Planning a party

Hosting at home on a budget

You don’t have to empty your wallet just to invite your friends over. Whether you’re planning an informal get together or a fancy dinner party, there are more than a few ways to get the job done and have a great time without spending a ton of money. The last thing you want to do when you want to have a good time by playing host to your friends is worry about how much you will have to take out from your savings account. There are ways to do it on a budget without skimping on the good stuff. Here are some tips to pulling off a fabulous soiree.

Tip #1: Keep it simple

Make your party a ‘Bring Your Own Booze’, or make it a potluck. That doesn’t mean you can’t supply some of the food or the drinks yourself. It just means that, in the case of booze, if your friends are going to hover around your home bar (which, we would hope, you have well stocked), they should at least make a small contribution like a bottle of their preferred liquor, a bottle of wine, or a case of beer. Just tell your guests to bring their favorite drink and you’ll make sure they get it at the party. “To keep bartending simple, pick a drink of the night, set the fixings out on the bar along with the recipe/directions, and let the guests play bartender,” says Satish Poudel, a banker by profession who, along with his wife, often has friends over during the weekends.

Tip #2: Be prepared

Don’t leave the details to the last minute. Create your “to do” list at least a week in advance including the menu, drinks and quantities and other things you might want to include. This will give you sometime to consider your finances and allow you to be frugal where you can. Last minute preparations are one of the reasons why you are likely to go overboard while hosting. Who cares about the price tag on that bottle of drink when your guests are due in an hour? “Don’t choose foods that need to be heated right before serving or else you’ll be in the kitchen all night,” says Kalpana Shakya, retired teacher who likes to host parties at home during especial occasions like Dashain and New Years. There’s more to being a gracious host than providing the food and drinks.

It’s important that you be a guest at your own party. If you are relaxed and enjoying yourself, your guests will follow suit.

Tip #3: Switch up the time of day

Another way to some money without sacrificing the party is to switch up the time of day. Instead of having a dinner or all-night affair, consider a lunch or brunch party instead. It may sound a little pretentious, but a few beers or drinks in the afternoon or a pot luck lunch with friends can also be a lot of fun, and it inherently requires less fuss than a massive dinner party or an all-night affair with a stocked bar and tons of drink options. Plus, moving the affair earlier in the day gives you the ability to turn your get-together into something it might not otherwise have been. Try hosting a lunchtime barbecue. You’ll still need some drinks, but you won’t spend a ton of money on fancy appetizers, wine, or spirits. A few cases of beer, some good friends, and a sizzling grill will do just fine. “A daytime party in the sun is good fun especially during winters. It’s the right time to have a glass or two of chilled beer,” says engineer Sandeep Dahal who claims to thoroughly enjoying daytime dos rather than nighttime affairs.

Tip #4: Know where to spend and where to save

You probably don’t need those fancy napkins that cost three times as much as ordinary ones. Neither will you need four kinds of desserts or five kinds of appetizers. But there is a line between being frugal and downright cheap. Remember, you want to be a good host, but if you are making your guests do all the work then you might want to reconsider holding a party in the first place. Remember, the goal is to have fun, not put your friends to work. “While it’s okay to hold a potluck or have your friends bring their own drinks, asking them to bring the meat for a barbeque party isn’t nice,” says Dr Sumit Karki who, along with others, has often had to cut and chop everything at various friend’s parties. Karki has had one too many experiences of friends dropping by empty handed and finishing up his stock of vodka so he also stresses on the importance of guests bringing in something.

Tip #5: Minimize work

A successful party in one in which there is less work to do after the guests have gone home. If you don’t have someone to do the household chores for you then consider getting disposable plates. Disposable glasses take the fun out of fancy drinks so you might want to have actual sparking glasses for that but for food any kind of paper plates will do as long as they are sturdy enough. You can also line your tables with fancy wrapping paper and just toss them in the bin when the guests are gone. It will save you the trouble of wiping surfaces or washing tablecloths. Bibhuti Thapa, a housewife, finds placing cute paper bins in strategic locations very helpful in dealing with stray napkins and wastes. “If you put wastebaskets in places like next to the bar and sofas, your guests will just drop the trash there and you just have to throw it out later,” she concludes.