Pre drinks are ingrained into university student culture. Planning to go out to the pub before clubbing is practically unheard of (we’re students, not millionaires) which means that nights out usually start in a grimey first year flat with a sticky table and a group of mates. They’re great! However, there is nothing worse than turning up to a pres your mate promised would be buzzing and sitting awkwardly for an hour in the stalest atmosphere imaginable. Here are five things you need when hosting a pres to make sure people actually want to come back.
Mixer
This is probably the main thing to have at pres because there are always people who turn up without mixer, or without enough. We’ve all been there. You tell yourself you’re only going to drink so much, then realise you underestimated (or was kidding yourself from the get-go) and need more lemonade to stomach the disgusting off-brand vodka you brought with you.
The best mixer to get is the 15p(ish) lemonade from Aldi or Lidl. It’s cheap, goes with most drinks, and can be bought in bulk and stored in your cupboards for occasions when your flat hosts pres.
A speaker
And by speaker, I mean a speaker that is also charged. Nothing kills the vibe at a pres than a speaker dying halfway through the evening and everyone rushing around to find the charger or a backup speaker. Speakers for these things never have to be big or very powerful. Usually you just need to have enough volume to fill a small uni kitchen!
Cards
Having a pack of cards in your flat for pre drinks is definitely a must. Often, university accommodation teams will actually provide cards in the freshers care boxes they put in each flat as they come in so handy! Even if you’re too drunk to play card games at pres, ring of fire is a uni student staple and is usually played at pre drinks or small parties as the rules are simple and drinking forfeits happen often.
Piccolo
A great app to download before a pres. It is essentially a game of ‘most likely to.’ Only one person needs it downloaded, and they enter the names of everyone playing. The game generates questions and names of people there and they have to answer questions (such as who is most likely to…) or complete challenges. It’s a great ice breaker and is helpful when you aren’t feeling creative enough to come up with your own questions in never have I ever or most likely to.
Plastic cups or spare glasses
Although most people will bring their own cups (especially if they live in the same building) there are always people who forget and arrive at your door with a bottle of alcohol, mixer, but nothing to mix it in. As a student whose flat often hosts pres, you will find yourself washing up an endless pile of sticky glasses every Saturday morning. Yet somehow, there are never enough to go around. Therefore, it is worth picking up a pack of plastic cups for pres. You can still wash and reuse these but they’re cheaper and you can buy more of them. Plastic shot glasses are also a hit at pres!
