planning events

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onto today’s topic: planning events 🪅 

undoubtedly, my fondness for planning events is something i’ve picked up from my mom. every birthday or gathering, she would piece together different menus options for what to cook, fill her notes app with different game ideas and screenshots for decorations, and enjoy facilitating others’ joy.

i’ve always been a planner, from trips abroad to cutie hangouts with friends.

my task last sunday: getting 30 of my favourite people at unc chapel hill under 1 roof with a college kid budget.

going out for dinner was the most logistically feasible option, but it ended up being less achievable than i thought. 😭 my restaurant criteria in order of importance:

1. close proximity to campus

2. able to accommodate 30+ people

3. good vibes / interior

i ended up taking a gamble on tru as the spot. gamble? well, they didn’t take reservations … 💀 after being disappointed with all of the other options, i just decided to bet on the fact that there wouldn’t be many people on a sunday night. of course, i also called the place (multiple times) in advance just to give them a heads up that a large group of 30 of us would be pulling up. 😬 they had no problems with it, so i took that as my green light.

i ended up being incredibly fortunate. the entire middle section of the restaurant was empty and we were able to push 3 long tables together to fit everyone.

just dinner alone is boring in my books though.

one of the lessons i wrote about at 20 was the fact that we never have to lose our inner child, and i wanted to convey that message in some capacity through this celebration. i requested for everyone to come dressed in colours, and once everyone arrived, the table was covered in crayons, coloured pencils, and dozens of colouring sheets representing the world’s major cities (homage to my gap year, naturally, but also how spread out across the world my friends are). as kids, we were always given a special kids menu with crayons and colouring sheets if we got lucky at restaurants. i tried to replicate that memory while we all waited for our food. 🖍️ 

something i also like doing at my events is assigning each person a challenge they need to complete before the end of the night (ex. challenging 3 people to arm wrestling). especially in this setting where everyone didn’t know each other, it was an easy way to break the ice and for people to have something to do.

an event planner’s biggest fear is boredom. so, i tried my best to implement strategies to reduce it — the rest is always up to everyone’s conversation and energy. you can only plan so much after all. 😋 

the food was followed by lots of photos, blowing out the candles of a yummy cheesecake, and a movie night at a nearby residence hall. of course, as per indian tradition, everyone also fed me cake. ;)

my grand total? $40!

i had a lot of fun, and was taken back to my childhood where my mom would plan birthday parties for me. ❤️ 

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