How to Throw a Stock-the-bar Party and Make it a Grand Success

The festive season is upon us, and you know what that means―parties and more parties. So, you've been invited to your fair share of parties and gatherings, right? And isn't it simply mind-boggling with the kind of new themes that have made an entry into the social arena? There are soooo many different kinds of themes coming up, it's hard to keep track. But we'll urge you to stay with us on this one; the theme that we're discussing today is bound to get some reaction from the crowd―the stock-the-bar theme. It's a crazy awesome idea, where the guests carry booze to their hosts' house to help them stock their bar.

Most commonly, this party is thrown by a newly-married couple, or a soon-to-be married couple who have recently shifted to their own place and need to set it up, so they call upon their friends to help. Usually, people carry their favorite booze of choice for the couple, some of which they consume at the party, and the rest of it goes into the couples' bar. However, in a recently emerging trend, the guests have started carrying two bottles―one for consumption at the party, and a fresh one meant only for stocking purposes. In this PartyJoys article, we will give you the basics of how to throw a stock-the-bar party and make it a grand one.

The invitations will, most usually, center around the liquor theme; you can draw a few ideas from the samples we've provided above. Other than the designing of the cards, there are other, important details that have to be mentioned as well, like stating that the alcohol is to be bought in place of any other gifts, or if there are other choices of gifts that they can choose from a registry, or a mention the kind of alcohol that the couple prefers.

Since there is no set theme in mind, the couple can go all out or choose to keep the decorations minimalistic. Most couples usually pick the alcohol theme, and give it full justice by bringing about a vineyard theme or a glass theme and making creative use of alcohol bottles for the decor. As the collages above illustrate, colorful spirit bottles can be used as flowerpots or as simple showpieces. One could also use blackboards and have the recipe of the day etched on it. Or how about a stand alone wine bottle, all done up in finery like the image above?

The food that is served at a stock-the-bar party is usually a simple fair that is meant to go well with the alcohol that is being served. Simple finger foods like rolls and chips and dip, or chicken wings and burgers are known to work well enough. To give the evening a special twist, many couples serve a signature drink, apart from all the booze provided.

This is a hilarious take on the limbo game. Place a paper bag in the center of the room and mark horizontal dotted lines on it with a 2-inch space between two successive lines. Randomly pick 4-5 guests to play this game. At the blow of the whistle, the first person has to bend down and lift the bag with his mouth without letting any other body part touch it. With every turn, the section above the dotted line is cut off and the game resumes till the last person is able to pick the bag without touching the bag and/or falling. This generates a lot of laughs especially if it is played after a few rounds of alcohol have hit the stomach.

This is a very popular drinking game and loads of fun. Arrange for a couple of beer glasses and a ping pong ball. Set up the glasses at one end of the table and place a ping pong ball at the other. The participants have to take turns to throw the ball into one of the cups, if they don't succeed, they have to down a shot of booze. This game can also be played with a coin.

While drinking games are a rage at these parties, there are some other wholesome fun games that can be played as well. In this game, you draw up a questionnaire about the couple in question, with a mix of some funny, some complicated, and some confusing questions, and then hold a quiz. The person who answers the maximum questions correctly, wins a small prize.

What's the perfect way to bring in some laughs and embarrass the couple in question? Tell embarrassing stories about them―extra points for putting in drunk stories. Hand out post-it notes to each of the guests, and ask them to write down a funny, embarrassing, drunk incident that they shared with the bride or the groom. Specifically ask them not to write their names. Once they are done, collect all the notes and put them in separate jars for the bride and the groom. Next, ask the couple to pick out each post-it note and read the incident to identify the person. Once the game is done, these notes can simply go into a scrapbook.

Set up a bar with 10-15 types of alcohol in glasses and blindfold the participants. At the blow of the whistle, the participants are to taste the alcohol and identify the type. The person who guesses the spirits correctly, wins.

While traditionally, booze is all that the guests are expected to bring to the party, there are a few other choices that one can opt for. Bar accessories, bar appliances, stools and side tables, or fancy glasses are just some of the things that you can give the soon-to-be-wed couple. Of course, let there be instructions that state that you can bring something else to the party, if not, it is expected that you bring only booze.

With all these great ideas on how to throw a stock-the-bar party, we're sure you're going to make it an awesome one. Go on then, make your friends proud.