Party Backfire Plans

Situation: You’re already in your sari, checking that mouth-watering chicken on the grill as you wait for your guests. Festive umbrellas color your backyard like California poppies. Your “sun basking, parade of skin” themed party seems to be perfect. Unfortunately, nobody checked the weather. Rain just poured endlessly. In a few minutes your guests will be arriving.

Noting that weather forecast could have saved you a lot of effort and money. However, weather can still be unpredictable so having a plan B is better. There’s the saying, “Hope for the best but expect the worst.” This is a safe philosophy to live by whenever you’re hosting parties. Think ahead of all the headaches that you don’t want to deal with at the party. Troubleshoot in advance and prepare another plan as a safety net — plan C. Having two or more backup plans makes you more prepared. Sure, you may think it’s overkill or that you’re being a neurotic, but being prepared could save you from embarrassment and making your guests feel like they’ve wasted their time.

Popular party problems are missing important guests, bad weather, food getting all charred, and running out of drinks. To make sure your guests do appear at your party, try bud dying them up with other guests. Have guests pick up each other. This way, if some of them change their minds, they can inform the others and you’ll know too. You can even set up a carpool if necessary. Also think of doable alternatives like tents in case it rains and ordered food for cooking mishaps.

To avoid swig shortage, indicate in your invitation that your guests have to bring their own poison. Or you can admit the fiasco to your guests and have fun anyway. You can party in the rain in your bikinis, scrape off the burnt part of the food and garnish it with herbs or cheese, pass a hat for contribution if you run out of drinks and invent a game where they can “punish” you for the mess.