How to Host the Perfect Watch Party

By M. Rakinul Islam 

Planning to watch the latest episodes of your favorite series? Or maybe the Oscars or better yet-t your favorite team win that match against the rival team!? Whichever it is, it’s always ten times more fun when you have friends around to share the emotion with, but……….

Hosting a watch party is by no means an easy task to do, unless you know which key points to focus on. To make your life a bit easier and ensure you have an amazing time we are going to walk you through some key details into perfecting your watch party.

Mood

Now whatever you are planning to do, mood is a top priority. Imagine you have your friends over to watch the Cricket World Cup and the setting is as such; gloomy lights with soft sad music playing in the background and a sober quite atmosphere. Yeaaahh! Not a great picture to paint, is it? When you are watching a game you would want the mood to be just right! The lights are just bright enough, the only music is of the crowd cheering and everyone has their hype on! Now that’s more like it. Since we have established the importance of mood, let’s talk about some key elements associated with it.

The mood of the watch party is strongly associated with the environment and a few tweaks can help transform that exponentially. Firstly, the lights, yes the lights! Depending on the event you can set the lighting to be bright to convey a cheerful or ecstatic atmosphere or dim them down to evoke the sensations of melancholy. Right there with lights are decoration and color. It is important to note, a centrally decorated venue is more pleasing for a watch party then a spread out one, you would want the display area to be the centre of attraction and stick to decorating that area only with minor detailing to entertain the guests and make them feel welcomed. Similar to light, the shade of color also has an impact on the mood setting, once again based on happy feelings to sad feelings the brightness of color tends to play a role for the subconscious mind. An addition of some bright colored pillows would dictate a happy or a loud mood and some light toned ones would provide a soothing vibe.

Display

After you have set up the mood the medium of display comes next, you do not want to host a party where 10-15 people are cramped into watching from a small display, your friendship might be on the line! In contrary we understand the cost added to affording a big screen, don’t worry we got you covered!

Just in case you have a small screen, you can always go out and rent a projector and a screen for a pretty cheap amount from your nearest decorator’s, the price will range anywhere from BDT 1500-2000, a small investment for a great evening. Once we are done with the screen we have to ensure a decent sound system and yet again these too can be found for hire or you could just use the speakers from your PC or better, ask a friend to bring theirs,! Because modern problems require modern solutions.

Comfort

Be it a movie or a game, it always tends to last for a minimum of an hour. That brings us to our next requirement, comfort. You have decorated the room, set up a stunning display big enough for the crowd and the cherry on top? Their comfortability, soft pillows and cushions can do wonders, place properly. The watching area can consists of two possible scenarios, one where the guests sit on couches and chairs, and the other where they’re seated on a futon or blanket on the ground. Either ways placing pillows or cushions, calculatedly for all the viewers  is always with utmost certainty guaranteed to bringing them a more joyous viewing experience.

Food

Since the birth of mankind to the day of its extinction, food has and always will be one of the most important elements of our lives, if not the most important element. As a matter of fact, food is such a strong factor, eating with people has been identified as a strong bonding and socializing activity.

Although the importance might get one to think about hosting a three course meal and all that, the menu for a watch party is simple yet unique. Before we even hit the kitchen we must understand that everyone will be focused on the screen and a lavish buffet will be more of an obstacle than a plus point. So the secret is to focus on more mobile dishes that can easily be moved around with and eaten without much hassle.

A few personal favorite watch party specials include:

• Chicken Lollypops
• Sandwiches
• Chip and Dip
• Popcorns
• Samosas and Singaras
• Stuffed Mushrooms
• Spicy Cheese Dip

It is always wise to display both veg and non-veg menus to ensure everyone is satisfied.

As we enter the technological era where watch parties are hosted through social media, it is always a treat to be able to host one in real life. Considering you are at the end of our blog on how to host the perfect watch party, we wish you the best of luck for your party and hope it’s a success!