Planning a Party? – The Long Read

The PARTY CHECKLIST! It’s probably been a while since you’ve been able to plan any sort of gathering that includes more than you and your cat.  Neuroscientists (who would no doubt by this time welcome an invitation to your party) would make these suggestions, for example, as you plan your bash:

• Want a high energy bash? Buy balloons, streams, etc., in saturated not very bright colours, like candy apple red and sapphire blue and pumpkin orange.  Want to be more low key? Pick decorations that are softer, more pastel shades, such as not very saturated but relatively bright ones, like pink and baby blues and sage greens.
• Warm surface colours encourage people to think others are friendly and dimmer, warm light (like that from candles or fires) is relaxing and makes us feel more positively toward others.Rev people up with cool bright light.
• In any space where you expect conversations, and want them to go well, make sure that there are either enough space so everyone who wants to can lean against the same table.For seated conversations, make sure that there are enough seats with legs of approximately the same length for all to sit in chairs or enough pillows so everyone sits on a pillow.  You want to make sure that all heads are about the same height above the floor when they talk, for the reasons discussed in this article.
• Keep things smelling good. Pleasant food smells (nothing burned!) can boost mood and get along better with others, but then so do any smells people prize.  Worldwide floral smells are a hit.  The smell of lavender encourages trust among those present.  Peppermint can encourage higher activity levels while the smell of lemon will help during a bridge game.  If a place smells clean (what smells clean varies from culture to culture somewhat), people in it will be better behaved, for example, more likely to make sure their trash actually lands in the trash can and not on the nearby floor.  For more information on scentscaping a space, read this article and also our page dedicated to scent.
• Seeing or tasting spicy food has been linked to aggressive behaviour, so choose your menu with care.For more information on how design influence tasting experiences, read this article.   After all, you want people to think that the food you serve to them tastes good!
• Decorate with plants; our social “performance” seems to go up around them.
• Make sure that there are lots of focal elements (such as the plants mentioned above) to which people can gracefully divert their eyes when more eye contact will definitely not be a plus.
• Make sure that seats (and the amount of space, in general) allow people to maintain their desired personal space zones. Seats that can be slightly repositioned do just this.  Crowding can up a party’s energy level, but beyond a certain point, it makes people very very tense and when people are tense they start to do things they later regret.
• Want people to travel in a particular way though your home? Keep the surfaces underfoot the same.  People like to keep walking on the same surface (wood or carpet, for example).  They’re also likely to walk more slowly on carpeted surfaces, which may be more or less meaningful to you, depending on your party throwing style; however, it’s often quite difficult to clean stains out of carpets.
• Sitting on something soft, even the merest of cushions, makes us more sociable, accessorize your kitchen chairs, etc., accordingly.
• If space permits, and there will be sitting at your party, provide chairs with arms and/or table tops nearby on which people can place drinks, snacks, etc.Via the arms and the table tops people will establish tiny, temporary territories, and those territories will make them feel comfortable and relaxed at your fete.
• Try to keep your bathrooms in their best shape. Party-goers will read a lot into any “back spaces,” such as bathrooms they visit.  They’ll think they’re “telling” all sorts of truths about who you really are as a person and what’s actually important to you.