We all love a good party, right? Sorry social-anxiety sufferers, I meant lots of us enjoy a good party, right?
There is nothing like a really well-planned and executed party for helping you to let loose. A great party can create tonnes of amazing memories. Perhaps it can leave memories a little spotty for others after one or two too many bevvies.
A great party can leave you with sore feet for days from hours of dancing, and hours of gossip to chew over with your friends. And a great party can leave your news feed full of hot shots of you and your besties.
But what about when parties aren’t great? And we’re not just talking ‘the DJ is a bit naff’ not great. What about those parties where they are so bad, new scales of epically awful must be developed?
1) Gender Reveal Rampage
Love them or hate them but Gender Reveal parties are a thing. And they are quite popular in California. Or they WERE. Until a 2020 gender reveal party led to a wildfire which scorched 7000 acres in just two days.
The huge and terrifying blaze started when the family were trying to take a photo for the gender reveal using a ‘pyrotechnic device’. It went wrong. This being California in the summer the fire quickly spread.
And this is not the first rampant raging inferno thanks to a gender reveal. In 2017, another gender reveal mishap led to 47000 acres burning to ash and damages totalling $8,000,000. Ouch.
2) The Party Revolution
In 1971, Iran organised a party to mark the 2500th year of the Persian Empire. It was to be a grand event combining the celebration of the ancient – Cyrus the Great established the empire in 550BC – to the modern advancements being led by the Shah.
It was superbly planned, and everything – even the venue – was built from scratch. Trees were planted and 50,000 songbirds were imported, because what kind of party are you throwing really if you don’t have a minimum of 10,000 songbirds you heathen?
A ‘tent’ – actually buildings disguised to look like traditional desert tents – were built and housed numerous members of the world’s elite. A five and half hour banquet was thrown which is a heck of a lot of Just Eat orders.
Figures for the cost of the party range from $22,000,000 to $120,000,000.
This all sounds terribly fancy, but apart from the probably bloating that would be caused by gorging to 5 and a half hours before sitting down to watch a military parade of 1500 soldiers, what on Earth could have gone wrong?
Well, it started a revolution which led to the downfall of the Empire. Revolutionaries used the extravagant event with its bloated budget as a touchpaper to trigger a turning of the tide of popularity against the ruling parties. Rulers who would be overthrown just 8 short years later.
I just hope the word was good. Who am I kidding? They spent enough on it, of course it was.
3) Corey Worthington goes down in history
Way back in 2008, a far more innocent time, young Corey Worthington of Melbourne threw a party. The 15-year-old used burgeoning social media platforms to spread word of his party. His parents were out of town, and he wanted to make sure he had a good turnout.
And he did.
500 people arrived. And they proceeded to party out of control. Not only did they cause hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage to the party venue, but they also took to the streets and trashed the nice, quiet, suburban neighbourhood. It became a viral hit when young Corey was interviewed by a local news reporter who seemingly wanted him to make a public apology. You can watch the video of the car crash interview here
Not all parties
With the right planning, anyone can have a good party. A few takeaways here are – don’t spread your party through randoms on social media, you don’t need some weirdo in your kitchen licking your vegetables. No matter how much you spend on your shindig, it’s not going to make people love you. And it’s probably best to avoid playing with ‘pyrotechnic devices’ at your party, even if you don’t live in the arid desert landscape of California.
These people would probably have had a much better time booking a party photobooth option from Guestbooth. They would have had a fun photography solution where guests could make memories and could share amazing shots with you and their social media.
Whether they had chosen the jaw-dropping Magic Mirror photobooth, the superb and multi-functional Picture Wizard or a standard photobooth they would have ensured their guests a great time.