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You know what it’s like. You decide to invite a few mates round to watch a film and then you spend so long trying to all agree which film to watch that by the time you have settled on one that most of you agree on, somebody (usually me) has fallen asleep. Or it’s an impromptu thing because you have your mitts on the DVD that everyone wants to watch and you are so busy inviting people you forget about important things like snacks. You can’t watch a film without snacks. It’s the law. Or you forget to tell people a definite time so a few arrive at the first time you mentioned and a few more arrive an hour in demanding to know the plot.
It might sound like a simple movie party but it can soon descend into your own home grown disaster. So when Sky Movies asked me to host a movie party I knew I had to get it right, without a dress rehearsal. Which prompted me to put together my top tips for a movie party that you wont find on wikipedia
Do a proper invite
Everyone loves an invite, don’t they? Getting an invite to your movie party means the excitement starts days, if not weeks before the event. You can also make sure your guests have all the info they need such as date and time, venue and if they need to bring anything. And if you are inviting small people are their parents invited to stay “us adults will all be camped out in the kitchen with a bottle of something, do feel free to stay and join us” type thing. I remember when my teens were little I was never sure if I should make plans to enjoy a few hours of free time, or if leaving would be deemed rude and that I would be missing out on a great gossip in the kitchen some other mums.
Get the seating right
This might seem like overkill but you do need to consider where people are going to sit. It is no good inviting 20 people and only having sofa space for six. And is that sofa space designed so everybody can see the telly? Do you need to clear a big space in the lounge and chuck some cushions on the floor? Or ask friends to bring a beanbag to sit on? There is nothing worse than not being comfy when you are about to sit through a three hour film.
Snacks
You can’t have a party and not have snacks. Even if it is only three tonnes of popcorn. Please also consider how noisy those snacks are. Seriously. I can’t go to the cinema any more because of the noise created by people around me unwrapping sweets. The noise makes me want to commit murder in the middle of the aisle. So if you going to do sweets maybe pick those that don’t have wrappers. You might also want to consider doing a little bag of them for each attendee, rather than a big free for all that results in people standing up every two minutes. And then biting a sweet, deciding they don’t like it and spitting it in the communal bowl
Check the certificate
I know my three are not particularly sensitive so I have not had to worry too much about a 12A or a PG and have sometimes bent the rules a little bit on letting Ellie see a 15 when she was only 14 because it was something the other two really wanted to watch. But those are my children and I know them well. If you are inviting other children are over and are worried how some of them may react to a certain scene or the odd rude word being mentioned then I would really suggest discussing it with their parents first. And don’t be the parent that lets the 13 year olds watch an 18. Ever.
Drinks
If kids are eating popcorn they are going to need a drink so it might be wise to sort out drinks before hand too and have them in a place where they can’t be kicked over. Or indeed a rule that they are all left in the kitchen. If they are allowed in your lounge you might want to put them in plastic cups with lids and straws so that when the inevitable does happen you have a fighting chance of saving your carpet.
If you get those things all lined up I think you can’t really go wrong and are in for a great night.
Or two hours of peace if you are hiding out in the kitchen!