Want your next party to be a hit? Here are three ideas for taking it to the next level, and they’re ideas that won’t require you to be up all night hand-stenciling personalized place-cards for every guest. Because seriously, who has time for that?
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Set Up Multiple Snack Stations Instead of One Buffet
A single buffet for all of your party food can end up causing a bit of a backlog as folks wait in line to get access to the goods. Instead of creating one central hub, set up a few different snacking stations in different parts of your home.
Perhaps a table in the kitchen area can host crudités with dipping sauces and a light and refreshing white wine. Then, in the dining room, set out an array of savory canapés and an accompanying refreshment. Then tuck a large cheese board and a pitcher of signature cocktails in the living room, not far from your dessert station.
Make sure guests know there are a variety of snacks in various areas—it can even help encourage your guests to move and mingle.
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Serve Up Knowledge About the Food You Serve
Look for food or drinks that can also serve as a conversation starter.
Is there a wine that’s made somewhere special to your family? Stock up and tell people about it. Maybe there’s a particular dish that one of your guests can share a story about … “Mom, remember that time you and dad ate those clams in Maine?”
Or try this: Include Roth Grand Cru on your cheese board or, for a dinner party, melted into a gratins or grown-up mac and cheese. Then tell your guests about how a wheel of Grand Cru Surchoix won the 2016 World Championship Cheese Contest—the first time an American cheese has been crowned winner in nearly 30 years.
You can literally say you’re serving the world’s best cheese.
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Save One Task for Your Guests
It’s tempting to finish preparing everything in advance, but if you have at least one simple task left when your first guest arrives, you’ll have an answer for the inevitable question, “What can I do?”
A salad that’s yet to be assembled … parsley that needs to be chopped … the final job needn’t be difficult, but those guests who arrive on time (or early!) will appreciate being able to help in some way.
Better yet, send two solo partygoers off to finish up a task together. And think about it, “Can you two make the salad?” is a much better set-up for your single friends than “Hey! You’re both single!”
