How to throw a party with just P1,500
It does sound impossible—spending only P1,500 for a party. But it’s really not, thanks to that great Filipino tradition of bayanihan and that fantastic human ability called ingenuity. Here, we show you exactly how you and your friends can pull it off.
Venue
Hold your gathering at the place of one of the party’s attendees. Or since you are, essentially, the head party planner, why don’t you volunteer your own pad? Never overlook home-court advantage—holding the party at your place removes the hassle of driving home (so you can drink as you please, for instance).
Entertainment
Assign one of your friends to bring a karaoke microphone and then get your musikero cousin to take care of the playlist. For good measure, bust out your guitar. If your friends are of the couch-potato kind, however, borrow someone’s 40-inch flat-screen TV and put on a DVD. Better yet, record the season finale or the first episode of a hot new TV series and press play when the party starts. Party entertainment issues, solved!
Invitations
Spend zero on invites by maximizing the internet. Create an event on Facebook and tag all invitees. To be sure, send everyone an email from the office. And just in case, send everyone a whatsapp, viber, or text message, as well as an iMessage and BBM to invite, plan, and coordinate. The most efficient invite? The face-to-face kind.
Food
The nourishment of your guests will be your main and biggest expense. And the simplest way to work around this challenge is to throw a potluck party.
But before assigning people the dishes that they should bring, get your party details in order. After deciding on the venue, set the time. The most cost-friendly time to hold a party is the period in-between meals. This way, you’ll only have to serve snacks or pulutan.
Next, set the theme. As you’ve harked back the bayanihan spirit (magic-sing mic and songbook in tow), why not go all-out Filipino and serve classic Pinoy dishes? Either assign your cohorts to bring the food, or you can take care of it yourself and just charge your friends later on. If there are 15 of you going to the party, you could each chip in P100.
Here’s a sample menu that you can serve: a huge plate of pancit malabon for 15 will set you back about P600. Complement this with 24 sticks of pork barbecue (after all, what’s a party without those skewered goodies?) At P480 for 24 pieces, you have nine extra sticks and P420 in balance. If a piece of pan de sal goes for P3, 24 pieces will cost you P72. You now have P348 left. For dessert, half a gallon of ice cream will probably cost you P250, leaving you with P98. Use it to buy nostalgia and get bags of kornik, green peas, and mixed nuts.
An alternative menu would be to get bags of frozen mini pizza crusts (a pack of 24 goes for about P50). Spend the rest of your cash on toppings (tomato paste, canned sausages, mushrooms, onions, cheese, tuna, and whatever else you like on your pizza). Then set up your buffet table as a make-your-own-pizza station. Complete the set-up with an oven toaster so your guests can bake their pizzas on their own.
Top off your merry-ienda by scraping together your change for sodas and ice. Your generous friends may also be counted on to contribute more in the way of drinks. You can supply the water and some more of the good time.
And there you go: a party that’s low on expenses and high on fun.
