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Facts about throwing good parties

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Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#11

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

buildsjets wrote: post #7

I sure miss the kind of parties where they have to get an emergency court order to cut power the building at 3am. I learned everything I need to know about throwing parties from Dave Barry. If you throw a party, the worst thing that you can do would be to throw the kind of party where your guests wake up today, and call you to say they had a nice time. Now you'll be be expected to throw another party next year. What…

Posts like this really make me feel like I'm living in a completely different reality from some people. I can't tell how much of this is exaggerated for comedic value and how much of it is genuine.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#12

Post by tcoff91 »

sbuccini wrote: post #8

22) Turn the AC wayyyyyyy down when the party starts 23) Buy frozen finger food and put into oven in staggered batches. When a batch is ready, immediately transfer to serving tray and walk through party offering people food. Great task to delegate to that one attendee who doesn't know anyone! 24) Polaroids/Disposable cameras are cheap and seem to be universally adored. Get a few and scatter them throughout the party.…

If you give people glasses instead of solo cups, I find that partygoers will tend to treat your house with a lot more care and respect. We have a set of glasses that have little black stickers on them that are a material that works well with chalk, so people can label them.

Yes, there's a risk of breakage & having to clean up, but overall I think it sets a better tone.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#13

Post by TheAceOfHearts »

If you're hosting a party in a place where there's lots of shy or quiet people, you should recruit some people who are skilled at getting others to open up, and keep them in active rotation. Call them firestarters: tasked with making sure that none of the fires go out while making sure that the party doesn't burn down.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#14

Post by dlisboa »

I feel like this is really an American culture thing where parties or dinner parties are mostly the responsibility of the host. In movies or TV there’s even a common theme of guests judging the host’s hosting abilities.

In Brazil you throw a party to people you like and they all have a hand in helping you, sharing the load. Everyone will be responsible for some part of it, all of it is organized informally, there are no real formalities to the event. No one cares about making a science out of it.

I’ve never heard of a person complaining about party quality or comparing hosting abilities.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#15

Post by nicbou »

I prefer to invite people individually, and create a group chat with those who confirmed. Nothing is more demoralising than 24 hours of people saying they won’t come, in the group chat, right before the event.

My flake rate is close to zero, mostly because people personally told me they’ll join.

It doesn’t hurt to get the group chat hyped up on the day of the event. The activity is enough to get people excited. I also pin the time and location so people find it easily.

Besides that, just chill. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Once a few good people are there, the thing mostly runs itself. Try to relax and enjoy your own party.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#16

Post by johnsillings »

dlisboa wrote: post #14

I feel like this is really an American culture thing where parties or dinner parties are mostly the responsibility of the host. In movies or TV there’s even a common theme of guests judging the host’s hosting abilities. In Brazil you throw a party to people you like and they all have a hand in helping you, sharing the load. Everyone will be responsible for some part of it, all of it is organized informally, there are…

sounds way better that way

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#17

Post by hamdingers »

rossdavidh wrote: post #2

"21) The biggest problem at many parties is an endless escalation of volume. If you know how to fix this, let me know." Only way I know is to have a porch, garage, or other connected-but-not-the-same-space open for people to spill into.

If it's the kind of party where there's music, stop the music. Everyone will hush, expecting for something to happen. After a minute or two, turn the music back on at a lower volume and the crowd will adjust.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#18

Post by OisinMoran »

I did a fun one at a party of mine where I had name tags for everyone (a pretty good idea by itself) but each person's name tag had the name of someone else they had to talk to at some point. Most of the pairings were quite intentional but a few ended up being random. Got a lot of compliments about it!

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#19

Post by adriand »

rossdavidh wrote: post #2

"21) The biggest problem at many parties is an endless escalation of volume. If you know how to fix this, let me know." Only way I know is to have a porch, garage, or other connected-but-not-the-same-space open for people to spill into.

On the flip side, is there such a thing as a good, quiet party? Only if it's very small.

Re: Facts about throwing good parties

#20

Post by lanfeust6 »

dlisboa wrote: post #14

I feel like this is really an American culture thing where parties or dinner parties are mostly the responsibility of the host. In movies or TV there’s even a common theme of guests judging the host’s hosting abilities. In Brazil you throw a party to people you like and they all have a hand in helping you, sharing the load. Everyone will be responsible for some part of it, all of it is organized informally, there are…

> you throw a party to people you like

How many is that? It's comfortable being with people I like, but I just consider that "hanging out".

The appeal of parties to me is it's a social expectation to mingle with new people I otherwise would never have had the opportunity to speak to.

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