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From board games to portable bars, here’s how to make house parties cool again

Hindustan Times | ByLavina Mulchandani, Madhusree Ghosh and Anubhuti Matta
Nov 25, 2017 10:07 AM IST

Check out services that will help you plan, organise and dress up for an epic do too.

What isn’t cool about a house party? You get to invite the people you want, plan it the way you like and you get to decide what time the party ends.

Dream Party will set up a cosy party for you within four hours anywhere in the city, once you select the theme.
Dream Party will set up a cosy party for you within four hours anywhere in the city, once you select the theme.

The party season is here. If a cosy at-home celebration is on your to-do list, make it epic with minimum effort. Start here:

Last-minute jam

Dream Party organisers

Visit: www. dreamparty.in

Dream Party can get your evening going at short notice. “Call us even at 3 in the afternoon if you are in a mood to party tonight,” says Gaurav Dubey, founder. “We will set up a cosy party within four hours anywhere in the city. Choose a theme or let us do it our way.” They also offer extras that house parties don’t usually have: like a guitarist, magician or performer. “We take care of the decoration, the desserts, music and even the cake,” says Dubey.

Entrepreneur Nimita Kakkar, 25, decided to surprise her boyfriend (who was in the other room playing a video game) one afternoon for his birthday last month. “I called up the service to help me decorate the living room with a poker theme and design cool WhatsApp invites for our friends,” she says. “They managed to do it discreetly and well. He did not realise until we called him out. We were all impressed.”

Shout out loud

Karoke sets from MutterFly

Visit: www. mutterfly.in

Turn up the volume by renting speakers and karaoke sets from MutterFly, which has the right size for a living room gathering. “We believe that you do not need to buy items that you will use once in a while,” says Akshay Bhatia, founder and CEO. “You also get acoustic guitars, keyboards, vinyl record players on rent on the app.” They’ll deliver within the day and rents start at Rs 450.

Raise the bar

The folks at BarMobile bring coasters, glassware and some ice. They take orders for up to 30 guests and set the bar up within 15 minutes.
The folks at BarMobile bring coasters, glassware and some ice. They take orders for up to 30 guests and set the bar up within 15 minutes.

Portable bars from BarMobile

Visit: BarMobile on Facebook, or WhatsApp 98204-68682

Your friends are bringing their own booze. So what do you bring? Everything else. Last week, when Raj Kathuria, 28, a real-estate advisor from Santa Cruz hosted a party, he got home a portable bar from BarMobile. The company sets up a bar even in a small home. “I messaged them on Facebook at around noon and got a bar delivered to my house in form of a suitcase by evening,” he says. He also called for a mixologist.

“We bring coasters, glassware and some ice,” says Gaurish Rangnekar, founder. “Can’t decide the cocktails? We also suggest you some and bring mixes. You only have to arrange the booze.” They take orders for up to 30 guests and set the bar within 15 minutes.

Change the game

Game Changer helps you try out a game, and rent it for up to a week, which is useful in the case of expensive games like Catan, which costs about Rs 4,000 for the basic version. (Getty Images)
Game Changer helps you try out a game, and rent it for up to a week, which is useful in the case of expensive games like Catan, which costs about Rs 4,000 for the basic version. (Getty Images)

Game Changer, board game rental service

Call: 98201-89916

If your crowd needs a focus, how about renting board games for the evening? “The thing about card games and board games is that you may or may not like them,” says Dipti Goel, founder of Game Changer, a board game rental service. “Game Changer helps you try out a game, and rent it for up to a week to decide.”

This is especially useful for expensive games like Catan, which costs about Rs 4,000 for the base game and up to Rs 6,000 for hard to find expansion packs that keep the adventure story going. “Only one friend from my group of five had the game and was away on a weekend last month,” says Shreya Jain, a fashion designer from Currey Road. “We wanted to play it at a house party at my place so it was easier to rent it. It was hassle-free and quick.”

GameChanger has 26 games to choose from. “The rent starts from Rs 100 and the premium games cost Rs 300 for a week,” says Goel. There are games that work best for a drinking party, as ice-breakers, for strategists or a creative crowd. You can choose to pick them up from Goel at Churchgate or have them couriered at an additional charge.

Dress it up

The designer appliques big-city landscapes and pop culture icons on to blouses that start at Rs 1,300.
The designer appliques big-city landscapes and pop culture icons on to blouses that start at Rs 1,300.

Quirky blouses from Parama

Visit: Parama on Facebook or on Instagram via @parama_g

Let other guests show up in yet another slinky dress from the mall. Let your sari blouse show off a flying auto rickshaw, Zeenat Aman in her iconic Dum Maaro Dum look, Madhubala or Frieda Kahlo. Parama Ghosh, a 33-year-old lawyer-turned-designer from Kolkata, appliques big-city landscapes and pop culture icons on to the blouses.

“I am whimsical. I don’t design with any pre-conceived notions of saleability,” she says. “Most of my designs are born out of stories and my need to tell them. So anything that catches my attention and my heart may make it to my designs.”

Prices start at Rs 1300. Ghosh’s Mumbai skyline design has inspired requests for variations in Delhi and London. “More than sales figures, I feel my customers relate to the stories that each of my designs tell.

Pair it up

Try ikat on shoes from the range of designs offered by The Sole Sisters.
Try ikat on shoes from the range of designs offered by The Sole Sisters.

Kanvas Kloset, The Sole Sisters for shoes

Visit: Kanvaskloset.com and The Sole Sisters on Facebook

There are ikat saris and dresses. But ikat on shoes? What about two-toned kolhapuri chappals? Indian textiles like kalamkari, ajrakh and pattachitra are now on oxfords, wedges, pumps and kitten heels.

“I wanted to bring back the lost glory to Indian art,” says Komal Panchal, creator of Kanvas Kloset, which sells shoes in a variety of Indian prints. “Nobody remembers Gond or Warli art anymore, by printing them on shoes they extend our rich cultural heritage.”

Another brand, The Sole Sisters is contemporising Kolhapuris, with khadi and ikat. “Kolhapuris go with any outfit so I just decided to make it chic by adding pop colours,” says founder Chondamma Cariappa. One range incorporates the kolhapuri design as Western sandals on a tan sole. “It’s our most popular product,” she says.

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