Welcome to Party Tips

Dinner Party Celebrations: Tableware

Party planning involves a lot of dishes. Each guest will use three cups and three napkins for every two hours of your dinner party celebration.

Celebration Champagne Punch

Make champagne punch for anniversary celebrations. In a large punch bowl combine 1 can each of frozen cranberry juice, pink lemonade and limeade with 1 bottle of Riesling, 2 bottles of champagne and 1 liter of club soda, all chilled. Add ice cubes and garnish with 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves and 1 cup fresh cranberries.

Theme Party Decorations & Flatware

Theme party decorations can extend to flatware. Roll flatware in a colorful napkin tied with decorative ribbon. Place it in a basket at the end of the buffet table, so guests won't have to balance food and utensils while they serve themselves.

Non-Alcoholic Party Drinks

When planning parties, have an assortment of non-alcoholic party drinks on hand, whether it's an adult holiday party or child's birthday party. Essential non-alcoholic beverages include bottled water, club soda, cola, fruit juices, ginger ale and tonic water. Apple cider and eggnog are popular holiday favorites.

Dinner Party Celebrations: Wrinkled Tablecloth

Dinner party celebrations keep you busy for days ahead of time. So let gravity iron your tablecloth. Lay out the cloth a day before the celebration. Put a towel or pad underneath and spray the cloth lightly with water. Gravity will pull it down overnight and make it smooth.

Celebration Snacks

When choosing celebration food, don't forget to keep out little bowls of snacks throughout the party! Party drinks and recipes go well with salty, crunchy snacks. Fill small bowls with salted or spicy nuts, wasabi peas and an assortment of olives.

Celebration Herbal Fires

Winter anniversary celebrations will be extra festive when you build a fragrant fire. Tie dried stalks of sage, rosemary or poppy to lengths of fatwood and use the bundle to start your fire.

Food Preparation: Servings

Before choosing celebration food, do some keen calculations on your dinner party menu. Plan to prepare 10% more than you need. Some basic guidelines for food preparation are: one cup each of coffee, vegetables, potatoes, fruit, rice, soup and pasta per person. Figure ½ lb per person for meat and chicken. Each person will eat 1/8 of a 9-inch pie or cake.

Food Preparation

Menu planning for a party and food preparation can get complicated. Accept offers from family and friends to bring food dishes. You can then focus on the main dish and making other parts of your celebration wonderful, such as planning online memory books for your special guests.

Planning Your Celebration Menu

Menu planning for a party and food preparation can get complicated. Accept offers from family and friends to bring food dishes. A pot luck dinner makes everyone feel involved - and you can get some great recipes! You can then focus on the main dish and making other parts of your celebration wonderful, such as planning online memory books for your special guests.

Retirement Party Themes

Retirement party themes can follow a quiz show format. Ask questions like, "How many bosses has the retiree worked for in his/her years with the company?" Or "Name three positions the retiree has held with the company." Include questions about hobbies, sports or special collections. Guests will have fun learning more about the retiree.

Favorite Party Drinks: Frozen

Favorite party drinks often come frozen. You can never have too much ice. If you are serving frozen drinks, figure 1 lb of ice and thee drinks per person.

Simple Food Recipes

In a hurry while choosing celebration food? Simple food recipes, like marinated vegetable salads or pasta dishes, can be made ahead-. If necessary, just pop them in the microwave or oven for fast easy preparation the day of your dinner party celebration.

Favorite Party Drinks

When planning your favorite party drinks, including non-alcoholic party drinks, remember to add fresh fruit to your shopping list. Don't forget limes, lemons and oranges and have them sliced in advance.

Party Theme Foods with Cheese & Crackers

Looking for simple foods? Cheese and crackers are always a winner when choosing celebration food for your Graduation Celebration, Anniversary or Birthday Celebration! Have a separate knife or spreader for each type of cheese. Offer variety in texture and taste. Have a plate of three to four different cheeses, a minimum of two types of crackers, and at least one fruit (apple or pear works best).

Simple Food Recipes

Anniversary celebrations, birthday parties, graduation celebrations and retirement parties don´t have to be complex, elaborate affairs to be enjoyable. Simple food recipes are often the tastiest and easiest to prepare. Put your energy into planning a personalized gift for the guest of honor, such as a birthday memory book. Menu planning for a party should stick to easy familiar foods. Save the fancy or expensive entrees for smaller groups. Fit the meal to the season and to your fridge and oven space.

Videotape Retirement Party

Videotape retirement party guests answering questions about the retiree. Ask questions such as "what was the most embarrassing moment...the funniest moment." Ask guest to describe the retiree in 25 words or less. Give retirees the videos after their parties, along with online memory books created exclusively for them by their families and friends.