Sometimes no matter how hard you plan for the best, something goes wrong. The meal might end poorly, guests might be grumpy or your favorite four legged friend could have puked all over your Grandmother — sometimes things just start to go downhill. Need a quick save, try one of these ideas!
1. Social or Console Games: If you ask people if they want to play a board game, chances are they'll gracefully decline. But if you bust out something a bit more social, say Catch Phrase, they'll hop in or be forced to do so because everyone else is. Wii games go over well as most people love to play or would like to be given the chance.
2. Soundtrack Matters: No one wants to listen to The Cure and talk about the Holidays. Ok, so maybe one or two songs is acceptable, but after that, the mood might start to go downhill. No matter how Genius your playlist thinks it is, sometimes it can use a little refreshing.
3. Change the Scenery: Although it's not a first resort, taking things outside to the patio, the front porch or even the rooftop can be enough to lighten the mood and give folks something else to focus on.
4. Did Someone Say Delivery?: A hot pizza or plate of pot stickers can drastically change grumpy guests who might still be in need of some munchies. If your town has cookie, cupcake or sweets delivery then even better!
5. Double Spike the Egg Nog: When all else fails, stiffen up the drinks, batten down the hatches and pray that a little extra alcohol will do the trick.
How do you take a party that's heading south and turn it around? Share your tips in the comments below!
Image: Flickr member *Zephyrance - don't wake me up. licensed for use by Creative Commons
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What DaniellM said.
I want those shoes.
Giving people more alcohol than they suspect is such a bad idea.
What DaneillM and heps and Kate said.
If any of these things happens to you more than once, stop throwing parties IMMEDIATELY.
Instead of double spiking everyone's egg nog, maybe you could triple spike your own and become the evening's entertainment....?
ande2994 that was funny!
Generally guests might be grumpy and still hungry because the host didn't plan very well. In that case, cranking up the music, pulling out the games, and ordering take out might at least show the host is trying 'better late than never'. No xtra alcohol though - not cool.
What a great idea - trying to rescue a dysfunctional family situation by giving guests more alcohol without their knowledge and/or consent.
I would only add to that to make sure to have all the kitchen knives easily on hand before you usher your drunk relatives onto the roof and suggest a fun social game like Truth or Dare! Because if that doesn't rescue your party, then nothing will.
I see nothing wrong with double spiking the nog! In fact, most of my guests prefer a stiff drink so I am sure it would be appreciated :)
Yes, spiking the egg nog and ushering people to the rooftop is a wonderfully fun way to perk up a party. Oh dear.
This has got to be the weirdest post I've ever read on here...
kinda like it though...
Well, I think the point of the post is that when the party you planned isn't happening, you have to be able to think on your feet and do something to switch gears. If the low lights and soft music are putting everybody to sleep rather than being conducive to quiet conversation, you need to change the lights, the music, or both. We had a party recently and, because of unexpected snow, it wound up being smaller than we expected, and the party animals didn't show. So, instead of lowering the lights, playing loud music, and drinking late into the night, it became a calmer sort of party where we played silly Xmas music and played with the dogs my sister brought. I noticed that some of the quieter music we were playing seemed to suck the energy out of the room, so I increased the tempo on what I played. The party didn't turn out exactly like I planned, but it was a great success anyway.
Those are awesome shoes!
Since most folks are up in arms, I would like to offer this anecdote: When my parents got married, my dad's stepmom insisted on having an additional reception in my dad's hometown despite the fact that my parent's couldn't afford it. She did not offer to host or pay for any of it. My mom and dad got a location and served cake and punch. Two of my dad's friends, knowing the stress of the situation REALLY spiked the punch. My grandmother who didn't approve of the meager offerings had to hear all of her friends talk about how my parent's reception was the best party they had ever been to...for about 20 years! My parent's didn't even drink. I've even witnessed people effusing about this party. I love it.
Whatever you do, don't bitch to your guests about how embarrassing/lame/stressful your party is. Nothing like alienating people after you invite them over.
Hmmm...
1) I loathe Wii games and so do most of my friends. Know your guests.
2) As long as you don't play any opera or rap music, you're fine. Oh, don't play anything too loudly.
3) If you have to move your guests outside to "lighten the mood", maybe your home isn't suitable for guests in the first place.
4) Delivery munchies for "grumpy" guests? Didn't you buy enough food in the first place? If your guests are grumpy, they should go home.
5) Don't stiffen the drinks. Some people have to carefully monitor their consumption so they can drive home. Besides, it's not nice to drug people without their consent.
I'm still not sure whether or not this was a joke post.
