With the holiday season just around the corner, celebrations are in order. Whether you’re responsible for small get together involving close friends, or for a full-blown corporate event, being a great host is no easy task.
While the success of your event depends on several factors, the venue and the theme of the party arguably play the most critical role. A business conference at the swanky conference hall of the biggest football club in your city sure does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?
Same goes for a personal event. A unique idea can add the necessary zest to your event. The perfect example is the rise in the popularity of ugly Christmas sweater parties. Almost everyone has one lying around, and when everyone at the party is wearing one, it’s a great way to get the conversation going!
If you understand the importance of having something unique at your event, but are struggling with ideas, you’ve come to the right place. However, before we get into the list of ideas, let’s talk about party disasters. Choosing the wrong theme, or simply being underprepared can easily lead to a truly disastrous event. Let’s look at the most common ones, and see how you can avoid them:
Party Disasters That Can Be Easily Avoided
- Choosing the wrong theme: While a unique theme or activity can really take the excitement of a party up a notch, choosing the wrong ones can backfire. Make sure you choose a theme that does not offend any of the guests.
- Not being ready: If you’ve realised you’re underprepared for the event, instead of frantically trying to micromanage everything, recruit some help. While people that have sought professional help for their event probably would not face such a problem, others can call their friends and relatives for help.
- Party not getting started: Let’s face it, if your guests are not in the mood, nothing will make them come to the dance floor. As the host, your best bet is to choose the music very carefully and ensuring it is something upbeat.
- Uninvited guests: When you least expect it, one of your guests will bring along an unwanted guest to your party. As distressing as it may be, the situation can easily be avoided by announcing in the beginning that yours is a limited invitee event.
Of course, there’s a lot more that can go wrong at the party, but being prepared has its benefits. Keeping Murphy’s law in mind during the planning stages will surely be a lot of help.
Now that we’re through party disasters, let us start with the things that will make your party a roaring success.
VIP Matchday Experience
This idea is perfect for those attending to a smaller number of guests. We are a sport loving country, and almost every group of friends religiously follows a sport and supports a team. Even for corporate events, if you are trying to impress a client, sending them to witness their favorite team playing a Premier League match fit for history books, while being treated to champagne and snacks, works like a charm.
Almost all major stadia that host events worth attending are offering luxury matchday experiences. Most such experiences include strategically placed seats, priority check ins and an open bar.
A private matchday experience is a surefire way to impress clients and/or friends. The best part is, once you purchase a package, you don’t have to be involved with the preparations and there is a slim chance of anything going wrong.
Meme Party
If you’re internet savvy enough to find this article, you probably know and love memes. The same is probably also true for your friends.
Dressing up as memes is not only super convenient and easy on the pocket, it’s a great way to start conversations and get the guests mingling. Even if that doesn’t happen, you are sure to get a few good laughs out of this theme. Something as sensational as memes is sure to get attendees excited about your event.
Themed Bar Crawl
Bar crawls are pretty epic by themselves. However, the truth is that almost all of us have been to enough crawls to be fed up of them.
While looking for unusual places in your city to add to the crawl can help make the idea more appealing, having a theme associated with it makes it more interesting.
For instance, a Viking themed bar crawl- guests dress up in horned helmets and scream viking chants every time they enter or exit a bar. Imaginary rules such as shouting “ahoo!” every time you call the barkeep can turn the crawl into a fun and engaging game.
Rent A Venue
Similar to the matchday experience, renting a venue is a surefire way to make your guests feel important. While doing is little bit on the costlier side, the convenience and entertainment value that you get it well worth the price.
Some ideas can be a local rooftop bar, the local winery, or if you live near the coast, take to the waters on a dinner cruise! The best part about hosting such an event is that the surroundings and the atmosphere can be catered to your needs as the host, and many of the party disasters mentioned earlier can easily be avoided. If you want to take this idea a step further, you can consider hiring an artist to entertain your guests with a live performance. From fortune tellers to professional DJs, professional entertainers can add some much-needed electricity to your celebrations.
Christmas Movie Marathon
The name itself is self explanatory. The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate the holidays than to watch iconic Christmas films with your loved ones.
Putting together a movie marathon is a fairly simple process. Start with building a list of movies to watch and choose from. When the guests arrive, treat them to Christmas snacks such as cookies and milk, put on the movie and enjoy!
Christmas movie marathon may not be suitable for corporates, especially if your team is big. This idea will only be successful in case of an intimate guest list of friends and/or close relatives.
Conclusion
One party disaster that was not discussed earlier was the host being too busy. While it is understandable to be caught up in the preparations of the party that you are putting together, what is the point if you cannot enjoy it?
By choosing a clever party theme or by simply hiring professionals, a lot of headache can be avoided and even the host can get a chance to mingle with the guests and enjoy the party.
Did we miss out on your favorite party ideas? Tell everyone about them in the comment section below.
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