Are you pumped for the Victoria Day long weekend at the cottage? Yeah, y’are! But an epic holiday party to celebrate the start of summer can also go epically pear-shaped if you make the wrong hosting moves. Follow our tips:
A) Be prepared for weather whiplash, and plan to accommodate. It might snow. Then get really hot 17 hours later. You might see lots of rainbows. Yay! Or maybe it’ll pour locusts, Biblical-style. May weather is extra-tough to predict, and you can’t count on it being dock-friendly.
B) Fireworks. Awesome, arewerite? But if you’re doing your own display, follow bylaws, keep the show to one evening, and shut things down at a decent hour. Then wait until the next holiday to set off fireworks again. Fireworks aren’t like trips to the grocery store. Nobody needs them every weekend.
C) If you’re buying booze for the party, choose what you like. A signature drink is a fine idea when it’s not too fussy and calls for liquor that’s easy to use up if you have some leftover. Avoid serving something that requires bacon vodka or tequila-flavoured rum. “Garnish with a banana carved into the shape of a dolphin”? No. Just…no.
D) May is the beginning of cottage season, sure, but it’s also the beginning of allergy season, bug season, and unexpected sunburn season (“But it was only 12 degrees out!”). So pack the antihistamines, bug spray, and sunblock. Pack enough for your guests. Because they will forget.
E) Combining opening-up weekend with your May Two-Four party is a diabolically great idea. Your guests can help you put the dock back in the water, hunt for mouse corpses in the cupboards, and troubleshoot why your new propane barbecue won’t start. Or maybe it’s actually a terrible idea. You’re putting May Two-Four lipstick on a chore pig. And your guests will know.
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