With everyone stuck at home, there are fewer opportunities for friends to enjoy happy hour together. Here are some simple tips for hosting a virtual happy hour!

The old normal of getting together at a local bar and having a few drinks with your friends seems impossible right now. It can make you feel sad, anxious, and annoyed that you can’t gather safely with friends, but I have a solution!

Today I’m going to show you how to host the perfect virtual happy hour. These tips will allow you to stay safe at home while getting your much-needed social time in. You can use a virtual meeting place, such as Zoom, to host this virtual happy hour with friends.

Want a few cocktail recommendations? Create your own signature cocktails or try this delicious Sparkling Watermelon Champagne Punch. They’re all easy to make and can be replicated for every guest!

How to Host the Perfect Virtual Happy Hour

Pick Your Platform

I’ve already said you can use Zoom for your virtual happy hour, but there are many other platform options to choose from. There’s HouseParty as an option for up to eight people to have a virtual happy hour complete with games and trivia hosted in-app. Google Hangouts, Skype, and Snap Camera are a few other options that people use as a platform for their virtual happy hour.

Take a look at each of the options to host your virtual party and determine which one suits your desires for this virtual friend gathering event.

Choose a Theme

Now that you have the platform determined, it’s time to choose a theme. Yes, I said a theme! You want to make this virtual happy hour as fun and unique as possible because you’ve been stuck at home for too long. It’s time to get creative and have some fun. Take a look at the latest trends or popular themes, make a list of ideas.

Send this list to your friends who will be attending the virtual happy hour to take a vote on which theme everyone can partake in and set the theme.

Consider Other Options

If your friends are more of the movie gathering types or love playing games, then you may want to make this virtual happy hour a space to watch a tv show, a movie, or have a virtual game night. You’ll need to consider what your friends enjoy most when you gather in person so that you can match the energy of the old times!

Talk with your friends to see what they may want to do during the time you have together and make a list of ideas so that you can host a party everyone wants to attend!

Set a Date and Time

Now comes the tricky part! With many people having to tend to remote learning kids, remote jobs, and other responsibilities since the pandemic, you must set a date and time that works for everyone. Get on a group call with your friends to review calendars and see which date and time will work for everyone. You’ll want to have as many people attending as possible so that no friend is left out.

Once you have the date and time set in stone, send out the invitations virtually so that everyone can add this virtual happy hour event to their calendars.

Decorations

Now that you have the date, time, theme, and platform to host the perfect get-together, all you need is to get your drinks and décor ready. Have each person decorate their room along with the theme of the party so that you feel as if you’re all together in person.

Have fun chatting about your life, the old days of normalcy, and anything else you would typically chat about during a virtual happy hour.