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DIY New Year’s Party Ideas

Last Minute Fabulous Party Ideas

Payel Majumdar

Parties and New Year’s Eve go hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, so does New Year’s Eve and deep pockets coupled with lots of time for a fabulous party, or so says perception. If you chilled and did not plan for the future like the poor grasshopper from Aesop’s Fables, then maybe we can help a wee bit. Down below is a list of last-minute party ideas with the sole purpose of not making it look last minute but rather a party to remember.

Sci Fi – Fantasy Special

For all the members of the nerd empire, here is a chance to shine. Let those dreams unleash, as you dress up in any dream character from Spock of Star Trek to Malcolm Reynolds of Serenity, or maybe that Iron Man/Darth Vader mask you have left over from Comic Con.  When it comes to Sci Fi decor, think anything from fake light sabres, UV lamps, glow-in-the-dark stickers to make your room resemble outer space. For fantasy,  your apartment can resemble anything from the Hogwarts Griffindor common room to the Elven Castle of Rivendell. (Shivers of excitement already). Or if you’re a Game of Thrones fundamentalist, think a candlelit room, with candles of various sizes. Scanning thrift shops for wooden cutlery, (or raiding your mother’s kitchen) is another must. Print a huge Game of Thrones map and display it at a conspicuous spot.  Medieval invitation e-cards, offering your guests bread and salt as soon as they arrive and a bread and cheese platter with some blue cheese and sharp cheddar block are other ways of setting the tone of delicious debauchery.

For Sci-Fi the menu needs to be as outworldly as possible, so dishes  like Asparagus in Balsamic Butter Sauce and other rocket-resembling items are a must. Say hello to Yoda Sherbet Sundaes! Though this party will need some slogging, imagine chilling with Hermione and Neo in Planet Pandora on a makeshift Iron Throne as the X Files theme song plays. Send out invitations already!

Nothing says New Year’s better than champagne

A Champagne themed party

Quick story. King Louis XV, or the King Well Loved as he was called, gave the sparkling wine its elevated status by allowing only wine from the Champagne region in France to be supplied in bottles, and the other French wines to come in barrels. A courtly ritual, champagne has always been the ultimate aspirational beverage. That means you’ve won the first round with the theme. Here’s a quick step-by-step breakdown to now make it affordable.

Everyone does the midnight scene. Do a drunch (drunken brunch) instead.

Deck up the room with satin ribbons and white balloons. Throw in a pristine white e-card, with gold calligraphy, a baroque building as the watermark. Don’t be afraid to go all the way. Free photo editing software is your friend, and remember, e-cards cost zilch.

Start the event with some cheery classical (Beethoven’s Ode to Joy variety) and move into some smooth jazz. STAY AWAY from electro/funk till people are well drunk.

Get some pretty satin gloves and a dress/a white suit for yourself, for let’s face it you deserve it for throwing a glowing party.

Some pink champagne is key. Get a long table (or join two tables) and borrow some lace from them blessed parents. Then make champagne flute pyramids, that way you control the amount of liquor you’re serving and rise way up the exotic scale.

Team it up with lots of finger food. Here’s a variety of cheesy dip recipes which can double up for main course to get you started. Some Gourmet Jar jam, and crackers is another great thing to serve. Invest in those lace-y paper napkins. Freshly cut up strawberries and yoghurt with cream cheese is a delightful dessert to round merry things off.

Fairy Light Indulgences

Arabian Nights

Those huge satin sheets you had no use for? Make a one-side open make-shift tent with them on that empty terrace of your barsaati. Fill them up with all those colourful cushions around the house. Borrow from interesting neighbours if necessary. Criss-crossed fairy lights across the terrace will light it up like a dreamland. Line up plants on the stairs leading up to the terrace and fairy lights around the banisters. Sheeshas  (can be acquired at minimal cost from flea markets like the bylanes of Colaba Cosway or  Pahadganj) can brighten up the place, as can lots of other relics from there. If you’re feeling confident, feel free to get embellished Alladin pants and a bling blouse plus headscarf as well.

For food, keep huge kebab platters, mezze platters and loads of baba ghanoush and hummus with fun things to dip them apart from pita. It’s easy to organize, delicious and doesn’t distract the dancing!

Keep an eclectic mix when it comes to music from some Arabic pop to Bollywood pop numbers that are sure to be right down everyone’s street. (There’s no escaping them.) Suprise surprise, this might even be the launch pad for that friend who’s been learning belly dancing for the past two years.

Mad Men Night

Step one. Get the Don Draper Hat/ Christina Hendricks red dress. If you’re the perfectionist of the group, this should help you out. Send out invitations with quotes from separate characters (it even serves as a hint for your guest list about whom to dress as from the characters). 60s cocktail recipes, loads of beer, and buckets of ice is the order of the day. Some soda, tonic, grenadine syrup, lime cordial and bitters is also a good idea. Here are some ideas for those hors d’ oeuvres. Whatever it is, a Baked Alaska (it’s really easy to assemble if you’ve already bought the cake) and a Golden Potato gratinee is a must. For music, this Mad Men playlist should sort you out. Or just play lots of Dylan, Janis Joplin and Ella Fitzgerald.

Nothing says style better than a 60’s themed party

Pop/Rock Night

Be one of ‘em hipsters. (The ones before it became a gaali.) This means loads of film and music posters, a playlist that traverses from Bombay Bicycle Club to Nucleya, (here, here and here are some suggestions from our end) and let your imagination travel when it comes to ‘how to dress up’. Anything goes, from slinky sarees to sweatshirts and cotton pajamas. The cheapest to organise, this party is all about how well developed your tastes are. Bademiyan kebabs and the Delhi Darbar biryani if you’re in Bombay (basically the nearest kebab shop) is the course your food journey should take. Also, loads of Jack Daniels and Old Monk, for dramatic irony.

Dance Dance Revolution Night

If you’re a dance freak this is the party for you. Call up the nearest wedding planner and see if they have this epitome-of-coolness Dance Dance Revolution machine available. If not, then a mini DJ floor it must be. A party-cum-mock dance competition will have you in splits, (if you’re good at dance, maybe literally so!) in no time. Food can be a nostalgia trip and make sure there is lots of variety from Cassata, Coca Cola, Uncle Chips, Momos, TV Dinners/ Bento Boxes, Vada Pao and Cheeseburgers, Hot Chocolate Fudge, Salads, Olives in martinis, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, Cheese crackers… you get the drift. Lots of glitz is a must in the attire and the decor!

With these fabulous parties in no time ideas, you are going to be the kingpin when it comes to party planning and what’s more, it is the most fun thing you would’ve done in some time, we can guarantee. Merry merry for the next year.

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