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The definition of a cocktail party hasn’t changed. It is still considered an early evening or late afternoon party where drinks are served in a socially active atmosphere. The picture is clear. There are no real hurdles to cross, making it fairly simple to prepare for. So take the bull by the horns and make your cocktail party planning a success.
A good cocktail party can be a lot of fun. The guests are bursting with energy, crackling with conversation and slowly sipping their drinks. The scene is all so familiar. The night is young, the appetizers are delicious and so is the taste of the alcohol. Everyone is either laughing or deep in conversation, whilst the host is preparing another drink. The crowd shifts towards the deck, where a group is bursting with laughter from some old joke. These are good times that create fond memories. Whether it be between family and friends or the more common cocktail party for business or corporate gatherings. It matters little, because the actual cocktail party planning is the same. It is fairly simple and easy to prepare for.
There are a few decisions to be made pertaining to the type of cocktail party you would like to have. It normally depends on who you plan on inviting. Such as, if it were to be mainly business associates you may want to have everyone arrive in formal attire. If it were going to be family, the decision on how to dress is best left up to them, unless you had other plans where the party itself was a prelude to a long night out on the town. Whatever your choice of dress, the rest is your basic pattern of cocktail party planning.
The best place to start is with your guest list. From there, send out your invitations. Once you have a rounded number of approximate guests, you can figure on the amount of food and drink. Of course, it is always best to have more instead of less, so when doing your shopping make sure you spend more than what is needed, while not breaking your planned budget. Also while you are out shopping, you may want to purchase some flowers to match the table cloth and add some other decorations, if you are so inclined. Flowers are always a nice touch to any table and I highly recommend adding them.
Now that you have the desired ingredients or readymade appetizers to go along with the wine, champagne, booze and/or beer you may begin getting the living room ready for some heavy foot traffic. If not the living room, then maybe the deck or the pool house would be ideal. Wherever you choose be sure you are able to provide ample seating for all the guests, along with glassware. Since you will be serving a large amount of drinks you may want to hire a bartender for the evening. It isn’t good practice at a cocktail party to have everyone pour their own drinks, so the job would ultimately fall on the host. If you would rather spend the night laughing and giggling, mingling and bouncing from one conversation to the next it would be a headache saved and a good time made by hiring out. You could easily find someone to work behind the bar for a fair amount or you may get lucky and have one of your friends opt-in for the job. Although this would be my preference it is not to say you would not enjoy serving drinks. The bartender is surely very popular at all occasions and gets plenty of attention, but as host more than just drinks must be served.
The appetizers are an important part of any cocktail party. So make sure you get it right by having enough to last. If dinner is not in the plans for the evening, expect more to be eaten and faster. If dinner is planned, then figure on just the opposite.
Cocktail parties are great social events. If you are making plans, don’t plan on having fun. It just happens!
James Craven is a party planning expert. For more great tips on cocktail party planning, visit http://www.planningparty.net.
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