Foreword:
I have decided it would be fun to have some trusted guest writers on my blog. The illustrious Dylan Wiseman will be the first of many guest writers and I’m f***kin thrilled about it. You will see more unaltered guest posts in the coming weeks about topics of their choosing. So without further ado we will have Dylan have the floor.
The 7 Party Rules:
The goal of most parties is to have fun, make some memories, and let loose. We have forgotten this truth, we have strayed from the light. I have experienced way too many boring parties where I made no memories and actually left feeling more stressed than before. Regrettably, I have even hosted some of those myself.
I have also experienced some really fun parties, and from my experiences (good and bad) I have derived 7 Party Rules that can create a great, memorable party, with or without substances.
If you disagree with any of these I invite you to throw a party and prove me wrong:
1. For the love of all things fun and romantic, turn the lights down. Do not use your ceiling lights, use accent lights and string lights and lamps and keep it dim. If you don’t have any nice lighting available, then host your party somewhere else.
2. Music and ramping it up. Good music and low lighting go a long way in breaking down inhibitions. BUT, nothing kills a party’s reputation faster than walking into an empty, dark space with trap music blasting. Start with the lights up and some chill music as your first guests arrive (likely your close friends). As more people arrive, lights get darker, music gets louder, energy goes up.
3. Location vs crowd. Shoot for a crowd that is just a little too big for your space. 30 people in a gymnasium is a depressing stake dance. 30 people in an apartment is a great kickback.
4. You don’t need to invite the whole world. Following from above, more people does NOT equal a better party. Better people equals a better party. My Finance 201 class had 800 people, and I remember nothing about finance. Some of my best memories involve only a few close friends, or just one other person.
5. Ratios and offerings. Girls, skip to rule 6. Boys, you should do all in your power to get more girls to the function than guys (unless you are bouncing people at the door, this will not happen, but you might get close to an even ratio). Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. If you are attending a party, do not roll up just you and your four bros. Bring some women. A) they can wing-woman you, B) you wouldn’t show up to a potluck empty handed, would you?
6. Find the partymakers. Some people are the party. They get people dancing, they break others out of their shells, and they turn the energy up. We only need a few of these people, everyone else just needs to be able to ride those energy waves.
7. Introduce a little chaos. Order is boring, chaos is exciting. Think of all the most memorable stories from your high school and/or college career—they probably involve something unexpected, something unfamiliar, and maybe a little dangerous. Great experiences (and hence, great memories) come from strong emotions.
The nature and intensity of the chaos you create can range widely. Some unexpected examples from parties I’ve attended: Building a ski jump in your backyard, acro-yoga, cutting the cake with a longsword, dunk tank, kissing someone (with consent ofc), fighting someone (with or without consent), double-dutch, a really big fur coat, a really big fire, really big fireworks, bean dip table, cheating in boring card games, crowdsurfing, switching one scoop of chocolate ice cream into the vanilla ice cream and vice versa, breaking the ceiling of the apartment below because there are too many people dancing in the room above, rap battle, llama, saxophone robot, the Jabbawockeez, shrimp wall.
When you create an environment with the right space, the right lighting and music, and the right people, then you introduce your partymakers to a little chaos, the party will take on a life of its own.
So break out of the comfort zone, get a little rowdy, get a little out of hand, make people’s hearts race a little bit, and create a new core memory for your friends.