I am not one to organize parties very much, mostly because I am such an introvert. But when I do organize one, I can be quite the perfectionist and wish to do it well. So when my mom excitedly dropped the bomb on me that we were having a party at our place, and NOTHING was prepared yet (party was in 2 days and we didn’t even had a caterer then), I was frustrated. However, since it was a festive season and a season for loving and forgiveness, I thought I should let my mom get away with it this time and played along.
Boy did I have a lesson of a lifetime. Its been awhile since I’ve personally been involved in a party that needs so much of my effort and attention, that I told myself that I must note this down so I’d remember it for the rest of my life (whenever I DO organize parties).
1) Food Choices – Caterers
My mom told me she was aiming for the same caterer that she got last year, but she only made the first call to that caterer 3 days before the party! And the inevitable happened, the cook couldn’t make it this year cos he was away for holidays this time. So my mom frantically looked for caterers at the very LAST MINUTE! So remember, make reservations for your choice of caterer WAAAAY beyond time. Especially in the holiday seasons, you should know that they have many other parties to cater to during the time. In addition to making the right choices for your food provider, you should also consider the variety of food or food choices that you make when making your order. For example, this year, my mom made a very “wise” choice to get shrimp as 1 of the dishes. Then when the guests started halfway through the course, my mom started to panic because it seemed as if we did not have enough food! But finally it was enough (and we even had leftovers) but only because everyone favored specific dishes over the others. The shrimp was gone in seconds! So obviously, try to balance out the type of food you would be serving in the party so you won’t have too much of ‘something’ left over.
2) Paper Plates – utilities
You can never have enough paper plates. Any excess can be kept for future use! Just a day before the party, I passed by some paper plates and asked my mom, would we be needing paper plates? Shall we get some? And she confidently told me that the caterer has prepared plates for us. So off we went and how I regretted it. We were serving cheese cake for dessert and all the plates from the caterer was already used up for the main entree. Tsk! So ALWAYS prepare paper plates, cups and plastic utilities, just in case 
3) Insects – candles and natural repellants
Being in a country that is warm, it is THE place for insects to hover around party food! They wanna crash the party too. So remember to have repellents ready, like lemongrass and scented candles. But bear in mind, you need to have the candles in a glass case or something so the wind doesn’t blow it out. That was a problem I was facing at my mom’s party. Luckily I have really dedicated candle handlers like my nieces who kept re-lighting those blown out candles.
3) Ventilation – Cool air
If you have a small home like mine, and space is limited, some of your guests might need to be hangin’ and chillin’ on the outdoor space. So with the weather in Borneo, you gotta have a fan outside. My cousin was sweating to the max being outside. Poor dude.
4) Trash disposals
I didn’t realize about the trash disposals until a guest asked me where she could dump some snack wrappers. How could we forget that?? So this has got to be in my list of things to remember !
5) Appetizers
You know how guests like to be “fashionably” late, while others are really nice people who honors the discipline of being on time when attending a party? So we had guests who were there on the dot, and those who were like, an hour late! Poor guests were already hungry and I kept telling my mom that we should start ahead and not let our guests wait. She insisted we wait. Tsk. Then my sister told me we should have served some snacks or appetizers first, and though we did placed some food around but nobody touched it! Duh! My sister was right, how could I not thought about it?? We didn’t even have serving trays!! Ish!! I was getting so annoyed at myself for being so dumb. Next time, REMEMBER TO SERVE YOUR GUESTS!!!
6) Seating Arrangements
In addition to serving trays, another problem we faced at our party was the way the tables and seats were arranged. My mom arranged the seats in front of a serving table where we had placed the snacks and fruits. No wonder no one touched them cos they were not easily accessible! Tsk!! I have got lots to learn in organizing a party! And this was only for 30 pax >.<
7) Entertainment – Magazines, TV, Music
One thing I did manage to pull off on this party was providing some mini entertainment for those guests who were not much into “Socializing” but were there “just because”. I placed all my celebrity news magazines and fashion mags on the table where they could easily see it and grab it for a temporary distraction from their boredom. Am proud to say, it was a hit! I do think I could have improved more on the TV Channel or perhaps played some background music just to sort of “lift up” the atmosphere a bit. That’s pretty much what I could think of, do share if you readers have other entertainment medias you could suggest?
I couldn’t think of any other items I could add on to this list, but I probably will once I try out the “manual” above on my next party (not sure when, and it might take a while, which is why I decided to put my notes in written documents to make sure I REMEMBER IT!).
So the party went well (I suppose in my opinion), some cousins weren’t able to make it to the party and those that did, I think they had a good time too 
Here’s a group photo we took with some relatives left a lil earlier (mind you, it is NOT EASY to gather everyone for a photo! Guess I should add that to the list to note too huh?).
It’s gatherings like these that just helps us to keep in touch with each other and remind one another that “We’re blood”!! And of course, just to gossip and ask each other the same questions we ask each other every year when we meet up, “how’s life?” XD
I couldn’t even remember my younger cousin’s names! I think there was Genevieve, Edna, Edwin, and some of them even have kids that I can’t even recall their names anymore 
Thats why these gatherings are important!! We gots to know their names !!
……..
….
..
So what’s everybody up to in the new year’s eve eh?
