Invite friends, old and new
Use your party as an excuse to renew and refresh your relationships with people you haven't seen in a while. New acquaintances will add surprise to everyone present - no one knows who they will meet this evening. The ideal group for a party is those you know and love, plus those you want to get close to and could very well love. To decide how many people to invite, make a list of potential guests with different interests and think about which of them would want to appear at your reception.
How to throw a pajama party
For adults, a pajama party is great fun. The main thing is to gather those people in whom the flame of childhood still burns.
A pajama party is usually organized at home, and the motive can be anything: a birthday, the end of a session, or just a neighbor has finished repairs and the silence of the drill and hammer just inspired you.
1. Invitations
Have the phone numbers of everyone you want to invite ready. Naturally, you need to call in advance so that people can properly prepare. When you call everyone, tell them about the theme of the party.
You can also send reminder invitations to everyone. This could be a regular card or an email with a picture of, for example, a yellow teddy bear in pajamas.
2. Dress code rules
All partygoers should wear nightgowns, or Mickey Mouse T-shirts and boxer shorts, or brightly colored pajamas. You can also bring bunny slippers or doggy slippers with you.
3. Treats
Drinks include champagne or milkshakes. Assign one of your guests to the role of bartender who will prepare drinks. Don't forget to prepare all the necessary ingredients for the bartender in advance.
Snacks include pizza, canapés, small sandwiches, fruit, ice cream, etc. If you're hosting a movie screening at a party, you can stock up on popcorn.
4. Competitions
This stage is one of the most memorable. You must be sure that your guests will leave in a good mood. The most famous competition is the pillow fight.
Here are some more fun contests for your party.
4.1 “Feed Uncle Ice Cream”
Divide the guests into pairs. Give one of the pair an ice cream bar. Goal: to feed the second member of the duet faster.
4.2 "Hook with your tail"
Guests are divided into pairs. Tie a “tail” to each participant, which consists of a rope and a fork tied to it. The tail should be knee-length. Participants must stand with their backs to each other and try to hook their tails without using their hands. The couple that does it faster wins.
4.3 "Hugging Dances"
The goal is simple: couples need to dance on a small piece of newspaper so that it does not tear. You cannot go beyond the edges of the newspaper. After a short period of time, the music needs to be turned off and the area of the newspaper reduced. This continues until the last couple remains dancing on the smallest piece of newspaper.
4.4 “Pass the pencil”
You need to divide the participants into 2 teams. Goal: pass the pencil to the next participant without using your hands, holding it between your nose and upper lip. If the teams are large, then the one that passes the pencil faster from the first to the last participant wins. If there are few guests, you can pass the pencil from the first to the last and back.
There are also a huge number of different competitions that will not let anyone get bored at the party.
5. Prizes
Of course, guests will be very pleased if their efforts in competitions are rewarded. Prepare your gifts in advance. They can be symbolic, or humorous, for example, bright socks, a pillow with kittens, a huge lollipop, a plush toy.
Use all the rooms
Is it convenient to gather everyone in the living room like sprats in a jar? Encourage movement throughout the apartment, even if it is small. Make the bed in the bedroom, turn on dim lights or garlands. Place platters of snacks even on the hallway table so that guests don't have to keep coming into the living room, interrupting their conversations. Each room creates its own atmosphere, which will give strangers more chances to connect.
Room decoration
The decor will create the right atmosphere. If you decide to hold a themed party dedicated to dudes, then retro items will become relevant decoration elements. For an evening with reggae music - a Jamaican flag and a portrait of Bob Marley.
If you are planning a dating evening, take care of the romantic attributes: dim lighting, candles, aromatherapy lamps and light snacks. It is worth thinking about corners for privacy.
For a dance party you will need a spacious room. All disturbing pieces of furniture will have to be removed from the room to free up space. To create atmospheric lighting, LED strips or Christmas tree garlands are suitable.
Set up a photo zone
Bright photos on Instagram should also talk about a good party! All you need is a good backdrop on the wall, suitable lighting and some fun sayings. Place your camera there on a tripod or place a selfie stick in a visible place. Some go further: using instant cameras like Instax.
Correct composition of participants
Every company must have those who listen and those who speak. Moreover, there should be at least twice as many of the former - so that for each speaker there are a couple of free ears. Otherwise, either everyone will be silent and dumb, or try to talk over each other, telling stories that are interesting only to themselves.
