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The Art of the Party

Throwing a good party should be enormous fun, both for your guests and for you. Here are some simple tips to help things go with a swing.

Drinks

It doesn’t matter how many people you’ve invited, the fact of it is that you don’t run a bar. You don’t have every kind of liquor or elixir stuffed into a cupboard, so the whole gamut of cocktails is out of the question. Offer a couple of options, and wine and beer if you feel like it. If you have a large number of guests, by which I mean more than 20, it’s a good idea to choose a drink you can scale up and premix.

Scaling up

A lot of cocktail recipes can be restructured so that you think about their ingredients in terms of ratios instead of measurements. This makes it very much easier to scale them up for a party. The Margarita works out as one part lime juice to one part triple sec to two parts tequila (1:1:2). So before anyone arrives, you can premix a perfect batch of cocktails to those proportions, beginning with the ingredient of which you have the least (which is usually the lime juice), and then shake them over ice for your guests as required. Here are some cocktails that scale up beautifully:

•The Margarita

•The Cosmopolitan – just add the dash of cranberry as you shake each one

•The Classic Daiquiri

•Tom’s April Sour

•The Fine and Dandy

•The Classic Rum Punch

Food

Again, keep it simple. Never forget that your friends have come round to see you, so it’s not going to be the ideal evening if you never leave the kitchen! The snacks need to be substantial enough to stop people from feeling the effects of the cocktails TOO much. And they need to go with the setting – if it’s an evening where everyone’s on their feet, you want food that’s easy to hold and isn’t going to drip down somebody’s frock. If it’s a smaller affair, or a brunch, then plates and forks (oh, how I do love a cocktail fork!) can come out, and the food can be a little more robust.

The important thing is to make sure you serve things that reflect the numbers you’ve invited. The more people, the simpler you want it to be. If there are just eight of you, then you might want to cook a few things that take a bit of time. If there are 28, you’d probably prefer to serve something less arduous to prepare. So choose your canapés accordingly.

How Much Is Enough?

Here are a few tips to make the question of how much to feed and water the masses a little easier:

•For wine, half a bottle of wine or bubbly per person is fairly standard. But I have a deep-set fear of running out, so I always veer towards three-quarters to a bottle per person, and know I’ll have leftovers. Most wine merchants will sell wine by the case on sale or return. Just be careful not to ice all the white wine or Champagne because they won’t accept it back if you soak off the labels.

•I generally estimate two to three cocktails an hour per head, plus one for luck! Bear in mind that most people will slow down as the evening goes on.

•Always have plenty of still and sparkling water on hand and at least one non-alcoholic drink.

•If the party is to last two hours, bank on 8–10 canapés per head, of perhaps 3–5 different types.

•For three hours, go for 12–14 canapés per head, of perhaps 4–6 different types.

•For four hours plus – well, at this point you can echo my father: ‘I invited you for drinks, not breakfast.’ At which point he’d ring a large ship’s bell. You can just smile and say the party is over.

•If you are serving pre-dinner drinks, however, I think 4–5 canapés per head is fine: you want them to have room for their dinner! In fact, I often just serve Salted Almonds and a Soup Shot if we’re heading into a substantial meal.

Planning

This is what it all comes down to. The more you can prepare ahead of time, the easier your evening will be. For a start, you’ll feel more relaxed and so will your friends. The problem is that so many of us suffer from performance anxiety when it comes to entertaining and, really, we shouldn’t. After all, everyone you’ve invited is meant to be a friend, so what can go wrong?

So let’s shake up some cocktails and stir up some trouble. After all, it’s meant to be a party!

Before, During & After the Event

I don’t want to preach, but here are a few tips that I’ve found invaluable.

1.Make sure you take into account who you’re inviting and why. If it’s a party to welcome your new boss it’s going to be a very different affair to one that marks the start of the football season. Extreme comparisons I know, but you get the drift.

2.Casting: don’t invite two feuding ex-lovers, especially to a smaller affair. Likewise anyone you know who, God forbid, is a mean drunk. Bigger parties have less issues as everyone can mix and mingle without ruffling feathers.

3.Unless you intend on hiring extra help, I wouldn’t advise going much above the 20 guest mark at home. You want to enjoy yourself rather than plan a military exercise!

4.Do enlist family and friends to help: most people love to be useful.

5.Regardless of the occasion, make sure you invite your guests in a timely fashion. I don’t mean sending an official embossed card posted months before the event, but three weeks’ notice is good. It gives you enough time to get organized too. If you want to have a dress code, make sure they know in advance to avoid embarrassment. Ask if they have any dietary needs or allergies.

6.Will people be driving? While your guests’ sobriety is not (entirely) your responsibility, I think it’s a courtesy to make sure there’s a solid non-alcoholic alternative if you know people are coming by car. And do supply phone numbers for local taxi services, too.

7.Think about whether you need to rent glasses and plates. Have the liquor delivered, too, if you can, to save time.

8.Ice, ice, baby… Make sure there’s PLENTY of it. Have some tubs (or baby baths) at the ready to receive it!

9.Décor – or un-décor: If you’ve invited more than a handful of guests, then think about clearing some space for food, for drinks, for shimmying and mingling. Pop away anything that’s fragile or precious… or precarious. And beware of lit candles when the drinks are flowing.

10.Make it VERY clear whether there are smoking areas or not.

11.Fresh flowers, space and a smile are the best decoration. If you are doing Margaritas and tacos, some bright colours and patterns may add a touch of tropical heat. But I tend to advise against ‘themes’. It’s a party, not a party game.

12.Don’t forget to HOST! If everyone there already knows everyone else – then fine, things can take care of themselves. If not, well, I know you’ll be busy, but make sure you introduce people. It’s the one thing everyone forgets, and it’s the one thing that makes sure everyone has a good time. If you see someone alone in the corner while you’re busy frying Arancini, send a gregarious friend over to help them mingle.

After the event: don’t wash the glasses until the morning (BR-EAK-AGE!!) That tip’s from my wonderful mama!