There’s a lot of behind the scenes stuff involved in planning a paintball party, which is why it’s best left to the pros. First up, every attendee needs to be kitted out in the right gear: protective, but comfortable and manoeuvrable. Hard wearing, too – no-one gets to fling themselves around in mud and tree trunks without wearing out knee patches, after all.
Then, of course, there are the guns. Paintball guns are weapons. They fire stuff, hard, at human targets. Planning a paintball party off your own bat puts you right in the firing line when it comes to health and safety: if anything goes wrong with the guns, and someone gets hurt, where are you then? Distraught and probably bankrupt. Going to the pros means you can relax in the knowledge that the weapons your party will be using are expertly maintained and regularly serviced. It also means you’re shooting under the umbrella of public liability insurance, which safeguards both attendees and the host company in the event of an accident.
A big part of paintball is training – which means a big part of planning a paintball party should be the selection of one’s guests. There’s no point matching a bunch of amateurs with a weekend warrior: the regular player will get bored waiting for the training sessions to finish and the novices will feel self conscious around the regular player. Inasmuch as you can, pick guests who have a similar experience of paintball – that way no-one feels left out.
Make sure your guests all come with suitable clothing: there might be all sorts of glamorous awesomeness going on after the shooting, but no-one is going to get very far running around a paintball course in a little black dress. When planning a paintball party, factor in whatever is going to happen afterward (if anything): people will need provisions for showering and changing if the paintball party is part of a larger day or weekend. Contact the venue in advance and explain your plans – they’ll let you know what facilities exist on site to make changing easier.
Planning a paintball party can be a great way of giving a different kind of bash – one that everyone attends will be raving about for weeks. Planning, though, is the operative word. Get in touch with a professional paintball party organiser, talk through your requirements – and leave the rest to them. It’s what they’re good at.