If you’ve read Kevin Kwan’s book Crazy Rich Asians or seen the subsequent film adaptation, you are familiar with the culinary delight of various foods throughout the story and the seemingly infinite wealth displayed in its architecture, fashion, and characters’ 0.1% lifestyles. The plot continues in three more subsequent novels, with the fourth installment in the process of being released at the time of this writing. But reading or watching the first story alone is inspiration enough for a terrific Crazy Rich Asians party!
Of course, most of us can’t afford to decorate our home in the literal styles showcased in the story’s backdrop. An interior koi pond filled with baby sharks isn’t a realistic party centerpiece. But as anyone who’s read the book knows, the food alone could be a main character. Food is therefore a primary focus of this party theme, complemented by a playfully gilded décor scheme and imitation high-fashion style. Get ready to gather your friends and let your Crazy Rich Asians party be an opportunity for everyone to indulge in the story’s delicious fare and decadent flair!
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How to Throw a Crazy Rich Asians Party
1. Create the Scene with Opulent Décor
Though it probably isn’t realistic to decorate with the exact same materials found throughout the Crazy Rich Asians story, you can certainly add decorative accents that complement a classy style. This is not an occasion to showcase Scandinavian simplicity or sleek modern sensibility. Here, we are looking for the perfect combination of fresh colour, textures, intricate patterns, natural materials and art subject matter, gold accents, classic antiques, and soft fabrics like silk or cotton sateen. The goal is a look that’s not over the top but well-appointed. Let’s explore further!
Classy Singaporean Home Décor
To set the scene, go for an understated maximalist look. In other words, find plenty of decorative materials in sophisticated prints – especially those that embrace natural elements, such as florals or birds – and cover your party space with them as much as feasible. Things like tapestries, rugs, curtains, wall art, and throw blankets or pillows on couches and chairs will offer good coverage. If you are really inspired and want to embrace the look as a part of your actual home décor, find a good peel-and-stick wallpaper for an all-encompassing touch.
Don’t shy away from bright colours. But keep in mind that though the prints and patterns don’t need to match (in fact there should be variety there), you want to stick to the same general colour scheme. Have a few key colours that are consistent among different décor items to draw the look together. Some great examples include turquoise, subdued pink, cream, jade, coral, or yellow.
If you have any decorative items that lean more natural, such as wood-carved figurines or stone statues, these will also add an elegant touch. Carved jade adds a pop of classic beauty. Embrace any artisan-made décor and artwork you may own, or if you want to add some to your permanent home décor, find plenty of beautiful wood-carved décor online or in a shop. Even if you can only spare to decorate with a hint of such decorations, any small efforts done with love and enthusiasm will serve you well. And never underestimate the power of an abundance of beautiful house plants as another great way to decorate for your Crazy Rich Asians party. Tropical house plants alone will create a lively, luxurious feel that adds to the story’s exotic locale.
Houseplants
If you’re new to houseplants, pothos vines are easy to care for and look nice strung from shelves and doorframes. Other easy house plants include monstera, dracaena, money plant, ferns, fig trees, and plenty more. For plants that are native to Singapore or its nearby region, check out these great options:
- Orchid cactus
- Hoya plant
- Dischidia plant
- Shingle plant
- Trailing watermelon begonia
- Schismatoglottis
- Fresh fan palm leaf decorations
Other fitting décor:
- Singapore-themed paper lantern
- Crocheted night-blooming cereus flower
- Peranakan tile coasters (set of 4)
- Dark floral-print wall tapestry
- Wood-carved wall art and other décor
- Macrame monstera and other wall hangings
- Crazy Rich Asians vintage-inspired movie print
- Crazy Rich Asians pillow
- Mesh metallic gold table runner
- Gold glitter beeswax pillar candles
- Battery-lit gold tinsel wands (hang from ceilings for an indoor ‘starlight’ effect)
For topical wall art that showcases the story’s locale, display any of these lovely posters of Singapore:
- Singapore Botanical Gardens print
- The Singaporean Peranakan-style shophouse cover print
- Peranakan shophouses along Singapore’s Joo Chiat Road print
- Peranakan houses along Singapore’s Koon Seng Road print
- Geylang shophouses and Peranakan tiles print
2. Prepare Singaporean Food
Food is the true showstopper at a Crazy Rich Asians party! Even if you can’t pull together a satisfactory display of decorations, nobody will even notice if the food is phenomenal. The best way for your guests to enjoy this party is through their sense of taste.
