Ten on Tuesday: Ten Tips for Throwing a Big Party

My usual big party is Thanksgiving.  Occasionally, I stray over to New Year's Eve.  More than six for dinner is stressful.  Eight is traumatic.  The tips I have learned to keep it under control:

1.  Keep the food simple.  No last minute take-it-out-of-the-oven tricks.  No last minute sauces. 

2.  If it has to be rewarmed, make sure the recipe forgives inexact timing.  You don't want to be serving dessicated mystery food to your guests.

3.  Have more silverware/napkins/cups/tableware than you think you need.

4.  Let your guests help.  They love it.  It usually makes your life easier.

5.  Have a system worked out for what to do with the dirties:  silverware, plates, serving dishes, etc.

6.  Have several areas set up for food so that everyone doesn't crowd one area. 

7.  Enlist a close friend or two to help with the details.  Bartender?  Wine pourer?  Dishwasher? 

8.  Be explicit in your invitations:  Starts at X time, lasts til X time, bring (or don't bring) XYZ.  Also discuss attire. 

9.  Assign a greeter so that you aren't running back and forth to the door, interrupting your prep.

10.  Simple but effective decor makes a great party.  Themes, flowers, iParty, color.  It is subliminal and it works.

11.  Have fun.  Your guests will have less fun if they see you not having fun.

No, I still can't count. 

Fountain in Palm Beach, Florida:  another way to have a great party is to have lots of Bacchus juice for your guests.  But that is cheating.

Comments

[margene]

Good tips! I usually run out of napkins or forget some main ingredient, so I need to plan better. What's cheating about Bacchus juice? lol

[Carole]

Having a plan for the dirty stuff is a great idea. Sit down dinner for 6 is no big deal but more than that and it becomes WORK.

[Hillary]

Great list with really good advice.

[gayle]

The last big party we threw was a Significant Anniversary. We invited 40, 30 said they were coming, I cooked for 35-40 just in case, and 3 showed up.
So #12 could be - Have a plan for leftovers if the RSVPers lie...

[June]

Potlucks, all the way. Disposable plates and flatware, too. I'm classy that way.

I also provide a huge stack of takeout boxes (from the Chinese place that Matt insists on patronizing; the takeout boxes are plastic, dishwasherable, and large capacity) so everyone, when they leave, can bring home a "doggy bag" of the dishes that they loved.

[Caroline M]

Ouch, number eight bites when family thinks that the invitations don't apply to them. Once upon a time when I was hosting a New Year's Eve Party (come at eight. bring a bottle and a dessert, come hungry) I was shocked rigid when four adults and two children turned up at 4pm. It was a memorable night for all the wrong reasons.

[Melissa G]

I really like June's style. Generally we throw meat on the grill and have bread and salad with it. I bake a mean ciabatta (with/-out garlic); DH is grillmaster. Plenty o' Bacchus juice and/or hops for the adults.

[Marcia]

Six is perfect at my house: the dining table can sit eight, and I have eight of just about everything, but six just fits so much better! (It's like three kids being sooo many more kids than two.) Lately, I've been doing brunch or homemade pizza. I don't use any china or flatware that can't go in the dishwasher, but I do use the good Reidel wine glasses!

[sarah]

I don't know enough Real Life people to throw a big party (you internet types are easy, just imagine your favourite party and have it at what you imagine is my house). If I had to, I'd do what my mother used to do: tell everyone to BYOB, but ensure there's a good few bottles of amiable red, white and fruit juice to get it going. Bowls of chips. Plates, napkins, two BIG bowls of green salad, a mound of warm french bread and large slab of butter, one large rib of beef (medium), one large rib of beef (rare), each with carving equipment and horseradish - and let everyone do what they will an they harm no one else. Oh, and at least 3 spare rolls of loo paper (toilet paper) in clear view in the loo, so no one has to wish they knew where it was.

[Chris]

No matter what goes on behind the scenes,I can see you as the consummate hostess.

[Lorette]

Rule 12. If you are doing a multi-course dinner for ten people, pick recipes that can be done ahead of time. I didn't do this one year, and by the end of the evening I was such a basket case that my husband was ready to whack me over the head with a wine bottle.

Rule 13. Keep the local taxi number handy for that special guest who imbibes a little too much.