Little Secrets to Successful Entertaining
However many guests you host, be they
acquaintances, friends, or family members—or even a
combination of the three—there are certain things you can do
to make sure everyone will want to say “yes” the next
time you invite them! The cardinal rule is be prepared! The food is made, just a few moments in the kitchen will ensure the party runs smoothly, the house is sparkling, guest towels and little wrapped soaps adorn the bathroom, and there’s enough space for your guests’ coats in the closet. Even if you’ve spent hours preparing, you must be as fresh, open, and relaxed as your guests.
Only the host or hostess should welcome guests. Introduce them as they arrive, and make sure everyone finds someone to talk to. Do they come bearing gifts? Put flowers in a vase, serve wine throughout the evening, and offer sweets with coffee. Everyone moves into the living room for drinks and appetizers.
Champagne is obviously the pre-dinner drink of choice. Serve each guest half a flute.
Or lend a festive air to champagne or a nice little sparkling white wine by serving it in a well-chilled punch. Just add ginger ale and a few ounces of Cointreau, and present it in a punch bowl decorated with frosty lime or orange wedges.
To tide your guests over til dinner (now is not the time to stuff them!) offer a tray of light appetizers cut into holiday shapes with cookie cutters: bruschetta, stuffed mushroom caps, seafood mousse, puff pastries, cocktail spreads… There’s no lack of delightful recipes!
You’re the one hosting all these wonderful people, so speak up and welcome them! Greet each guest in a small group or flash each one a friendly glance at a large gathering. To put everyone at ease, tell a joke but don’t go on forever—the night is still young! And please don’t clink your glass with the cutlery to get people’s attention.
During drinks, you can suggest games to warm things up. For example, prepare “social notebooks” before guests arrive. In small booklets of premium paper bound with ribbon, write each guest’s name together with a brief description. These notebooks are just as fun for a group of people who know each other well as for perfect strangers. Of course, your descriptions will vary according to the degree of familiarity!
When guests match the name and description in their notebook to one of the guests, they must introduce themselves and ask for that guest’s signature. As soon as a guest has collected everyone’s signatures, he or she may ask someone to tell a story. So have a good story ready, as you’ll surely be asked to tell it!
Time for after-dinner drinks? Invite your guests to a port tasting—blindfolded, of course. Buy three bottles of different vintages from different winemakers and pour them into three types of port glasses (so that only you know which type of glass goes with which port). Do a taste test. Whose tastebuds are keen enough to identify the finest vintage?
Once again, a little foresight can resolve a thorny issue—that of what music to play at your party. Take advantage of technology and ask your guests to email you a copy of their favorite holiday song a few days before the event (technophobes can simply ask for the CD). Make a montage of all the tunes and play them throughout the evening. Matching songs to guests will probably spark some fun conversations!