You remember all of it

The story you would rather tell

A lot of nightlife sells the story you tell later: the bill you cannot explain, the ride you cannot remember, the photo you would rather nobody saw. We think a good night is one you remember all of, spent with people you would like to see again. Bad decisions are not what makes a night good.

So The Guest List runs on a few house rules. They are short, they apply to everyone in the room, hosts included, and here they are in full. Read them once and you know how the night works.

• Set a spend limit before doors.
• Home by the app, never a stranger's car.
• Nobody leaves alone unless they say so.
• Consent is said plainly.
• Phones down for the first hour.
• 21 and over, with ID.
• Be someone you are glad to see in the recap.

Before doors

Set your spend limit before you leave home. Your ticket is ₱1,500 and includes two drinks, so you already know where the night starts. Decide where it ends, in pesos, before the first round. A number you chose at seven is easier to keep than one you argue with at midnight.

Bring a valid ID. Every Guest List night is 21 and over, and the ID is checked at the door. It keeps the room to the people it was made for, and it means nobody at the door has to make an exception.

Know how you are getting home before you arrive. The venue is revealed the day before, by message, so you have a full day to look at the address and plan the ride back.

In the room

Phones down for the first hour. Doors open at 8, the host does the introductions in the first ten minutes, and the room mixes twice before ten. That first hour is the part you came for, so keep it in your eyes and out of your camera roll. After that, take all the photos you like.

Consent is said plainly. Ask before you touch anyone, ask before you take someone's photo, and take a no the first time you hear it. If anyone makes you uncomfortable, tell a host. The hosts are the people in the room whose night is about yours, and that includes this.

Your two drinks are included and the bar is open after that. The limit you set at home still stands, and nobody here will talk you past it.

Getting home

Home is by the app. Book a Grab from the door, and never get into a stranger's car, however kind the offer. Tell a friend when you leave and again when you are home.

Nobody leaves alone unless they say so. If you came with a group, you leave with the group, or you tell them you are going. If you came alone, which is the normal way to come to ours, tell your host when you head out, so someone knows. On issue nights, DM "HOME" to @partylifemnl and we help you get there.

The group rule works in the other direction too. If a friend has gone quiet, or has stopped answering, go and find them before you book your own ride. Looking after the people you came with is the easiest good decision of the night, and the one people remember you for the next day.

Knowing the ride, the limit and the people around you lets you stay out until the end without a second thought. That is the kind of night this column is for.

The morning after

The next morning we send the recap. It is built around the people who were in the room, so you may find yourself in it, and every rule above exists so that you are glad to be. A good recap is a page of people who would happily come back.

Everyone who came gets first pick of the next issue, and readers choose the next cover venue by DM, so you have a say in where it happens. That is the whole ethos: a night you chose, a limit you kept, a ride you trusted, and a morning that is fine.

If you would like to see the rules at work, DM "LIST" to @partylifemnl for a place among the eighty at Issue 01. Save "HOME" for the ride back.