If you don’t have experience cooking traditional dishes from Singapore and the surrounding region, you may feel intimidated to try unfamiliar recipes. Check out this mouthwatering list below and choose what look like the tastiest and most feasible dishes to tackle, and then prepare them at least once well before your party so you can have an idea of what to expect in both time and effort. Some may be easier than you thought. A lot of the challenge is simply finding ingredients, and once you’ve already sourced those and have them in your kitchen, you’ll feel a lot more confident at the cutting board!
Recipes:
- Crazy Rich Asians food
- More Singapore food recipes
- Hokkien mee (stir-fried noodles)
- Vegetarian satay
- Chili crab
- Hainanese chicken rice
- Vegetarian Hainanese ‘chicken’ rice
- Chicken laksa (coconut noodle curry soup)
- Vegan laksa
- Popiah (savory stuffed and rolled-up rice pancakes)
- Vegetarian/gluten-free Singapore noodles
- Vegan Singapore noodles
- Dumplings
- Kaya toast (coconut jam)
- Nyonya kueh (pastries)
- Kueh lapis (cake)
- Sticky rice in banana leaves
For drinks, serve classy cocktails, high-quality sparkling wine, tea, coffee, and sparkling water. If you own crystal serveware, a Crazy Rich Asians party is definitely the opportunity to offer it for guests to use for their refreshments. If you don’t, you can find classy plastic serveware to create the same opulent look:
- Plastic crystal-cut wine goblets
- Plastic gold-rimmed glittery clear champagne flutes
- Plastic white vintage Baroque-style silver leaf-embossed plates
- Gold plastic forks
- Gilded majolica aqua/gold paper napkins
3. Set the Ambience with the Perfect Playlist or Video
Playing the Crazy Rich Asians movie soundtrack is, of course, the ideal background music for a Crazy Rich Asians party. Its carefree, upbeat tunes are also perfect party music for any glamorous soiree! For a more laid back atmospheric feel, you could play the Crazy Rich Asians movie score. Or you could simply play the film in the background.
Whatever you choose, remember that background music is key for a party’s vibe. So if it’s a party where you want to encourage dancing, play livelier beats. If you want to mimic the relaxing opulence of one of Carol Tai’s ladies Bible studies, play something calm and slightly dull like smooth jazz with Singapore imagery. If you want to play popular Singaporean artists, play Stephanie Sun or Gentle Bones.
4. Add Evocative Scents
There’s nothing quite like a luxurious smell. When you walk into a space or past a person with a billion dollar waft, you relish in a moment of olfactory bliss. Let your guests experience that for the duration of your Crazy Rich Asians party by enveloping them in amazing aromas. You may not want to spritz your bottle of luxury cologne everywhere (not the most economical use), but that doesn’t mean you can’t burn candles scented with it! Check out these delightful candles featuring a couple of popular and luxurious scents:
- Le Labo Santal 33-inspired candle (soy wax, cotton or wood wick)
- Another Le Labo Santal 33-inspired candle (soy wax)
- And another Le Labo Santa 33-inspired candle (soy wax, multiple size options)
- Small Le Labo Santal 33-inspired candle (coconut wax, wood wick)
- Baccarat Rouge scented candle (soy wax, cotton or wood wick)
- BR540 (Baccarat Rouge) scented candle
- BR540-inspired candle (soy wax, multiple size options)
5. Plan Crazy Rich Asians Party Games and Activities
Party games for adults are always a great way to keep your guests engaged (and challenged)! If you or any of your guests know how to play mahjong, this is naturally the best game choice for a Crazy Rich Asians party. After all, the mahjong scene is arguably the most pivotal moment of the story! If you don’t already know how to play mahjong but would like to learn, there are plenty of online tutorials and videos to guide you. The best way to learn, however, is being taught by somebody else. So if you know anyone who can play, ask them to teach you! With enough practice, you can also then teach any friends who want to learn at your party.
If you don’t already have a mahjong set and can’t borrow one, check out these options:
- Chinese tiles mahjong
- Character-themed tiles mahjong (Scooby Doo, Mario, and many more)
Trivia is another fun game that especially avid fans love. Depending on how well you and your guests know the Crazy Rich Asians storyline, your trivia could range from book club-level to very general themes that touch upon some of the story’s topics, such as dumpling trivia (to celebrate the movie’s family dumpling-making scene) or even more general Asian history trivia (with a nod to Nick’s passion for history).
