Think of the best parties you’ve been to. Chances are they aren’t the ones where the host is running around like a headless chicken.
“When you invite guests into your home, you want them to feel at ease,” explains entertaining expert and Better Homes and Gardens Entertaining Blogger of the Year Julie Blanner. “If you’re scurrying or stressed, guests may feel like they’re inconveniencing you.”
You also don’t get the opportunity to enjoy guests’ company - which really is the heart of why we entertain.
But with the popularity of sites like Pinterest, where a million different ideas are at your fingertips, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the choices for food and decor.
According to entertaining experts, though, it’s all about planning and simplifying.
“Focus on the critical things and find ways to prepare it ahead of time,” says lifestyle and party expert Jeanne Benedict. “It allows you to get most things done in advance, freeing you up to actually sit down and talk with your guests.”
Here are a few other expert tips for a low-stress gathering:
1. Serve cold appetizers.
Hot appetizers are great, but they require some maintenance. “I go with cold apps so that I can hang out with guests and talk to them,” says Benedict. She likes serving cold soup (check out www.jeannebenedict.com for several recipes) such as a ginger carrot soup or gazpacho. If you want to elevate it a bit, serve the apps in shot glasses or stemware with some great-looking toppings.
2. Go vertical.
“If you present something vertically, it really impresses guests,” explains Benedict, who often serves a modified caprese salad on mini bamboo forks (like a toothpick but more elegant, she says), all collected in an oblong ceramic container or vase.
To make the salad, just hollow out a cherry tomato, insert a tube of fresh mozzarella marinated in balsamic vinegar, add fresh basil and stick a bamboo fork through it. You can easily make these ahead of time - and the whole container can go in the fridge until party time.
3. Start with an empty dishwasher.
Fifi Buchanan of divinehostess.com and The Divine Hostess YouTube channel tries to start every party with an empty dishwasher to ensure there’s enough room to load dirty dishes throughout the night. “It’s natural to want to load the dishwasher up with all of the dishes you used to prep for the party, but that leaves little room for guests’ dishes,” she explains. “And then they have nowhere to go but the sink, which is more work for you in the long run.”
4. Go for self-service.
Whether it’s food or alcohol, a self-service bar makes everyone happy. Mac and cheese bars are a fun way to enjoy the trend, says Benedict. Just set up a nice slow cooker with the main dish, and then let guests load up on a range of toppings from mushrooms and bacon to bleu cheese. For easy cleanup, use clear disposable plastic cups or stemware for serving (search the web or a local party store for upscale disposable items).
Beverage bars are also a nice way to get guests in on the action and ensure you won’t be in refill mode all night. “Allow guests to serve themselves, and their drinks will never be dry,” explains Blanner. The key is to select a drink with relatively few ingredients, but enough to allow self-servers to get creative if they want.
Benedict likes to set out all of the ingredients and have the recipe framed on the bar for guests’ reference.
5. Embrace make and bake.
If the concept of a food bar doesn’t appeal to you, Blanner suggests choosing an entree you can make ahead of time and bake while guests are arriving. That way, you can enjoy their company instead of laboring over a hot stove for most of the night.
6. Go small on the arrangements.
Take the pressure out of decorating by opting for smaller arrangements throughout the house instead of a bulky centerpiece. Think mason jars with a few hydrangea blossoms or potted orchids. “They’re less intimidating, and almost every grocery store sells them,” says Benedict.
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