Host a Buzz-worthy Virtual Watch Party

When you’re feeling a little cooped up, creating some buzz around your virtual watch party turns it into a real celebration. (And lets you watch comfortably at home in the stretchy pants to which you’ve become accustomed.)

Here are a few tips to turn your watch party into an Event:

• Hype, hype, hype: To help build excitement the same way a trailer does, create a themed playlist or throw together a video with clips and bits of trivia and share away. If you don’t feel savvy (or motivated) enough to make your own video, you can just make a playlist of videos on YouTube.
• Encourage dressing up: It’s a nice change of pace to get out of the lounge-wear you’ve been sporting for three days straight. And you only have to be fancy on the top half.
• Make and mail invitations: To make the premiere feel extra special, add the link to your watch party to real invites with your handwriting and a cool stamp. Sure, you could do it online, but why not break out a sparkly, bright or glittery.

Pro tips

If you love a DIY project, here are some ways to personalize your invitation, whether you send it online or print and mail it.

• Borrow images, colour schemes, textures and design elements from the show you’re watching.
• Work in favourite lines and juicy puns to spice up the traditional invite format.
• Use some photo-editing skills to put your guests’ faces into the movie poster or show promo.
• Give the act of opening the invite some fanfare with a fancy seal or confetti.

What’s a watch party without movie snacks? Candy you might sneak into the theatre, treats that fit the theme of the show and the most classic of movie snacks, popcorn, are all necessities.

• Recipes: Recommend your favourite microwave brand of popcorn or share with some of these delicious popcorn recipes. Get fancy with this decadent brownie, get messy with these tea cookies and dessert nachos or get festive with a themed snack mix. You can get extra quality time by video chatting while you all prepare your own snack tables.
• Goody bags: If you live close by, you can drop off a custom goody bag filled with your friends’ favourite munchies. This is a great option if you want to treat the guest of honour or try out a new recipe. If you live too far from each other, you can mail custom goody bags or have yummy gift baskets delivered.
• Themed ordering-in: Order a show-appropriate meal or munchies. With so many places now offering delivery and carryout and a phone-full of delivery apps, your options are endless.

Once the glitzy setup stuff is handled, it’s time to focus on logistics. Nothing induces loneliness and existential dread in these times like a technological difficulty that ruins the opportunity for virtual connection. So prepare:

• Virtual venue: If you’re not watching something on live TV or don’t all have access to the same streaming service (so you can’t video chat on your phone and then say, “3…2…1…hit play,”), there are apps to help. Do a quick search to see which works best for you. A lot of streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, have built-in watch party features, and some third-party sites help bypass the we-all-have-different-service-subscriptions issue. Zoom and Scener are both good options if you want to use a third party.
• No shushing: Some apps offer text chatting rather than video chatting. If you’re the type who hates talking during movies, this might be a great option for you. Other apps include video chatting as well as text chatting, which adds to the feelings of connection (but doesn’t take away the option to send GIFs and memes in real time).
• Tech support: There are bound to be some hiccups, so make sure you’re easy to reach and you have a plan for troubleshooting. A nice way to make sure everyone’s good to go before the movie starts is to gather everyone in the virtual space beforehand. This way you can also provide a toast to kick things off. Thank the academy, thank your Wi-Fi, shout-out your mom.