New Year bash at home

KOCHI: A home party for New Year’s can often be as much fun as spending the time swinging at a hip bash. It means not having to spend thousands on passes, and instead keeping the celebration close-knit and personal. But still there are a few things you need to do if you are planning for a party at home. This will ensure it stays special and memorable.Chalk out a guests list: This isn’t too difficult if you are sure you want to kick-start your New Year only with your near and dear ones. However, not all necessarily look for a personal gathering and many do want to use the occasion to ‘expand-the-social circle’. So besides chilling with your friends, if you also dig into the opportunity of meeting new people, just invite friends telling them they are welcome to bring along their friends (whom you might not know personally). Include games where there is a prize for those who know the maximum number of names in the crowd. This will surely be an incentive for people to try hard at getting introduced to as many guests  as possible. And who knows, you may just bump into your new best buddy, future employer, potential business partner or the future darling.Send across invites: Don’t call people over phone but invite them with cards or notes. If printing cards look costly, then maybe it’s time you revisit your art class-days from school. Take charge of sketch pens and crayons and add a personal touch to your invitation with hand-made cards. If you fear that you are not very artistic, then design cards on Photoshop and send across the prints. If that too sounds tiring, then you can always opt for free online cards with personalised messages. You can find some at Evite.com and 123greetings.com. Pop into your friend’s mailbox and ask them to hop in for the party at your place.  Set the mood. Depending on your personal choice and taste of your friends, plan a theme for the New Year's eve and make sure it reflects everywhere in your party scene. Themes can vary from wacky cartoon characters to some favourite movie to something broader like Bollywood, slapstick, colour code to anything else that captures your imagination. For a James Bond movie fan, it can be various avatars of Bond, James Bond and Bond chics swinging across the hall.Let the theme show up in the décor as well. Like for the sports theme, you could set the table as a snooker table with green linen topped with coloured dishes and cutlery, with some edible goodies wearing sporty look. The Bollywood theme could have clichéd heart shaped balloons on the floor and scented candles around the room. If you looking for something less flashy, then a dress code or colour combo will do just fine. Pick the right music: Music can make or break a party. Pick music that will get people to sink into the skin of the theme. However, make sure to keep building up the tempo with a perfect mix and timely change. You certainly don’t want to see your guests raising their hands not to dance but to signal time-out. Ideally, you can start with some low soft music giving people ample time to connect. Build the music tempo slowly, till you finally hit the peak. If you manage to play the right tracks, you may even be requested to burn some CDs for your friends to take home.Ensure entertainment. The biggest challenge in making a party a success is keeping guests entertained throughout. Personally attending to each one of them is not only a Herculean task but also restricts people from opening up and enjoying themselves. The best way to get your guests to drop their inhibitions is to have a karaoke night. You can find free karaoke setups online at karaokeparty.com, singsnap.com, amusicalbox.com etc. Save a corner in the living room, mark it as stage and be the first one to start the party on a musical note. If you are too shy, then drag along your partner or a friend for a duet performance. Just make sure to pick the most popular numbers and a New Year special song when the clock strikes midnight. If karaoke is too loud for you then you could opt for group games like asking everyone to write down their New Year resolutions on a piece of paper, mix them all, pick one randomly and take turns in making guesses at the owner of that slip of tongue (oops! piece of paper). Other traditional games are cards, tambola, pass the parcel, truth or dare etc.Cater to taste buds. Food certainly plays an important role in making a bash memorable. And on the New Year’s, people have added expectations. If you wish to fill the table-top with home-cooked food then make sure you don’t choose a menu that is very time consuming. Plan ahead and cook well in advance so that you only need to reheat as many dishes as possible, except for the fresh items like salads. Otherwise, an easy way out is to order from a popular restaurant. If you and your friends are more of drinkers than foodies, then maybe you’d like to expand the options for snacks and starters with limited main course. Very few people take notice of the main course once their stomachs are full with the liquid diet. Some sure shot hits like lemonades and fruit punches can be made before hand and be chilled for good number of hours. Also, consider BYOB (Bring Your Own Bubbly) for your party. It saves on a lot of money and adds variety to suit individual tastes.It’s a lot easier to pay to be a part of the party meant for half the world, but it is not so difficult to organize your own party and get the celebrations rolling your own way either. Every moment is a memory in the making then!