There was a time when a party meant the same thing to everyone: rocking up at least an hour after the invite time, too many people in one place, tepid canapés, a predictable playlist going on loop till you exited. If you were lucky, the wine was drinkable. If you were very lucky, you didn’t end the night at 3am, completely trolleyed and with a kebab you didn’t remember ordering.
In 2025, that time has met its end and partying is a brand new shiny playground. This era isn’t besotted by excess and debauchery, but by experiences: smaller guest lists, fertile imagination for thoughtful accents, and parties that feel like special little micro-worlds. Call it the age of curated conviviality, and it would appear that everyone is on board.
“Everything is going from regular set-ups and events to more experiential and interactive parties,” says Malvika Mirchandani, Founder of catering company, Apéro by Malvika. “We’re also seeing a surge in people in their fitness era. Super late-night parties are being replaced with Pilates and matcha mornings or breezy sundowners. They say the new form of luxury is the fitness one—and they’re not wrong.”
Luxury, once measured in bottles of Cristal and how long the afterparty lasted, is now about waking up the next morning with your dignity intact, your gut unbloated and your WhatsApp chat alive with people agreeing how perfect everything was.
Food and drink, too, have evolved. This is not the age of overstaged, foamed-to-death dishes. It’s about clean ingredients, design-led presentation and meals that nourish as much as they delight. After all, as Mirchandani reminds us, we eat first with our eyes. And while the food is elevated, the décor is often nostalgic. “Personalisation is a big trend that’s in too, with handwritten notes, a dish inspired by a shared memory or even special playlists. Shared intimacy is an irreplaceable feeling, so if your dinner can evoke this in guests, you’re home!,” says Aditi Dugar, Co-Founder & Director, Urban Gourmet India.
So, what trends does this new world of entertaining follow? Here’s your definitive guide.
Apartment Cafes as Social Currency
The new social flex is turning your apartment into a café for the day—or night. Coffee machines humming in your living room, homemade pastries laid out like at your favourite café, the works. This trend is virtually new to India, so you may as well capitalise on it for your next gathering. The idea’s about creating a private coffeehouse where the beans are single-origin, the milk frother is working overtime, and the pastries look like they’ve been flown in from Paris (though, ideally, you baked them yourself—or at least bought them from someone who did). Guests drift between tables, like connoisseurs at an art gallery, except the canvases glisten with cinnamon rolls and glossy croissants. You can lay out artisanal breads, jars of housemade jams and nut butters, savoury bites (smoked salmon tartines, miniature quiches and bite-sized sandwiches). A touch of sweetness is mandatory: trays of homemade pastries, biscotti, madeleines, muffins—the list can be endless. The beauty of the apartment café is its balance—it’s social yet unpretentious, with the comfort of knowing the only table reservation you need is in your own living room.
Top tips: Clear your dining table, roll out large sheets of brown paper and lay out your eats buffet style. Take a marker and directly write down what’s what next to the items if placards are too complex. Invest in takeaway coffee cups with lids from Amazon to give the do more authenticity (opt for the bamboo fibre eco-conscious ones if you're feeling extra green). While you stock up on different kinds of milk, don’t forget to think of those who prefer tea to coffee and make sure they have options, too. A solid selection of loose-leaf teas, from robust Assam to calming chamomile, ensures every guest feels considered. Take it a step further and create one “house special” that could be anything from a spiked Irish coffee, a secret recipe hot chocolate, or a unique cold brew blend to add your signature stamp to the party. Remember that overhead white light kills the mood, so try and go for warm lamps, candles or Edison bulbs if you want that urban café feel—and build a playlist that nods to mellow vinyl café vibes during the day and switch to something a little moodier if it rolls into the evening.
Intimate Dinner Parties are the new Private Clubs
Forget sprawling soirées where you spent half the night introducing people and the other half regretting you invited them. This year belongs to the dinner party that’s stripped back; 8-12 hand-picked guests, a chef’s table vibe in your dining room, soft lighting and playlists curated with the same care as the menu. “Smaller gatherings really cater to guest needs now,” says gourmet food blogger Arpana Punjabi.
