Cocktail parties are a great way to bring your friends together and have a great time enjoying different drink creations and just to catch up. Planning any party can be a little bit of a challenge and can sometimes be stressful but in the end it us usually worth it. Especially if you have some tips and tricks to make your next big event go as smoothly as possible.
Below are some tips to make your next party memorable
- Make it an official event by either going old school and sending out invitations – go to websites like www.finestationery.com or www.papyrusonline.com and enter your search for the type of theme party you are throwing – for example cocktail party. You could even get creative and make your own cards by cutting them out in the shape of a martini glass and either mail them or hand them out when picking up the kids from school or passing by. Or you can go paperless and set up and evite invitation.
- Depending on the budget and occasion you will need to decide if you are going to hire it out or if you are going to do it yourself. Hiring it out is obviously going to cost more but can take some of the stress of preparing off your plate. Hiring it out can be a fun alternative – they will make the drinks and can provide some extra entertainment. If you decide to do it yourself you will need to decide how you want to set up – inside or outside. Maybe you want to clear out your living room and set up some standing bar tables along with an actual bar – both of which are easy to find rentals at decent prices.
- Now you are ready to think about decorations. You might want to do it yourself and put in flower center pieces, or candles, or maybe rustic succulent planters. Or another cool idea – is to provide the ingredients for the drink on each table along with instructions on how to make it. This will definitely be a unique idea that most people haven’t done before. Add some black and white balloons and candles around the room and you are ready to go.
- You will also need some appetizers to go along with the cocktails. There are several options for this and the more choices the better. Again you can get it catered if you have a larger budget. You can get it semi catered by ordering trays of food from a restaurant and going to pick it up the night of. You can cater yourself by making the apps or ask each guest to bring an app. And/Or you can go to Costco or Trader Joes and pick up some frozen hours devours which are usually very tasty and easy to put together.
- Add Music to the 4 tips above and you are almost ready to go. Jazz and or Classical can be nice or some John Mayer or whatever kind of music you prefer. The best way to avoid a headache of picking songs during the party is to make a playlist on your iphone or ipod or just pick a station on Pandora and let it run through the night.
- Now the next two items are the most important items. The Cocktails! Make sure to stock up the bar with all the standard items. Ice, Garnish (lemons, limes, cherries, Olives (Stuffed Olives), Straws, and of course glasses – There are many glasses to chose from but the most popular you will need are – Martini glasses, Rocks or Whiskey Glass, Wine Glass and a shot glass.
- Alcohol is next. People tend to have a wide variety of favorites so its always good to have a good assortment on hand. You wont go wrong with Vodka, Gin, Whiskey, Wine and Beer. (Also don’t forget to have some drinks for the designated drivers or for those who don’t drink alcohol like Non alcoholic beer, Sparkling water, Juice and Soda)
These tips above are a great start for you next party. Let us know how it goes – Send me some pictures and Ill add them to the bottom of this post so everyone can see!