Cocktail Party Planning-The Drinks are on the House

The last guest has finally arrived and with little time to spare. Break Neck Joe is telling another one of his gut wrenching jokes and has the guests in stitches. The laughter can easily be heard from the apartment next store. The big boss rushes quickly to grab a cocktail and joins the cackling crowd. The host smiles, sets down his drink and walks casually into the kitchen. The cocktail party has gone far better than he could have hoped. The drinks have been flowing without end and the appetizer dish has been a major success. The guests have all been having a terrific time and there have been no arguments. Once the kitchen door quietly shuts, the host opens his mouth and thanks his lucky stars. He knows without the proper cocktail party planning his goal of entertaining his boss and co-workers would have ultimately ended in failure. The desired raise would have been nothing more than a wishful dream. Now his boss remembers his name without stuttering and his co-workers will be raving over this cocktail party for weeks. With a moment to reflect, he closes his eyes and remembers the plan.

It began simply enough. It all started with an idea for a party. The dreaming soon took over. He dreamt himself surrounded by hordes of beautiful women in poorly lit rooms with barely enough elbow space to lift his drink to his mouth. It was absolute paradise. They all laughed at his jokes and showered kisses on him for no reason. Then of course he awoke to the unkind realization that his dreaming wasn't helping him solve the problem of trying to determine how to properly conduct the actual cocktail party planning. It was then he decided to take action. He searched online and this is what he discovered.

Cocktail party planning has many of the key ingredients as does other parties. It is a social gathering where drinks, food and conversation can be found. The difference is at cocktail parties a great variety of drinks are to be served.

The best way to begin with your cocktail party planning is by creating a checklist. This will be used to list everyone you invite, everything you need, purchase and budget constraints. By creating a checklist you will be taking the first major step in having a successful party.

Once you have your checklist laid out in front of you begin jotting down the people you intend on inviting. At cocktail parties it is always a good idea (if possible) to limit the amount of people by choosing those whom you know to get along. At large parties it is much easier for people to get lost in the crowd whereas at smaller functions, i.e. cocktail parties, those same individuals might find themselves in an unpleasant conversation, causing argument. Of course this can happen at any party, but the last thing you want for your party is for an argument to ruin its winning atmosphere. Choose your guest list wisely.

Do you have any bar tendering skills? This is an important question to ask yourself if you are going to be hosting a cocktail party. If so, you may still want to opt out of the job, and why not, there are other important things you must do as host, but at cocktail parties this is its reason for being. Drinks are to be served and if you aren't going to be doing it who will? You can always hire a bartender for the evening or have a friend over who enjoys a few good laughs while pouring drinks. If you have a large house it would be a good idea to hire out, but if you have a small house or apartment then you should seriously consider mixing the cocktails yourself. With limited space people are more inclined to remain within a few strides of the bar, thus making the bartender the center of attention. As host this will give you more control over the conversation and would bolster your status amongst your guests.

A few more things you must do is consider your menu, prep and clean the party rooms, take care when decorating and do all of this before the day or night of the party. The main thing is your guest list and the bar tendering. Everything else should be handled accordingly and be part of your checklist. If all is done well, and the music is just right then maybe someone at your party will take up the role of Break Neck Joe and have the place in stitches.