by Veronica Sawyer
If you fall into that group, one of the most important things to remember is that the audio-visual experience is only one thing that makes a home theatre truly memorable. Seating is another huge part, since it’s obviously not easy to enjoy a movie night to the fullest extent if you aren’t comfortable. Once those things are taken care of, it’s time to turn to the final key component of any home theatre experience: the refreshments.
Any serious movie lover would agree that the snacks consumed while watching a movie are almost as important as the movie itself, and we would have to agree. What would the theatre experience be, after all, without a tub of buttery popcorn in your lap and a cup of ice-cold soda in your hand? Naturally, you’ll need to recreate that experience if you want your home theatre to go down as the stuff of legend in your neighbourhood.
One of the greatest things about hosting a movie night is that you don’t need to work that hard to make the evening a success. When you put good friends and good movies together, you can be certain that your guests will have a great time even if the only food on the menu is microwave popcorn. If you really want your guests to have a truly memorable time, though, it’s worthwhile to put a little extra effort into the refreshments that you select for your home theatre. To get your creative juices flowing, we’ll provide a few can’t-miss suggestions in this article.
Period-Appropriate Candies
You don’t need to read a blog post online to find out that popcorn is the ultimate home theatre refreshment, so we’re going to skip that and head straight for the next can’t-miss refreshment that every home theatre needs. We’re talking, of course, about candy. Now, you could simply stock the candy basket in your home theatre with an assortment purchased from the local supermarket, and we can guarantee that none of your guests are going to complain – but what if you wanted to take things up a notch?
If you really want to serve candy in your home theatre in a way that your guests will find unforgettable, the trick is to choose candies that are appropriate for the films you’re screening. If you’re having an anime night, for example, you can stock your home theatre with Japanese classics like Pocky and Hi-Chew. International candies are easy to find online, and period-appropriate candies are easy to find as well. Try stocking your home theatre with the same candies that would have been popular during the era in which the films you’re screening were made.
Vape Juice
Smoking may not be as common as it once was, but you can definitely expect to find at least one or two smokers in any sufficiently large group – and that’s an issue you’ll have to consider as a home theatre owner. On one hand, you don’t want people to smoke in your home if you don’t smoke yourself – and even if you are a smoker, you probably don’t want your expensive home theatre furniture to smell like cigarettes. On the other hand, you also don’t want to pause the movies constantly so the smokers in your group can step outside and have a puff.
Clearly there has to be a better way to ensure that the smokers in your group won’t spend the evening having nicotine fits – and the better way is encouraging those guests to vape instead. Add a few vapes and some vape juice to your refreshment area and let your guests help themselves when they need to indulge their cravings. Your home theatre won’t smell like smoke, and your guests will be free to puff as much as they like without going outside and missing out on the fun.
Chestnuts
Here’s an idea to keep in your back pocket for the next time you plan to screen some holiday films for your friends or family. Instead of serving popcorn as the main snack, try chestnuts instead. It’ll make for an incredibly festive experience that your guests will certainly remember for a long time.
If you’re going to try serving chestnuts in your home theatre, the trick is to use the Italian variety because they’re the ones that are easiest to peel. Asian chestnuts are equally delicious, but they’re best for cooking because the inner skin is difficult to remove from the flesh without a knife. If you can’t find Italian chestnuts locally, they’re easy to find online during the holiday season.
Serving chestnuts does require a little preparation, but you can do most of the work in advance. Simply cut an “X” through the outer shells of the chestnuts and keep them in salted water until you’re ready to roast them. When it’s time, roast the chestnuts in a hot oven for around 30-40 minutes until they are very fragrant, and the inner skin has begun to peel away from the flesh. Serve the chestnuts in paper bags. The bags keep the nuts warm and also traps the steam, ensuring that the nuts will be easy to open.
Make Refreshments Easy with Catered or Delivered Food
If you’re hosting a longer gathering and are planning to screen more than one or two films in your home theatre, one important thing to remember is that your guests will probably want to eat something a bit more substantial than regular movie snacks. At some point, they’re going to want an actual meal. One of the best things about most home theatre refreshments is that many of them come in boxes or bags and can be stored almost indefinitely with no real loss of quality. That’s not the case, however, when it comes to actual meals. If you want to serve real food, it has to be fresh.
Here’s the good news: Providing a decent meal to your guests during a longer movie night doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and it doesn’t even require a great deal of work on your part. There’s really no need to overthink it at all – just call a local restaurant and have a sandwich spread catered in. It’ll keep for a few hours, and you can leave it on a table and encourage your guests to serve themselves whenever they like. Alternatively, an assortment of pizzas works just as well.
