What is claimed to be the world’s biggest pool party takes place at Mayrhofen, Austria, every year. Held in a huge indoor heated swimming pool with waterfalls, rapids and a hot tub, internationally renowned DJ and inflatable craft. That might be a bit beyond your scope - and ours - but August is the month for pool parties and we have a few tips:
1. Pick a theme - whether you go for pirates and mermaids or Baywatch, it’s easier for your guests if you give them a theme to work with.
2. Have spare costumes - some people will not show up in fancy dress and rather than letting them get away with it, have a couple of Hawaiian shirts, some grass skirts and garlands and make them get dressed up anyway. But to put a little spin on things, make the women wear the shirts and speedos and the men the grass skirts and garlands - that way they will take the ‘fancy dress’ part of their invitation a bit more seriously in future.
3. Cater carefully - you don’t want food that’s difficult to eat, makes a mess or, even worse ends up in your pool and looks disgusting. We suggest that food is set up well away from your pool area and you have a line of bins between there and the water so that people can dump anything they don’t want to eat and get rid of empty paper plates. The bins don't have to look horrible, you can cover them in wrapping paper or even artificial grass, and then put some battery powered fairy lights around them, so that they add to the appearance of the whole event.
- Organise a clean up crew - we’ve ‘hired’ a couple of friends to clean up after outdoor parties and it works brilliantly. They go round at the end of the evening and empty all the bins, pick up the discarded costumes etc, and then we treat them to a manicure or facial by giving them a voucher to use when they please. It frees us up to enjoy our event without having to think about the bit at the end which is always a mood killer!
