My 18th BDAY Dance PARTY - need help with party planning

[MTC2003]

Hey guys!

I'm hosting my first ever big dance party at my house for about 60-70 people.

Friends are coming dressed in semi-formal clothing, it'll be in January so pretty cold outside. But the dance is taking place in my backyard which is now transformed into an all covered patio w/ disco ball!!!

What are some activities you think all or most of the guests would enjoy doing? Let me know what the "ideal" party agenda would look like. Include foods...games...anything!

thanks 4 helping me make my bday party a blast!

[MTC2003]

yea i need parents' approval too though...haha

[fendergirl]

pin the tail on the donkey.

[NJres]

No, not the most appropriate essay topic. Keep brainstorming, I am sure you will come up with something..... What was the question?

[LisaSimpsonReborn]

..cuz we all know that cc parents are party animals..

[TheDad]

Don't try "Pin the Tail on the Parent" as a party game.

[curmudgeon]

Two words-"Gloria Gaynor". Instant dance party. (I don't know anything about dance parties past about 1979. It could be that I might not be THAT current. LOL. The only real advice I can give is to be sure to have some "ringers" ,kids who will dance to anything ,at anytime, in front of an audience of lay Evangelical ministers. It just takes a couple of brave souls to get it started. If you have cheap access to a dance party DJ, that seems to keep the hosts from having to work all night.)

[MTC2003]

thanks...however no dj at my party. just got guests to requests songs and i've compiled cd's of their music.

[fendergirl]

When we have parties at school we have live bands playing all night in one area of the house, and a DJ playing all night in another area of the house, and then theres a smoking area outside one side of the house, and outside the other side of the house is a pool and hot tub.. that kind of setup works great.

[liek0806]

have karoake.

[MTC2003]

yea karaoke seems to be the popular activity.

Any silly childhood games you remember==> TWISTER? PICTIONARY? etc etc

[fendergirl]

pin the tail on the birthday person.

[ckr1147]

I know it may sound ridiculous...but I always found charades a real icebreaker...everyone looks/feels foolish trying to act out the answers...

[interesteddad]

Having given many parties for my daughter's friends, including a couple of all-night parties after proms and the like....

I think the size of your proposed party is too big and very likely to get out of hand. With a party of that size, you can pretty much count on alcohol being a potential problem and it's a very serious problem for your parents with today's legal environment.

In years of giving parties, we never had a single problem. However, we were very strict in terms of who was being invited -- limiting it to kids my daughter knew and not going down the "friends of friends of friends" road. I would not have agreed to that many people. I think we topped out at somewhere in the 20 to 30 range and I would be hesitant to go above that.

Once the invite list gets beyond a fairly tight circle, you run into the additional problem of party crashers and things getting out of control, even if you have 60 or 70 friends who you know to be responsible (unlikely, IMO).

BTW, the bigger parties we gave turned out to be not much fun for my daughter as she felt repsonsible for making sure that everyone had a good time. She enjoyed the smaller parties more, where she didn't have to constantly tend to different "cliques" of party-goers.

If you've already committed to a party of that size, I would hire a DJ for the music. There's probably somebody who does school dances for cheap. I would want a minimum of 4 parents "on-duty" and circulating -- especially in the car parking area and especially as people are leaving. Bad (as in so bad they are funny) teen movies and ping pong seemed to be the center of attraction at most of our parties, so having some stuff like that in various rooms is probably a good idea.

[carolyn]

My children have two friends (a brother and sister) who seem to throw the best, most successful parties. Often, they are about the size of yours. What seems to make these parties successful is that there are lots of different things to do. While they usually have music, they also do things like set up a poker table (not for cash but could be), a fire pit with chairs around it for people to sit and talk, ping pong or foosball, etc. That way there is always something for someone to do besides just dance. Seems to work well.

2) There are also lots of options for "make it yourself" food - things like platters of cold cuts and breads to make sandwiches, make it yourself ice cream sundaes, etc. I think this serves the same purpose of number 1 --- keeps people moving with things to do.

3). They always have huge coffee urns filled with different hot drinks when the party is outside --- everything from hot chocolate, different flavored coffees (once the mom even set up and staffed a cappuchino maker), hot cider, etc. I don't know why this is such a big hit, but it is the one thing that everyone seems to be talking about on the way home from these parties. Maybe just because it is different than just the typical party fare of sodas, etc.

4) The parents are always on hand, making sure that kids are having a good time, the food is kept stocked, etc. This lets the two kids giving the party have a good time without worrying about this sort of stuff. The parents don't sit in the middle of the party but they are there and let their presence be known - they answer the door and greet people, take coats, etc. This seems to keep things from getting too wild (it helps that they are really cool parents too!). And, while it may not be what you have in mind, in many cases, they invite other parents to come too so there are usually a few other parents around to help out and keep things moving smoothly as well.