I can never forget the first party that I threw in my life. Nor can anyone else. And no, it’s not because it was so great but because it was SO BAD. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. The guest list, the menu, the weather, you name it.
I was very busy with a project those days. So busy that I decided to have a party but I forgot to invite my guests in advance. So I was inviting them on the same day of the party, a few hours before the show was to begin. A few of them took offence to that.
To make things worse, my cook turned up late and at the last possible minute, she announced that she needed more onions if she had to cook. So would you believe that I was buying onions in the market when my guests were sitting at home, waiting for their hosts to come and attend to them! It was so ridiculous that it was almost funny.
Suddenly it started raining heavily. I somehow made my way, drenched and miserable to my impatient guests. Then the food was not ready in time. It took hours and hours. Soon I was telling myself “This is it. Now nothing can possibly get worse”.
Well, something did.
The power failed.
After this party was over, I ran flying to my room and cried angry, miserable tears.
What do you think happened then? Do you think I gave up on hosting parties? No. I decided to learn. I learned with time and experience. And now I can confidently host successful parties with ease(or so I think).
And let me share with you all that I learned:
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Guests
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You must personally invite your guests at least a week in advance. Do not ever think of leaving a message behind for them. People have prior appointments. So make sure that they are invited cordially and with honour to your home. One more word of caution: Do not invite guests who have very little in common with each other or your party will not rock. The guests should have a common ground, something to talk about. They will hate your party if they are bored to tears.
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Food
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Be very careful here.(And I am speaking from bitter experience). Find out their food preferences, especially if they are vegetarians or not. If you have vegetarians in your group, kindly refrain from displaying chicken legs and other graphic non-veg fare. Most vegetarians cannot stand such sights. I would say that keep the menu as vegetarian as you can, just to be on the safe side. Order food from a good place if you don’t have a great cook, and make sure it’s enough. If you are a great cook yourself, more power to you (I can’t cook to save my life!).
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Music
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Do not, I repeat, Do not put racy songs like ‘Kaanta Laga’ or something similar if you want your party to look even remotely classy. I am assuming that your party is NOT a dance party. In that case, stick to ‘Yanni’ or some other soft instrumental music. And keep the volume low. You don’t want your guests shouting to make themselves heard to each other, do you?
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Introduce everyone
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Introduce everyone to everyone else. You have to do that. If you will not, no one else will. And then you will be stuck as a host in a party full of guests staring glumly at each other, with uncomfortable silences as punctuations.
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Circulate
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Move around, talk to people and make sure that they are comfortable. You can have that heart-to-heart talk with your best friend some other time. Right now, you have to be everyone’s friend. So get moving and make sure that you give equal attention to every guest.
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Look gracious and smile
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This is not the moment to sulk about your upcoming meeting. And this is not the time to fight with your partner(co-host) about the music either. The bottom line is, if you are are the host / hostess of a party, you have to look utterly gracious, polite and accommodating. So put up your best smile.
So tips over. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and throw a bash! Don’t forget to invite me!