel has over eight years of event planning experience, and her work has been featured in many notable publications. San Diego Life Events has been awarded the Wedding Wire Couple's Choice Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Rachel is a graduate from San Diego State University. Rachel Weinshanker Rachel Weinshanker Certified Event & Wedding Planner Ask each person what types of tasks they'd like to do. If everyone has a task they will find enjoyable, they'll bring joy to the event. That's more important than figuring out what everyone is the 'best' at.
Make decorations. Decorate the party area to match your theme. You can have decorations that blend the past and the future together. For example: Have little ships or planes for someone traveling overseas. Use colors that match the country your friend is leaving and the country your friend is going to. Maybe you divide the party area in half. You decorate half the area with colors and elements of your friend’s favorite things from this country. And the other half has colors and things that represent the culture of the new country. Have little clocks, timesheets, or similar work items for someone retiring. Additionally, think about including elements that your co-worker or friend has expressed excitement about when retired. Maybe this person has expressed a desire to sit on the porch and read books. Why not decorate a corner of the room to look like a porch? Add a nice chair and a side table with some books. This area can also be the guest of honor’s special party throne. Streamers are always good decorations. Get streamers in the person’s favorite colors, or ones symbolic of something to do with the farewell. You can even make streamers that have pictures of a map showing where your guest is leaving from and going to. Think about including a special area where you can place a book or card for everyone to sign and write a note. You can also tailor this to your theme. If your friend is moving overseas, maybe you get a bottle and small roles of paper. Then people can write notes on the paper and place the notes into the bottle.
Organize the food. Unless you're planning a sit-down meal, finger foods are just fine. Try to choose food that you know the person who is leaving likes a lot. Small snacks, sandwiches, and desserts are great because these foods allow people to move around and mingle. On the other hand, a nice sit-down meal may mean more to your guest of honor. Use plates and silverware that match your theme. Get your friend’s favorite local food and/or food that depicts the cuisine of the new place your friend is going. Or, if you are having a farewell party for a co-worker, consider ordering food from your co-worker’s favorite restaurant near the office. Get your guest of honor’s favorite local beer and spirits if you are old enough to drink. Sometimes a cold beer from your friend’s favorite local brewery goes a long way.
Plan for speeches. Organize people who might wish to give speeches. The speeches could talk about how great the guest of honor is. Center your speech around much this person means to you or how much this person has taught you. Ask those talking to keep it brief, to avoid dragging things out. Speeches can highlight any number of topics from funny stories to heartfelt remembrances and best wishes. Ensure that there is an opportunity for the person being honored to respond. But don’t make the guest of honor speak. As fun and happy as a farewell party can be, it can also be emotional and your friend may not wish to speak in front of everyone.
Get a farewell gift. It is usual at farewell parties to present a gift or gifts to the person leaving. Think about both the person who is leaving and in what capacity. Your friend may get more enjoyment out of a memory board or book than something you bought. Additionally, think about where this person is going. If your friend is moving overseas, get a gift that is small or will even help the move. For retirement, there are traditional gifts from a company that an individual may receive. But you should also give the guest of honor something that commemorates the time and relationships at the company. For someone traveling, find things that help a person travel. Maybe you know that your friend is going backpacking but doesn’t have a great backpack for travel. You could all pitch in and give your friend a great traveling backpack. If you want to go above and beyond, fill it with supplies like a water bottle, toiletries, and favorite snacks. Think about why your guest of honor is leaving and where this person is going. Try to make or give a gift or gifts that will be useful to your friend. Don’t give your guest of honor something that will be hard to move or that your guest doesn’t need. Maybe your friend is moving to another state. Instead of giving your friend more stuff to have to pack up and move, why not give this person moving boxes or even hire a moving company to help pack everything up. Or, perhaps you and your friends make a memory collage as well as practical items like a traveling backpack and supplies. If your co-worker is moving on to a new company think about something work related that will remind this person of the great memories with you but that will be useful for the new job. Perhaps it’s a customized notebook or laptop case. Or maybe you give this person a trinket to sit on a desk.
Honoring the Guest of Honor
Take plenty of photos to remember the occasion. You can email or even print on canvas the best of these and send to the person leaving to remember the event and everyone who attended. You can also make a collage of photos that depict your group of friends or co-workers sharing fun memories as an added gift.
Play games that honor your guest. Hold some party games to play that your guest of honor loves or that center around your guest. You can take a tailored spin on classic party games like Two Truths and a Lie. Guests go around and tell three quick anecdotes that involve the guest of honor. Two of the anecdotes are true while one is made up. The guest of honor doesn’t get to weigh in until the other guests get to guess. The guest who identified the most lies at the end wins. You can also hold a roast for the guest of honor. Just make sure that all the jokes aren’t actually offensive and that you end on a positive note. A roast can be fun but you have to be careful that you keep the context light. You can play any type of game you want. For an added touch, tailor the game with the same theme as the party. For example, if your friend is moving overseas and you are of legal drinking age, you can play a tailored version of beer pong. One side represents your current country, the other the country your friend is going to. Take out a map of your guest’s destination and have everyone pick a fun place to go or something to do at the new location.
Have everyone contribute. Give everyone the opportunity to contribute to some aspect of the party. Just because you may be the one in charge of throwing a party doesn’t mean that you should take all the credit. Whether it’s a co-worker getting a new job or retiring, a friend who is moving, or someone close to you going off to active duty, there are a lot of people who care about this person. When you let everyone contribute something special you not only give the guest of honor the best farewell party but you let everyone say goodbye in a meaningful and unique way.
Send off your guest prepared and with great wishes and memories. When thinking about gifts and a great way to finally say goodbye, you want to give your guest of honor something happy to commemorate all your time together. Before the party winds down let everyone have a moment with the guest of honor to say a personal goodbye. Farewell parties can be overwhelming and it’s not always easy to find time to get a one-on-one. Come up with an activity that most people can participate in while allowing the guest of honor some one-on-one time. Finally, give your guest of honor any gifts and toast to your friend’s good fortune. Give a final farewell toast that expresses all your love and admiration for this person. Let your friend know that even though you won’t all be together every day, your friendship will always last.
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