Photo: Depositphotos
You shouldn’t simultaneously invite your friends from the youth section, gym mates who are into sambo, system administrators in checkered shirts and R&B fans who speak exclusively in rap. Otherwise, they will not have common topics for conversation, they will become bored, they will have to run around twice and everything will end badly, sometimes even in a fight.
Also, you should not invite more than one of your girlfriends (boyfriends) at the same time. There is a risk that they might get drunk and find out the extent of their closeness to you. In short, the most important principle is an established group of friends, where surprises are not expected from strangers in the form of spontaneous stripteases and jumping from the balcony into the night behind the moon.
Choose good music
No good party is complete without a thoughtful playlist that maintains the right atmosphere. Select music in advance for a specific mood: it can be of different genres, from calm to fiery. Guests will be able to communicate with relaxing music, and dance until the morning with driving music. Romantic songs are the highlight of the program, because slow songs have not been canceled.
You can use special selections from Yandex.Music or Spotify. Be sure to check how long your playlist will last and add a couple of “highlights” to it - your friends’ favorite tracks.
Scenario
Holiday parties, themed meetings, and quests require a special scenario. How to get it?
invent, download, order.
The first option is original, economical, and time-consuming. The second is unoriginal, economical, fast. In the third case, minus one: an individual script costs money, sometimes a lot, but it fully takes into account your needs.
If you decide to create a unique scenario yourself, the Internet is at your service. What to look for?
Involving guests in general fun, filling pauses, raising interest.
These are three problematic aspects of the party. In the first, the guests are not yet interested in what is happening, they are tense, and are in excitement. The second is the moment of transition from one part of the party to another: from competitions and wine to dancing, from dancing to board games. No matter what the program, people tend to get tired. Create some light entertainment to keep your guests energized and interested. When planning competitions, focus on general preferences: an intellectual game, a competition for resourcefulness or accuracy.
Be attentive, but don't forget to enjoy
Once the fun has begun, the hostess's main job is to make sure everyone is having a good time. Difficult, but no more difficult than final exams. Make sure everyone has enough food, drinks, enjoys the music, and introduce people to each other. Leave the rest to your friends, and everything will go as planned. If you're too uptight it can ruin the atmosphere, so have fun!
Budget
The size of the party depends on the budget: some hire a DJ, others call their friend Vasya and make him responsible for the music selection. Some people order pizza, others order food from a restaurant. Don't be alarmed. You can throw a memorable party on any budget.
What to do if there is not much money? Organize cooking competitions. Each guest has his own dish.
After tasting, choose a winner in 3 categories: appetizers, hot dishes, desserts. If you decide to use the services of restaurants, compare the cost of services in advance. It is more profitable to go to a cafe where takeaway food is cheaper.
Avoiding strong alcoholic drinks will save money. Wine, beer, homemade mulled wine are cheaper, and guests won’t get drunk to the point of insanity.
Third option: save on competition gifts by replacing them with symbolic prizes. Games with wish fulfillment do not need additional gifts at all.
Provide assistance on time
In any party, sooner or later there comes a climax. Your guests may drink too much alcohol, and some may even begin to feel unwell. The duty of a good housewife is to help the poor fellow.
Make sure your first aid kit has everything you need to provide first aid to a guest who is vomiting or simply unwell. Place an extra towel in the bathroom for those who decide to take care of themselves. If you don’t have enough time to provide a first aid kit, catch the moment when it’s time to switch to a non-alcoholic mojito.
Invitation
Personally invite the people you want to see at the party. If the guest list is strictly limited, a personal invitation is the only workable option. Don't rely on one friend to tell another. This way you won’t gather a full group, and important details will be completely lost while playing with a broken phone.
Options:
Messages on social networks are the fastest and most convenient way. Refrain from group conversations. Most often they turn into a dump of incomprehensible messages that half of the participants will not read. A VKontakte meeting is an ideal option for a large-scale party. You will know in advance how many people will come, including invited guests from outside. Specially written or printed invitations are an option for private parties. Calls and SMS are done the old fashioned way, but they are 100% successful.
Whatever option you choose, invited guests should know exactly where and when the party will take place. Do you have any wishes for appearance or clothing? By including this information in the invitation, you will minimize awkward situations. Talk about your wishes for appearance in advance. Not a day or two, but a couple of weeks before the party. This is especially true for an event that requires the creation or purchase of a themed costume.
If plans change, the party is postponed or cancelled, notify guests of the new conditions personally. Be sure to call and apologize.
