21 happens once

I would like to thank the Academy for ensuring me that all the big birthdays are over for the next 9 years. It's fun being 21 I guess? I can legally drink in the US which is nice.

I think the world needs a crash course for surviving the party planning of big birthdays.

1. Don't feel morally obligated to have a big to-do. Some people prefer it, others are fine with a braai or a movie.
2. Don't invite people to be nice. Life is too expensive to provide out of politeness.
3. Don't be a diva. You're not Queen Elizabeth or the Pope. Keep things casual. Personally, I have loads of fun in my casual-I-can-sleep-in-this-outfits. Don't have a MTV sweet 16 entrance. You don't need a limo or an entourage of dancers. We know it's your party.
4. Don't freak out about it being perfect. Spoiler, nothing is.
5. Don't get trigger-happy in the shops or online shopping to buy a bunch of overpriced decorations. DIY is actually the way to go.
6. Pintrest is your friend for amazing ideas. But keep in mind not to overdo it. My person advised me to pick like 3 elements and work with that. It was difficult but it made the rest of the planning easy.
7. Write down your punch recipe if you have one. Or just mix everything together and taste it. If you want to cough or your eye starts to twitch, you need to add mix.
8. Avoid brawling. It's ratchet and sad.
9. Don't finish a bottle of sours under an hour. Your stomach will burn worse than wasabi on chili in an oven in hell. Not to mention the heartburn on top of the hangover.
10. Less decorations = Less cleaning
11. If you have more decorations.. Try to abuse your friendship/birthday rights to make your friends help clean up.
12. Don't drink stuff that smells like deodorant.
13. Don't carry your phone around in your hand.. I lost mine 3 times.
14. Don't let the honesty of alcoholism take a hold of you. No-one wants to know. If you can't say it sober, then hush.
15. Don't use the good china for anything. Chances are, your friends will probably be too nervous to eat out of anything brighter than their future. Paper cups are ok! And = no dishes. Boom.
16. Speech early, drunk people will not make the "aaahw's" at the applicable moments.
17. Keep the conversations light and shallow. Tears and brawls are really frowned upon while partying.
18. Don't drink everything. Alcohol fighting back is already difficult, don't mix the fighters up to make one big WW III in there.
19. Don't jump off shit or mistake yourself for superman. You will injure yourself and your ego. Blood is not a great colour on anyone.
20. Don't approach random people with too much excitement. As South Africans we are trained and bred to be suspicious of EVERYONE. So being overly perky to new people may result in awkward conversations and awkward exits.
21. Enjoy yourself. If other people don't, shame.

If stuff doesn't work out the way you picture it... Get over it. Life is not a dress rehearsal. This shit is real. Enjoy the moment and just go with it. Our lives are so rehearsed with dress codes and agendas, going off script won't kill you.