Entertaining: So you want to have a Party...

Before you start planning, you need to answer a few questions that will help determine what kind of party you are going to have. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• How many people do you want to invite? If you are a novice, stick with a smaller number of guests so that you don't feel overwhelmed and stressed out.
• Who are you going to invite? Think about the type of people you are considering inviting. Do they know each other? If they do, then you can focus on getting drinks in their hands and food on the table. If they don't, then you will need to allocate time to introductions and making sure that everyone is comfortable.
• Is the party going to be informal or formal? Do you want to dust off the best china or are you wanting to have a more relaxed evening?
• Is it for a specific reason or just to catch up?
• What is your theme going to be? A theme is really what is going to set the mood and scene of the evening (not necessarily a cheesy theme).

Some ideas for themes are:

• the reason you are having the party, for example, a birthday
• a particular color
• a time period or era
• flowers for a centerpiece
• a sporting event or hobby
• a shared interest or something the guests have in common
• awards ceremony
• travel
• a trip or favorite place
• a cuisine type