Planning a Valentine’s Day party for your coupled-up adult friends is easy-peasy, right? Pick the couples, select a few cocktails, and decorate with red. Bam! Done.
Well, no. Let’s put a little more thought into it than that. Aside from the menu and food selections that go into any dinner party, we need some fun. Games can help guests relax and help the couples get a little closer in the spirit of competition.
Racy: What’s This?
Grab a bag and some pens and paper. Drop a collection of new undies in the bag. Make sure you’ve got both men’s and women’s intimiates and include anything from a bra to a lace teddy to a jockstrap of the Magic Mike variety. Each couple feels around in the bag (not on the outside, as this one requires hands-on effort) and makes a list of what they think is in the bag. You can tell people how many items are in the bag, but that’s it. So you might say, there are 10 items in the bag; what are they?
When all the lists are done, pour the bag’s contents out on a table. Have everyone go through the items and see who has the most items right. And yep, the winning couple gets to take home the bag of goodies.
Tame: Heartbreaker
This one needs you to get a little crafty. Make a dartboard with balloons. Cut cardboard into a heart shape and tape inflated red balloons board. Tell the couples to take a shot at breaking a heart. Be sure you have plenty of inflated balloons on hand to replace the ones that get broken.
Challenge: The Red Queen’s Feast
Having dinner at the party? Make it a potluck and make it interesting. Tell everyone that the dish they bring must be red. No matter what it is, it must be red.
Sure, someone will probably bring lasagna and someone else would bring red velvet cake. You’re almost guaranteed to get someone who takes this opportunity to make jello. A salad? That must be radicchio. Or someone could bring strawberries & cream for dessert. Give someone the job of bringing the rolls and see what happens.
Be ready to Instagram the entries, because we want to see the results. !With permission, of course!
Adventurous: The Scavenger Hunt
Yes, the classic. Depending on your designated hunting grounds and the ideas for your list, you can plan for this to take place over a day or two, or a week before the party. Your guests must head out into the neighborhood or on the town to acquire your Valentine’s Day item list.
It might include things like: a bag of Hershey’s Kisses, a red heart-shaped Mylar balloon, one red rose, a stuffed Cupid, or a kid’s Valentine card. You can send the couples out as teams, or pit the men against the women. Make sure you include something that requires photo or video proof, like “give a rose to a someone on the street” or “give unsolicited love advice to a complete stranger”.
Old School: Truth or Dare
You knew this was coming. If your guests all know each other well, it’s safe(ish) to play a game of truth or dare. Impose some rules on the game, such as all the “truth” questions must originate from the college years (which is especially fun if this group of friends actually met in college) or must be about the current partner. Keep the dare challenges clean if you think your group would prefer that or by all means, make them racy if your group will be comfortable with it.
Now get to planning your Valentine’s Day party (and don’t forget to take pics).
