Diwali is almost knocking at your door, which means….card party season is here! Dressing up, food and drinks flow all night and of course all the fun making (and losing) some moolah. If you are attending some parties, it is a given that you will be hosting some of your own as well and just thinking about it makes you sweat. Well fret not, because we have some handy tips for you that will make sure your diwali party is smooth sailing. So read on and find out the ways you can organize a diwali party at home…
1. First and foremost is deciding who all is going to be invited. Is it a friends only party, or family only party or, are both going to be there, will there be people from your workplace or not? The kind of people you invite sets the tone for your evening. Inviting people out of courtesy whose company you don’t particularly enjoy or around whom you’ll have to censor yourself or other guests will only take the night down. So invite people who you will be comfortable with.
Image Source: doylesbridgehotels.com.au
2. Next comes décor; it is not only about making your presentable for the coming guests, but also having that festive feeling in the atmosphere going. There will of course be a rangoli to greet your guests, but you don’t need to impress them with your artistic skills; choose an easy to make and elegant design.
Image Source: youtube
Instead of hanging traditional torans around your house, get a bit creative and hang coordinated or same lanterns around the house.
Image Source: wikipedia
Diyas and candles are a given, but ditch the gnarly ones available in the markets and choose something simple and elegant like tea light candles or gel candles or just simple painted diyas.
Image Source: fellhouse.org
There has been a string/fairy light movement in home décor, so why not use it for diwali décor and string them along window sills, curtains or even your puja area.
3. Food for a diwali party at home should be readily available, easy to cook and can be eaten easily as well. This can be accomplished by making appetizers or finger foods the main attraction. Serve foods on a stick that can be easily fried like paneer, kebabs even grilled veggies. If you feel like cooking will be hassle then just hire caterers to serve at your party, but be sure to check their professional standards.Potluck parties are seeing a rise these days; share the load and have multiple kinds of food from different households for everyone to taste and of course, it is a diwali party of course so there has to be sweets; make sure to stock on traditional ones like gulab jamun, rasmalai and kaju ki barfi!
Image Source: craveonline.com
4. The real reason why everyone gathers is for all the booze that will be flowing (besides the actual card games of course). The best way to go about drinks is to hire someone to bartend for the night, ideally from the same place your food will be coming from, so you can negotiate some packages. If not there are people you can hire to just handle the drinks for the night; but you also have to make sure that you have some simple things like fruit juices and soft drinks as everyone might not be up for drinking.
Image Source: drinkinginamerica.com
5. The entertainment for the night will of course be the card games, the most popular one being teen patti; but you don’t have to stick to traditional games only. Branch out with fun games like UNO, but be careful...it has been known to cause many a fight.
Image Source: jungleerummy.com
For music you have to stick with familiar, masala, bollywood tracks because chances are there will be people from all kinds of age groups. So play songs that everyone knows the words to and can enjoy.
So this diwali be smarter and don’t stress, just enjoy the festive vibes!