“People are gluten-free, vegan, healthier in their choices. So you have to make sure there’s a good mix. I’m obsessed with
tablespaces—candles, flowers, mats, cutlery. Lighting is also crucial. And surprising your guests always works—I’ve been rolling out a caviar trolley recently. It’s a hit.” Punjabi has no patience for the old-school timetable either: “Serving food late at night is ridiculous. People want to start early and enjoy themselves properly.”
Top tips: Looking to go all out but without the hassle? Bring in the pros. Leave the menu to heavyweights such as Flamboyante, EDD, Shirin Adenwala, Ritu Dalmia or Creative Foods who will transform your tablescape into something magical, even if it’s just an intimate scene. You can event-rent your cutlery and crockery from brands such as Plate & Peony, pepper your space with flowers from The Bloom Room or Interflora, and scent up the room with candles from Jo Malone, Bath & Bodyworks, Seva Home, The Art-chives or The Candle Company. Don’t forget to Spotify a good playlist, depending on the vibe of the crowd—but keep it somewhere between Sade, Sekouba Bambino and Manu Chao territory and leave Drake and Kendrick Lamar for the next do.
Living Room DJ Sets: The new Status Symbol
In 2025, few things signal cultural cachet more than a live DJ spinning in your living room. Boiler Room–style gatherings take the electricity of a nightclub and distil it into something private and curated. Picture vinyl decks balanced between stacks of coffee-table books, neon cutting across your art collection, and twenty of your closest friends moving like it’s 4am in Berlin. “Hosting a party at home allows you to create the exact vibe you want for your guests. Boiler Room–style gatherings feel more intimate, and you get to enjoy everything in comfort without the chaos of larger events. While big shows are definitely fun, private gatherings offer a unique experience... you can filter the crowd, choose who’s there, and shape the atmosphere entirely to your taste,” says DJ Aria Jishma Parikh of Maark IV x ARIA.
As for the soundtrack of 2025, nostalgia has the upper hand. Throwback hits from the ’90s and 2000s are finding their way back onto playlists. But alongside, electronic genres continue to dominate the underground—and the living room. “While I’m not that into the Afro beat trend, I’m very much aboard the Afro house trend. Every second venue is on overdrive with these two genres,” notes Mumbai-based DJ, Zohanne Dinshaw. “The thing about most electronic genres is that you need appropriate venues. You think of deep house and your vision instantly goes to a tropical, beach side vibe with a few palm and coconut trees around with the soft glow of a sunset that edges your tempo on. Techno freaks love a gloomier atmosphere with the occasional halogen bulb shining your teeth off in a closed space,” he explains, highlighting how the vibe has to match the theme.
Top tips: Respect the sound. Solid speakers or a rented setup are non-negotiable because tinny Bluetooth will murder the vibe. Work with your DJ on flow so the night has an arc, starting with warm-up grooves, building to a peak and tapering off with the kind of track everyone can sing at 3am. Light it right by killing the overheads and bringing in LEDs, floor lamps or even strobes to sculpt the mood; then push back furniture, roll up rugs, let the room breathe because twenty bodies can feel like a hundred with the right set-up. Keep the bar tight and moving with batched cocktails, cold beers and plenty of water so no one’s stuck queuing at the fridge. Keep the chaos under control by knowing your neighbours and respecting that you're still in a residential space. It's all doable; almost like Tomorrowland, but more ‘tomorrow—my place, 9pm sharp’.
The Wellness Wave
The most radical twist in nightlife 2025? Parties that don’t torch your liver but tune your frequency. Forget tequila slammers and regretful 4am shawarmas; today’s after-hours are sound baths, cacao ceremonies, breathwork sessions and yoga flows timed to golden hour. With stress at an all-time high, wellness has become the ultimate release—and if you can fold it into a party, you’re winning at life. The best part about a wellness gathering is how effortless it is. The dress code leans easy with casuals or sculpted athleisure, while the afters swap tequila shots for matcha or spirulina. Alekha Advani, founder of Way Well, a wellness company that curates wellness programmes and retreats, nails it when she says, “Wellness isn’t about rules or token gestures like a Buddha bowl and a kombucha or smoothie bar. What’s in now is weaving wellness playfully into the night—with things like matcha tiramisu, intention cards at dinner, fortune cookie affirmations, etc.”
