As the holiday season kicks off in full force, so do the ensuing parties, and you best believe that Lilly Singh's got your back!
The Canadian YouTuber and TV host, 35, spoke with HELLO! about her star-studded Diwali party earlier this month, and is now sharing her best tips and tricks to ensure the party goes on.
Read more to learn about Lilly's penchant for backup plans, the one thing she learned from her last Diwali party, and what her plans for the holidays are…
The importance of a backup plan
I'm a pretty detail oriented person. Usually I plan things to such a tee, and I do have backup plans. But the great news is my event planner [for my Diwali party] with SoCal event planners, she also has backup plans. For example, I run to the party an hour and a half early every year because I want to do a walkthrough as if I was a guest, and I want to capture all my Johnnie Walker partnered content. I went to the cocktail menu, which had an acrylic side, and I said that it was making the text 5% blurrier. But she's like, 'I have a backup in cardstock', and immediately swapped it out. I appreciate all of this because I'm also detail oriented. I send my DJ a thorough playlist, all the sets I want. There's still little missteps here and there, but it's pretty buttoned up I have to say.
How to plan a guest list for a party where people don't know each other
One of the most common texts I get after the party, 20 different people message me saying, 'I came alone,' or 'I didn't know what to expect, and your friends and family are so welcoming, I didn't feel awkward for a second, I made 20 new friends.' And that is really important to me, I want to make sure I invite a community of people that is really warm and welcoming. Because it's not a networking event. This is not an event meant to make you feel like there's cliques and you have to be a certain way. This is for just unity and community.
Finding problems to solve
I literally will walk through an event and I'll think of everything that annoys me about going to an event. And I will problem-solve that. For example, with my Diwali party, 'Oh, I don't want to pay for parking', we'll get valet. 'I don't want to have to deal with my feet hurting', we'll have free slides to change into when you want to dance. 'What if I'm still hungry after the event', we'll make sure food is served to you at this time, this time, and this time of night in front of you. 'What if I don't know Indian music', we'll make sure there's a playlist that suits all guests.
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For a small example, this year, I made sure in the restrooms that there was a complete Touch-Up Kit. Just because last year, the amount of women that came up to me that wanted a safety pin, and I'm going around looking for a safety pin… So now in the restroom, there's safety pins, there's Q-tips, there's things to touch up, every single thing you need. I just think of everything that annoys me.
Lilly's holiday plans
Of course, I love hosting. I usually throw a company dinner that is really lavish and elaborate. But then, because I've already rented a bunch of stuff, I do one for my friends the day before. And I do the same level of extremeness. I have this amazing chef I work with, I make sure he has curated gifts.
And then I probably will fly home to Toronto for the holidays, to spend it with my nephews and my nieces. But any opportunity to host, I'm telling you, I will jump at it. This is a silly thing to add, I love Paperless Post so much. If anyone in my world needs to make a Paperless Post, I'm like, 'Please, let me do it, I want to do this.' So I'm a really big nerd when it comes to this stuff is the moral of the story.
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