WHEN YOU LOOK BACK AT YOUR COLLEGE YEARS, YOU WILL REALISE THAT YOUR MOST CHERISHED MEMORIES CAN BE TRACED BACK TO ONE WILD, EVENTFUL PARTY. VATSALA CHHIBBER HELPS YOU PLAN THE PARTY YOU’LL NEVER FORGET
THE MASQUERADE
Rich in mystery, intrigue and an old world charm, masquerade parties originated in the 15th Century in Venice and have become a popular choice for theme parties. The dress code for men is formals (ties should be mandatory), while the women can flaunt long gowns or contemporary, sexy adaptations with lots of ruffles.
DECORATIONS: Your guests should ideally turn up in their own custom-made masks. But have a bowl filled with party masks ready as stand-by for those party poopers who refuse to play along and those whose masks suffer irrecoverable damages. For decor, use drapes (royal blue with yellow or black and gold), ribbons and safely placed candles (you don’t really want fire blazing on the dance floor). You can also scatter props such as boa feathers, canes, etc around the house for the guests to use for a dramatic photo session.
FOOD AND DRINKS: Bite sized appetizers are recommended; limited vision owing to the masks can erupt in messy food disasters. Also, use champagne glasses to set the mood even if you’re serving apple juice.
ENTERTAINMENT: To encourage people to get creative with their attire, mention a prize for the best dressed man and woman in the invitations. Create red ‘May I have a dance’ (or even ‘May I have a date’ cards if you want to turn this into a matchmaking affair) and distribute them to guests for them to formally secure a dance partner.
MUSIC: Go classical with this one to really set the mood – Mozart, Beethoven or even Andrew Lloyd Webber.
CUPID’S BASH
The object of this party is to call all your single friends, make them mingle, and hopefully have them leave as couples. If not, you’ll still have an evening of charming conversations and flirtatious moments.
DECORATIONS: This depends on how much you love the colours pink and red. Use a neutral colour like purple and beige if too much ‘love in the air’ makes you nauseated.
FOOD AND DRINKS: To encourage singles to get to know one another you could organise a ‘share a plate’ or ‘share a drink’ session. To make this easier, serve food that can be shared like pizzas and serve drinks with two straws. You could also serve fortune love cookies where each cookie has the name of one other guest at the party. Your guests then have to strike a conversation or share a dance with the person listed in their fortune.
ENTERTAINMENT: Two truths and a lie is an interesting way of breaking the ice and getting to know other singles at the party. Each guest offers three details about him/ herself while the other guests try to figure out which one of those three is a lie.
MUSIC: You don’t want the playlist to be too sappy; after all, it is a singles party. Make sure your playlist has music that’s upbeat and will get people on the dance floor.
GAME NIGHT
If elaborate costumes and decorations give you a headache, try hosting a game night. No fuss, no big budgets, but plenty of fun.
DECORATIONS: Set up games around the house to create different ‘game zones’, like a Twister area, Scrabble area, Jenga area, even an Xbox area. If you have a designated area for playing cards, try stacking up a couple of house of cards (or cheat by gluing the cards together).
FOOD AND DRINKS: Pizza or popcorn: you’ll need either one of these in abundance. You can also prepare cupcakes in the shape of dice or scrabble tiles for dessert.
ENTERTAINMENT: You know the answer to this one. Be prepared with a variety of games to keep up with changing moods. Game night favourites include Monopoly, Scrabble, Twister, Taboo and Poker. You can keep individual scores for players through the evening and declare a final gaming champion at the end of the night. Penalty for losers makes it more exciting: maybe drink an egg milkshake or refill everyone’s drinks for the rest of the night?
MUSIC: If you want to fuel the competitive spirit in your guests, a playlist with songs like Winner takes it all, Another one bites the dust and Eye of the tiger.
THE FLASHLIGHT PARTY
You can save on your electricity bill with this party idea. All lights are switched off throughout the party and each guest is asked to bring (and use) his/her own torch. If you’re hosting this party after watching movies like The Conjuring, be prepared for fainting spells.
DECORATIONS: Give your friends a fright they’ll never forget. Place scary objects at random places around the house for guests to stumble upon (zombie masks, a teddy bear with a knife stuck in it, a ragged doll hanging from the ceiling, pools of fake blood). You might want to make sure everyone on your guest list is insured.
FOOD AND DRINKS: Bread sticks shaped as fingers, cheesy eyeballs topped with olives, brownies shaped as tombstones. You can also line the rim of all the glasses with strawberry syrup and serve some bloody delicious drinks.
ENTERTAINMENT: You’re never too old for dark room. Switch off the flashlights, everyone finds a spot to hide while the ‘denner’ tries to locate and recognise the guests in the dark. You can also ask everyone to come prepared with a terrifying tale and have spooky narrations in the dark. Squeal away!
MUSIC: Black Sabbath, Mayhem and Gorgoroth can bring in the spooks with their music. However, if you have a high tolerance for horror, the music of Stalaggh & Gulaggh will definitely give you nightmares. These guys actually incorporated cries of children and screams of patients from mental institutions in their music!
GET YOUR GEEK ON PARTY
Put on those oversized glasses and superhero t-shirts, gel your hair, and enjoy a night of wild geekery. You could send your friends invitations in the form of coded messages.
DECORATIONS: If you have old floppy discs or CDs, you can use them as wall decorations or coasters. If you are and your group of friends have a common obsession (for example, Lord of the Rings), try integrating those themes in your décor.
FOOD AND DRINKS: A giant Rubik’s cube cake or tinier cupcakes in the same shape. You could also try food adaptations from the Harry Potter series such as Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans (or chocolates) and Butterbeer (there are plenty of creative recipes for this on the Internet).
ENTERTAINMENT: Conduct a quiz based on a theme of your choice: TV shows or science fiction, or turn it into a sexy geek party with a truth or dare session.
MUSIC: What kind of geek are you? Would you want movie soundtracks from films or choose a ready playlist based on your artist preferences from websites like 8tracks? It’s your call.
BONUS THEMES
ABC PARTY
‘Anything but clothes’ parties are popular in the West and are a great of way of getting creative with costumes.
GUESS WHO PARTY
Everyone acts and dresses like someone else for the entire party (could be a celebrity or a friend). A ‘who is who’ guessing session follows.
HIPSTER PARTY
Bring out obscure music and vegan food, and party hipster style.
THRIFT SHOP PARTY
This could turn into a partycum- sale. Everyone brings old clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery. Wear, swap, party.
Volume 3 Issue 3