Top Tips: Start with a ritual welcome that features a wellness shot or a matcha spritz. Add a sensory element like an intention card or affirmation reading, or even themed playlists. Curate a balanced menu—a mix of indulgent bites alongside nourishing options including superfood bowls, raw cacao truffles, seasonal fruit and vegan nibbles.
Tablescapes you can Taste
Velvet drapes of Parma, prosciutto, salami and pancetta, towers of artisan breadsticks and lavash, an assortment of dips and spreads and plump jewel-like berries and dried fruits, marinated olives, along with wheels of cheese from different regions of the globe—the grazing table has evolved into a living, breathing work of art. “Instead of plated main courses, I like to lay out a good grazing table with bites ready for people to enjoy from the moment they walk in. People also like to eat early so it’s nice to have lots of cheese, dips, light appetisers and a few salads,” says Arpana Punjabi. For Aditi Dugar, its appeal lies in informality, while Pooja Raheja of the catering company EDD says, “Propping for tables is now more than just flowers; art and design converge to reflect the event’s ethos. Food is no longer just plated, it’s designed. Interactive grazing, colour-blocking, fruit art, bread art… food and décor are merging into one narrative.”
Top tips: When building a grazing table, go heavy on the proteins. Arrange folds of cured meats in layered folds or rolls rather than flimsy slices. This gives height, structure and a sense of abundance. Let the cheese take centre stage with whole wheels, wedges and blocks that guests can carve into themselves. Ditch basic crackers and swap them out for seeded sourdough chunks, grissini or lavash, stacked like firewood—design it like you would a room; colour-block deep reds, golden breads and dark berries. Keep the props minimal with dark wooden boards, slate or matte black trays and forget the fussy flowers. Source your meats and cheeses from Nature’s Basket, URO Deli, Gourmaison, or have it catered from start to finish from Menuscript, Apéro by Malvika and EDD.
Liquid Theatre FTW: Drams of drama
Forget dinner. The real centrepiece of any gathering is behind the bar. Cocktails have muscled their way from warm-up act to main event, demanding attention with smoke, fire and showmanship. It’s your cue to raid the duty-free stash you’ve been hoarding, roll up your sleeves and play bartender like you mean it. The cocktail night craze may have started with Sex and the City, but in your hands, it’s a whole different beast. Harish Chhimwal, Lead Mixologist at Olive Group, calls it a recalibration. “There’s a shift to lighter, mindful drinking. Simplified, elegant cocktails with fewer ingredients but higher quality. Tequila is the spirit of the season, from refreshing highballs to premium sipping. And Picantes—bold, spicy and crowd-pleasing—are everywhere.” Cocktail night isn’t about overcomplicating the bar but making every pour count and keeping the energy sharp, and sending people home with a buzz they’ll remember. As Aditi Dugar puts it, “I love throwing in an element of surprise at any gathering. It could be a unique welcome drink to encourage sharing or an element of drama in the food or décor. I find that these elements are usually conversation-starters and help the host of the party look great.”
Top tips: Hero one spirit—and since tequila’s having its moment, build the night around it with a tasting flight, a crisp highball and one fiery picante to keep the bar tight and the menu intentional. Invest in ice—not the sad freezer cubes. Clear ice makes a drink feel premium and melts slower, which means less dilution. Smoke up the drinks with a Negroni or an Old Fashioned under a cloche, or pull out the blowtorch and wood chips for drama-on-demand; set the stage with heavy rocks glasses, sleek coupes, a proper shaker and strainer, and leave the novelty kitsch behind. Control the pace by opening with lighter spritzes and highballs, moving into the heavy hitters mid-way, and closing with a single signature cocktail (it could be an espresso martini). Keep the food sharp with snacks that have backbone: spiced nuts, manchego wedges, blistered peppers, and charcuterie with heat, because you need bites that stand up to bold spirits, not just soak them up.
To read more stories from Esquire India's October 2025 issue, pick up a copy of the magazine from your nearest newspaper stand or bookstore. Or click here to subscribe to the magazine.
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