A dreading party that's not dreadful (groan!)

April 26, 2006 7:10 AM

Help me plan a dreadlock-themed party. A very long party.

My partner has been wanting dreadlocks for some time now, so recently we ordered a kit online and we are planning on doing the dreading ourselves. Since it is such a time-intensive process, however, we thought that we would have an open house all day where friends could drop by and help dread (two at a time) and otherwise watch movies, play games, visit, and eat. Is this feasible? How do you plan a party where you don't know how many people are going to show up, when they will arrive or how long they will stay? Can you help me plan food, games, movies, etc?

I do not want opinions on dreadlocks themselves. I have read http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/27624 and I understand the typical concerns. I am not asking if or how to get dreads, I am asking for help entertaining people while conscripting them to help with the work.

posted by arcticwoman to society & culture (7 answers total)

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posted by bhance at 7:17 AM on April 26, 2006

You need Trojan records box sets, rice and peas, etc.

Unless you're going for the crusty-punk dreadlock look, in which case any old levellers CD will do, along with vegan snacks, army surplus fancy dress and a playstation.
posted by handee at 7:28 AM on April 26, 2006

When I did mine it took about 6 hours with one very dedicated individual wrenching around up there all the while. Most of the time I sat on the floor against a couch for easy accessibility and we just vegged out all day watching old cartoons, etc. It's a pretty intensive (and boring) process as you note, and I don't know if it lends well to "hey come on by to chill, knot up a dread or two if you feel like it" situation. I know you've read about the process, but I personally wouldn't want multiple people with different tactile skill levels (and experience with hair) randomly working on something fairly permanent that requires such a great starting point to look good. Sectioning it may not be so important, but the very first time I made a spontaneous attempt to get dreads I had some half-assed friends help with the back-combing and the results were less than ideal. I washed them out within a week. After the very serious and invested set of 8 hours (sectioning/backcombing) I had them in for 4 years without issue. YMMV, don't mean to sound discouraging.
posted by prostyle at 7:29 AM on April 26, 2006

Hand these out at the door.
posted by hellbient at 8:32 AM on April 26, 2006

I agree with prostyle that you'll probably get better results with fewer people doing the actual dreading. But it does take a while and people can talk while dreading so having people around may make the whole thing more fun, and distract you more from the fact that someone's pulling on your hair for 8 hours.

You could pirate theme it and be Captain Dread at the end. Yarrr.
posted by aubilenon at 12:16 PM on April 26, 2006

Serve fusilli.
posted by scratch at 12:27 PM on April 26, 2006

You'll need to acquire the 10cc tune "Dreadlock Holiday", and play it from time to time. Bob Marley, too.

Ideally, there will be liberal quantities of ganja and hashish available.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:47 PM on April 26, 2006