By Brian Worley
While “Virginia is for Lovers,” Valentine’s Day is all about celebrating your lover. However, relationships and love are overrated. Don’t stress out if you are among the more than half of the single population in the U.S. that will be celebrating this romantic holiday solo, because you are not alone. According to a report on Bloomberg.com, you are one of the 124.6 million single Americans that will not be contributing to the $13.19 billion annual spend on roses, candy, candlelit dinners and stuffed cupids. Take this dating advice, and put love on hold, if not only for the amount of money you can save!
The average consumer spends $116.21 on Valentine’s Day, so pocket the cash and follow these sexy, single and ready to mingle tips that could potentially leave you with Cupid’s arrow piercing your heart or a bunch of mental memories of another night on the town where you have the time of your life and can still keep searching for that relationship and love.
Here are the 5 Ways to throw a Singles Party that Rocks:
1. Invitees: It is all about the singles. Invite single friends only and each person needs to bring a new single friend. Make sure there are an equal number of guys and gals to mix up the fun. So where do you find these singletons? Your social network – Invite people in your social circle on Facebook or maybe you have common friends but you don’t know them. Now, is your chance to branch out and invite them.
2. Décor: Forget about pink and red. A little played out isn’t it? Well this year try turquoise and orange. Let’s think a little bit more about that décor. A star is defined as a bright point of light in the sky or a five-sided drawing that is meant to resemble the points of light in the sky. So you can have star shaped sugar cookies – green with vanilla icing packaged up as a parting gift. Or, do the whole party around the opposites of what people think. For example, – Not roses…Rather thistle- Not chocolate…Bring out the steak.
3. Playlist of music: Just forget all those love songs and bring out the real fun jams! Such as “All the Single Ladies.”
4. Food / Beverages: Keep it fun and flowing. The opposite of chocolate is vanilla so why not add some vanilla touches. And, make sure the food is fun – Gourmet Grilled Cheese sandwiches are easy to make and always a big hit.
5. Invitation: And, don’t forget about the invite. How about setting the theme in advance by sending the party goer a puzzle piece and they then have to find the person that has the other piece of the puzzle.
They say, ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’ which seems to be more accurate on Valentine’s Day than any other holiday. As you throw yourself into the perfect singles soiree, think about all your couple friends in a relationship and love eating overpriced dinners because technically love is in the air. Follow these fun pointers and next Valentine’s Day, you may just find yourself on the other side of the fence receiving a dozen of the 196 million red roses produced to show how much you are loved!
Brian Worley is the co-founder of Your-Bash and TV’s favorite event planner and LA’s man about town. Worley is known for his over the top and memorable style and has been the voice of everything from E!’s Party Monsters Cabo, to WE TV’s Platinum Weddings, to The Style Channel’s Big Party Plan Off. From American Idol Parties, to the Oscar Pre-Show and Grammy After Party, Worley says the key is to NOT go with tradition.