Some people have health conditions you may not be aware of, and have to be very aware of exactly how much alcohol they are consuming. Do not ever lie to people if they want to know how much booze you put in their drink.
How about if the hostess is in a crap mood and wishes she'd not invited a bunch of people over? I've already planned my super secret hiding spot and my party prep will include stashing a bottle of wine and a pillow in said spot. GRINCH.
????? me, too.
Sorry, video games can make a party worse, not better. Console games typically support around 4 players at once. Great if you have 4 people, but who wants to sit around watching someone else play a video game? Let me tell you, NOT the rest of your guests!! It will make them substantially more miserable unless you plan to set up gaming stations all over your house, which is an experience they can A, get at home, or B, get at an arcade. Only resort to those sorts of activities that can entertain everyone at once, and know when to cut it short and move onto something else.
I have to agree with SDazzle...not only are you going to end up having a handful of drunken guests, but not everyone is a kind drunk. Plus unless you plan to get them to stay overnight, you are now putting these people who have no idea how much alcohol was in their drinks on the road. So therefore whomever they hit and injure/kill, it's completely your fault. I'm not even going to go into how ILLEGAL this is.
If your guests are grumpy, it's normally because the host is boring them by leaving them nothing at all to do. Not everyone loves to sit around and talk about the latest movie or sit around and talk about a certain book. If you can't plan accordingly, stop planning parties. If it's just one guest, then it's probably just them and it's best just to ask them to leave.
unless your guests are already trashed, why the grumpiness about boozing up the punch? you're not slipping roofies into their drinks... most guests would (and should) be able to tell a strong drink from a weak one and monitor their personal response to how much they're drinking. or do you guys all proclaim the volume of alcohol in the punch and calculate how much that would be per glass to help everyone keep track?
Wow. Everyone is reading WAY too much into this. The post isn't suggesting you roofie your guests and if you don't like Wii games or take-out, or would assume the host was sloppy if you were at a party offering such things, maybe you're the one who should stay home.
They're just suggestions; not steadfast rules you MUST follow.
Lighten up!
I've got to agree with those posters who've said to lighten up! I think the Wii games are an excellent idea. Having an optional activity is always fun-- even for onlookers.
I guess this is a "know your audience" situation (as with all parties). I mean, if you know the crowd you've invited typically gets reckless with alcohol.... maybe a stronger drink isn't the best idea. But it is a party after all! I know when I throw parties some degree of drunken shenanigans is expected!
I would suggest videos. Epically bad movies and crazy you-tube videos (streamed on to the big set) tend to loosen people up and give people something to laugh and talk about in the background. Everyone has at least one crazy movie/video that other people haven't seen, and when you have some alcohol in the mix...
Even better, if it's so bad that you can't listen to the dialogue, you can put on a record/cd and have a movie mashup ala PinkFloyd/Wizard of Oz. Or just have your guests make up their own words.
This sounds like a situation formed when people feel obliged to entertain. If parties aren't fun, don't throw them. If going isn't fun, don't go. (I tend to avoid both, and I am quite content with that choice. Obviously not the solution for everyone else, but I think some people don't even know they don't HAVE to party...)
i think a lot of the previous posters need to take a chill pill...strongly second SBGBlogs and StudioStarter's posts.
It's still very irresponsible to spike your guests drinks. It's not always easy to know how much extra alcohol is poured into your drink and if someone doesn't at least have a rough estimate of how much they are consuming, it's easy to get out of hand quicker. Call your local police station and ask them about your party idea of spiking all drinks double - pretty sure they'll be breaking up your party pretty quickly and you'll be spending the weekend in jail if not longer. Excellent thing to put on your next resume, correct?
How is it irresponsible to spike a drink? I assume people know that there is booze in the eggnog... a little extra never hurt anyone. Chill out.
KittinAnn -- The post talks about double spiking drinks, so yeah the guests might be expecting a little alcohol. It is irresponsible not to mention all the extra alcohol you poured in - especially if you don't plan for everyone to be staying over that night. Like I said before, anyone who gets hurt from drinking and driving that night is directly the fault of the host.
Agree with KittinAnn. Sometimes parties don't end up how you want them to and these were just some suggestions.
The best suggestion is to send the grumpy person home. Why have to double spike all the drinks?
Double Spike! I assume you reccomend the home breathalyzer and suggest taking keys from those who drove. I'm all for the drinking just not driving.
The post talked about double spiking drinks. No the home breathalyzer is a little crazy - but yes if my guests had been drinking I would be taking the keys and would provide them a place to sleep that night. It's called being RESPONSIBLE!