Games or not, simply gabbing about the story is likely fun for most guests! Ask everyone to share when they first saw the Crazy Rich Asians movie or read the book. See who’s also read the subsequent novels (but refrain from spoiler alerts). And of course, invite any friends from Singapore or any of its varied cultures or neighbouring places to share their thoughts on the story and what they’ve witnessed or experienced in their own lifetime.
6. Establish Guest Participation
When you establish guest participation, you basically decide whether you would like your guests to participate in any given way. For example, you would ask them to wear a costume to a costume party. Or to bring a dish to a potluck. For a BYOB party, you invite them to bring their own bevvy (if they choose). Guest participation is up to you but you need to clarify it up front when you initially invite people so they know what to expect. If you are tight on time and/or money, requesting that guests bring food and/or drink to share can be a great help to relive that burden. Most people are happy to contribute; just be sure to inform them of as much on the invitation.
Of course, choose your guests mindfully and with their interests in mind. Prioritize friends who love Crazy Rich Asians – or who’ve at least read the book or seen the movie. But don’t shy away from inviting others who may not know much about it. Even if someone’s never watched or read the story but is interested in it, you may in fact turn them on to it!
Checklist of Items You Need
Now that we’ve covered what you’ll need to do to host a Crazy Rich Asians party, here’s a summary of the items to acquire for it:
- Crazy Rich Asians-inspired decorations
- Crazy Rich Asians-inspired foods, and beverages
- Classy party serveware (or, optionally, crystal/china serveware if you own it and want to use it)
- Crazy Rich Asians film music, Singapore music, classy jazz, etc.
- Scented candles that smell like wealth
- Mahjong and/or trivia games (optional)
Preparation Checklist for Your Crazy Rich Asians Party
Most of the following steps for party preparation apply to any type of party you host. So while we covered Crazy Rich Asians-specific details and ideas above, below are basic party planning guidelines to neatly order each step of the process (you can find more thorough details in the Best Party Practices posts):
1. First, confirm that people can come on any chosen date
- Choose party date/time, and preferably alternative date(s) as well
- Choose guest list and establish minimum number of guests you’d like (to make it worth your effort)
- Six weeks out, confirm guests’ interest in the party and availability on chosen party date(s). The only details you need to share at this time are what type of party it is (Crazy Rich Asians-themed); any requested participation; party date and general time of day; and your address
- This first step is just to get people to confirm that, barring unforeseen circumstances, they are able and willing to attend and will save the date. If your preferred minimum number of guests confirm interest and availability, have them secure the date for your fabulous Crazy Rich Asians party!
2. Then, proceed with the fun planning
Once you have your party date established, get out your calendar and map out when you plan to do every step of preparation. This means you schedule time for each preparation activity that you’ll need to do. If you don’t schedule time on your calendar early enough, you can find yourself overwhelmed and unprepared the day of the party. We want to avoid that! Check out the How to Be a Good Party Host post for more clarification on how you can be confident, prepared, and ahead of the game. Party planning isn’t hard, but it requires some thought and effort (which attentive guests will notice and graciously appreciate). So here’s a general overview of what you can expect to do leading up to the party:
- First, sit down and schedule time on your calendar for each step of party prep as listed below
- Create invitations with all the details and send them out 4 weeks before the party
- Order any party supplies and decorations 3 weeks out (so they arrive in time to set up)
- Shop for any party supplies/decorations you don’t order online, as well as non-perishable food/drinks
- Acquire perishable food/drinks early enough in advance to prepare in time
- Set up decorations
- Prepare food/drinks (depending on how long things keep)
3. Day of Party
It’s important to get as much party prep done far enough in advance that you have some time to yourself to relax come party day, especially if you’ve been busy. So be sure to plan your day-of-party preparations early enough to have that time and space to yourself afterwards. Within those amply planned/set-aside time slots, expect to do these preparations on the day of your party:
- Complete any last-minute menu prep (for food that’s too fresh to do any sooner)
- Set up any quick/easy last-minute supplies and decorations (if not up already)
- Prepare ambience (have music/video ready, light scented candles)
- Get dressed to the nines in your poshest party outfit
- Once everything’s ready, take some time for self-care activities that get you in a good state of mind so you can be a refreshed, centered, and joyful host!
All Set to Host a Dazzling Crazy Rich Asians Party
Get ready to celebrate a fun and colourful story with your Crazy Rich Asians party! Every part of this party planning process ought to be enjoyable – from planning the menu (most important) to decorating. So remember that at the end of the day, the goal is for you and your guests to have an awesome time – no matter how differently things turn out from what you had originally envisioned. As long as you put thought and care into party prep, you’ll have done your best and your party will be a fantastic time everyone will enjoy!