As long as COVID-19 still exists, you will likely have to get used to the idea of social distancing. And in the Raleigh area, sadly, it doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere anytime soon. Social distancing doesn’t have to stop you from celebrating family reunions, birthdays, and other significant events with the ones you love! If you follow these 6 tips and tricks, you can still have an amazing social distancing gathering or event.

1. Take things virtual

If you are planning a larger event such as a graduation party or family reunion, gathering that many people together isn’t going to happen, however, you can have some or all of you gather together online! You could gather by household if you have smaller families who live close together, but this is still an excellent option for hosting a gathering when you’re limited on how many people you can gather together.

2. Consider taking shifts

Limiting how many people can be in a space at one time is how many places are adapting to our new social distancing norm, and you can do the same! If you are hosting a birthday party, consider having a few guests drop by at a time, and then after an hour swap! This can be a fun way to physically be near your guests without having to let anyone miss out!

3. Avoid activities that require closeness

You want to avoid activities that require a lot of contact or require you to be close to one another. An example of this could be a cookie exchange or clothing swap where items are getting touched by multiple people at once. However, you can still have a family cookout if everyone keeps their distance from each other.

4. Spread things out

To stay within proper social distancing guidelines, everyone needs to be at least 6 feet apart. In addition to this, you may have restrictions on how many people can gather in a single area. Use these to your advantage and spread things out! You could have a family reunion at each person’s house and make it into a progressive event instead of everyone gathering.

5. Use disposable or single-use items

If you want to limit contact and even make clean up easier, consider using disposable or single-use items instead. You can also buy fancy, disposable plastic dishes to keep things a little more elegant. This will allow you to serve a bunch of different people still or have everyone grab some food without worrying about spreading germs or having to do lots of dishes!

6. Host multiple day events

The last option to help you avoid the limited number of people that can gather is by instead spreading your event out over a few days. Instead of having your birthday on one day, why not three? Have different people come and celebrate each day!