Host guide · July 2026
The Four-Week Hat Bar Party Countdown
This is the actual checklist we email booked hosts, annotated. Print it, or just forward your RSVP list and let us nag you kindly.
Four weeks out — the creative week
- Approve your hat palette: 2–4 colorways from the photo sheet we send
- Pick a patch direction: full variety menu, themed edit, or brand-color curation
- Decide on custom patch artwork now — this is the hard deadline, production takes about three weeks
- Choose add-ons: live embroidery, favor totes, gift boxing
Everything in week four is reversible except the custom patch call. If a "Class of 2026" or monogram mark matters to you, this is the week it gets ordered.
Three weeks out — the logistics week
- Confirm the station location at your home or venue, with a photo if it is unusual
- Flag power realities: which outlet, which circuit, what else shares it
- Venue parties: request the certificate of insurance from us now, not day-of
Two weeks out — the headcount week
- Send your working RSVP number; the hat order is placed with overage on top of it
- Set your bar window — when it opens, when it closes, what moment it must not collide with
Your headcount can still move after this — hat orders flex until about a week out — but this is when the order ships, so the closer your number, the better your wall.
One week out — the calm week
- Confirm arrival time: crew lands about an hour before the bar opens
- Send access notes: gate codes, parking, elevator, the friendly dog's name
- Final guest adds go in by midweek
Day of — your only job
Point at the spot. The crew builds, runs, and vanishes the bar. You host. If you find yourself straightening patches at your own party, we have failed at the one thing the staffing fee exists to buy you.