Party on the roof!

lifestyle

Birthdays, anniversaries, graduation parties or a simple reunion, all call for a special setting; a mesmerising view, chic decor, cool music, delicious food and a whole lot of memories. If you are a social bird and love inviting people over, you must always be in search for creative party ideas. While some of us have the luxury to host dinners in our lush green spaces, majority of us don’t. But what we all have, is a roof. Hence, a rooftop party is the best way to go! Dining under the stars with fresh air breezing through, definitely adds to the cool factor that most dinner parties lack. I have always been a fan of rooftop parties; ever since I saw Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda (the ‘Sex and the city’ girls) have a blast at a rooftop summer party since then I have always dreamt of hosting one too.

So, two years back it was my husband’s first birthday as a married man and I had the perfect excuse to host a nice dinner party at our roof with all his best friends and their wives. A few months later was my birthday and my husband planned a whole day filled with my favourite activities and it ended with a surprise rooftop dinner with our family. 

Both the parties were hip, fancy and extremely memorable. However, when my husband and I got to talking, we realised that a rooftop party presents you with a bunch of challenges and requires a lot of prep before hand. So, here is a quick guide on how to host a fun party on the roof...

For some party feels

Invest in a few party decorations once and then use them for a lifetime! It’s important to note that in a rooftop party, less is more. Keep it simple yet classy. From balloons to ribbons to Chinese hanging lamps, anything can be used. Candles can be placed inside mason jars and those can be used as table decor. What I did was that instead of buying mason jars, I used the jam bottles that look just like them and placed the candles inside. We also got a long dining table like the ones our local caterers set on rent. Another cool idea is to utilise all those plants that you have lying around your terrace. Place them nicely with some twinkle lights around them and voila... you have a ravishing decor ready.

Lighting is the most important part of a rooftop party, a roof can get extremely dark in the night so to keep the vibe going, we need to make sure that the party is properly lit! I have always loved the idea of a twinkle light canopy; it’s the right amount of lighting and creates picture-perfect moments. I did a simple twinkle light canopy however for my birthday, my husband made a canopy of hanging bottles (inspired from Pinterest). 

He got some bottles from the bottle market which is located at M.A Jinnah road and a single piece costs Rs 20, which is a fairly decent investment. This canopy is the most ravishing thing I have ever seen. This is how you create the same:

Take a rope and tie knots around the brim of the bottle with equal distance until you’ve gotten your desired length. To add some colours, use some ribbons and flowers.

Get your groove on!

Music as we all know is the life of any party, so get your speakers out! Plug into spotify or create a playlist that you know your guest will enjoy on iTunes mix and get your groove on.

Food for thought

Good food - be it indoor or outdoor - is the one thing that makes the party a hit! For my husband’s birthday, I cooked dinner myself and chose to keep a very elaborate menu. While the guest enjoyed my scrumptious cooking, I for one was swamped running up and down the stairs losing my breath refilling the dishes so that our guest could have second servings.

Learning from my experience, my husband kept things simple. He ordered us pizza and that too in copious amounts, this turned out to be a great idea. Everyone loves pizza and it’s so easy to serve.

Another option that works great for rooftop dinners is barbecue, use this as an opportunity to bring your grill out. Barbecue is a Pakistani favourite; I mean who doesn’t like barbecue? This way, the guests are more engaged as everyone helps out with the grill. To mix things up, you can even make grilled burgers on the spot, arrange a table with bun, mayo, mustard, cheese and some veggies and let the boys grill some pre-prepared patties and let the guests help themselves. For drinks, you can keep an open drinks table with water, soda and you can even whip together a lemon mint mojito and serve it in a glass cooler.

There is no such household that doesn’t throw a dinner party every now and then and the roof is a marvellous space to host one. Follow my experience, and host a rooftop party once at least, if not frequently and create memories that last a lifetime! Keep things simple and elegant go for the easier options that are hassle free but look elegant. Do it the right way and your party will the talk of the town for ages.