Bowling (billiards, karting, etc.)
Are you into sports or interesting games? Should this be the central attraction of the holiday?
«-»:
- Many invitees may simply not like the style of celebration you have chosen. For example, I don’t play billiards and I start to get bored 10 minutes after the game starts :).
- An expensive pleasure, especially if you need to rent several tracks/tables/cars + you need to take into account the cost of food and drinks.
- For those who are bored, it’s a fairly monotonous activity – an hour or two and the party begins to “fade out.”
«+»:
- A fun pastime for true connoisseurs - my friend celebrated his birthday at a bowling alley and we had a great time together, even though many of us were playing for the first time.
- Non-standard entertainment for some people, because many have never been anywhere other than a cinema in their lives :).
- Possibility of holding a holiday 365 days a year :).
- Lots of funny pictures.
- In principle, it is suitable for children aged 12-15 years.
- You can arrange competitions by first dividing the guests into teams.
Yacht, motor ship
Recently, holidays on the water have become relevant and interesting. Does this type of vacation really have a lot of advantages?
«-»:
- High price for renting a watercraft.
- It is also necessary to take into account the costs of catering, and in the case of a yacht, the crew’s salaries.
- If there are heavily drinking guests, this is a dangerous pastime; there is a chance that you will spend the rest of the evening fishing guests out of the water.
- A yacht cannot accommodate a large number of people, and ships are not always beautiful.
- Only for holidays in the warm season.
«+»:
- Exotic and fun.
Own garden, meadow
The garden is an ideal solution for a quiet family dinner, children's party or tea party. Beautiful trees, bright flowers. But, as they say, the sun has spots too!
«-»:
- If the weather is bad, the whole party will be closed.
- If there is lush vegetation, there is a chance that the garden will be trampled to the ground, especially if there are children among the guests.
- Option only for warm seasons.
- In the absence of trees, it is necessary to solve the problem of the scorching sun.
- Problem with a lot of insects.
- In the evening, the issue of lighting becomes acute.
«+»:
- Fresh air and beautiful scenery.
- An ideal place for a modest tea party.
- Great place for a photo shoot.
Children's entertainment complex
Are you planning a children's party and want to relax yourself at the same time? Read and think :).
«-»:
- The financial side of the issue is quite significant.
- The venue is for children only.
- Limited area and work of animators.
- Impossibility of holding “your own” holiday.
«+»:
- Children have fun with the animator, you relax.
- Convenient for parents whose children were born in the cold season :).
Where?
This question always worries students, whether it’s about where to meet a girl, study hard skills, or spend time with friends in an organized manner.
If you are a happy son (daughter) of gardening parents, then until the last pumpkin is picked from the fields and all the shriveled carrots are taken out, you always have an apartment available for the weekend. Unfortunately, even this bliss ends by December at the latest.
If your ancestors are hardcore city dwellers, then you probably have a lot of experience in sending them away from home. You are clearly aware of the schedule of all tribute concerts to Klavdia Shulzhenko and Valentina Tolkunova and have taken care of purchasing a subscription for the year in advance.
In a cafe, restaurant, karaoke bar
Are you planning a luxurious holiday at a venue? We weigh all the advantages and disadvantages!
«-»:
- Expensive. A banquet these days, even in the simplest cafe, starts from $13 per person. And this does not include dessert, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
- A theme party will only take place in a closed hall. And this all comes down to money again :).
«+»:
- You will be fed and watered - you won’t have to cook anything or clear the table.
- You can sing and dance to your heart's content, depending on the level of entertainment in the establishment.
Rented recreation center, boarding house, sanatorium
Many former children's camps, recreation centers, Soviet sanatoriums, etc. They practice renting out houses, sheds, barbecues and furniture for holding mass events on their territory. But are there any disadvantages to this type of vacation?
«-»:
- There is a limited number of sleeping places - there are enough tables and chairs, but in a rented house there may be only a couple of beds. We'll have to think about where to put the guests.
- Suitable for summer only.
- You will have to prepare treats, transport food to the base, and also think about transporting guests :).
«+»:
- Fairly loyal pricing policy.
- The opportunity to listen to music loudly and dance, because everyone around is relaxing.
- An excellent option for those whose guests like to stay longer, because the rent is paid per day.
- If the base is located within the city, then you can get to it by public transport, and you can actually get home by taxi.
- Great place for a themed party.
- The presence of both open area and canopies.
- In 99 cases out of 100, there is close proximity to water.
