Starting this year, Charities, families, businesses and individuals are coming together to transform the giving season. This initiative is called #GivingTuesday (click the link http://givingtuesday.org ). The goal is to get all Americans to give more, give better and give smarter this holiday season.
There is still time for you to give to your favorite charities!
Cocktail set up:
When you are planning your cocktail party, select which area of your home to use for your party well in advance, and set up the day before the party so you have plenty of time to make last-minute changes. When you pick a location in your home think about two things the season and the traffic flow. For example, for a winter holiday themed event place the main part of the party near a fireplace if you have one and if not, around the TV while it plays old holiday classic movies. Make sure the traffic flow is good for people to walk around, if you have to move furniture out of the room into other rooms for the party, just do it.
Arrange furniture so that guests can move throughout the room easily. Think about how people mingle, they do it in small clusters so leave space for that and about 15% seating room for your guest to seat. If you have a small space, think about using your furniture as mini food stations. If you have a large space you can get some round tables for food stations. Don’t forget to include small drop tables where guests can put used glasses or napkins. Place a tray on the table to signal that it’s a drop-off area. This will also make your life easier when you need to clean up.
The Mood
Because this is a cocktail party it’s all about lighting, don’t use bright lights; try to keep it low and sultry. Candlelight is a great way to set the mood, but if you do not want to use candles use floor lamps and table lamps as your light source. The next important mood setter is music.
Music helps your guests relax and gets them in the party mood. Choose tunes that match your theme or the atmosphere you want to create. A few nights before the party create a playlist for the party so the music is taken care of for the entire evening or let your guests play DJ. In your invitation ask your guest to create playlist on a CD or bring their own IPod and you can make it a game of guest who’s playlist this is.
Décor
The décor for cocktail parties is simple and elegant don’t worry about lots of flowers, remember guest are standing and mingling so they will not be near the tables for long. The best impact is throughout the house. For example a great way to decorate and have something functional in the room is with your napkins.
You will need a lot of napkins for your party so why not make them special. Look for a rubber stamp that matches the party’s theme with an image or a quote, or stamp napkins with the date of the party or your name. This is where people will see your attention to detail.
The other place for décor is the bar, make sure you print up something that explains the bar set up to your guest and keep it in the same theme as the party.
Well that covers your cocktail party for the holiday season..except Step Two! The food! 🙂
There are three ways to handle the food, you can do food pairing with your liquor and wine or you can pick hors d’oeuvres you like to eat and finally you can pick thematic hors d’oeuvres. Whatever you do remember plan on each guests eating two or three of each kind of hors d’oeuvre and have a minimum of five types of hors d’oeuvres.
Last but not least ENJOY yourself!
What is a great party to host? It’s glamorous, fun and easy.
Okay one more hint…. You can serve only hors d’oeuvres and no one will complain about it.
It’s the Cocktail Party. They are easy to plan and elegant yet inexpensive. .
The thing I love the most about cocktail parties is as the host/hostess your job is to have as much fun at the party as your guest do.
So how do I plan one of these parties you ask????
Step one Relax this is going to be easy and stress-free!
Step two is planning the food prepare, but we are going to skip this for the moment; after all this is a Cocktails ! There must be cocktails at a party called cocktail party. You can wait a bit to serve the food, you have to have the drinks ready when the first guests walk through the door. HELLO!
So let go to step three, it is about planning the set up for the drinks. There are four ways to serving drinks and the choice is yours for which one you want to use.
Please note regardless of the way you choose have your bar, be sure to include an appropriate amount of wine, beer and nonalcoholic options. — When you serve nonalcoholic option try to keep them within your theme and use beautiful glassware for those options. Just because someone is not drinking alcohol does not mean they don’t want to enjoy the same beautiful glassware or a cool drink name. Oh and always have plenty of water PLEASE! 🙂
Next we will talk about Menu and décor… Stay tuned
Open House (Stagger Guest party)
An open house party is a party that is held at a home or other location for a set number of hours, and during those hours, guests can come and go as they please. Open house parties are more informal than other types of parties, and are typically easier to plan. Open house parties are also beneficial if you want to invite a lot of people to your party, but don’t have the space to accommodate all of them at once.
An open house party is often held in lieu of a traditional housewarming party, but you can have an open house for a holiday party as well. It is not necessary to plan activities the way you often need to at other types of parties. When you are planning an open house party, there are some extra considerations to keep in mind.
The key point to consider is the invitation. Yes, it will include all of the usual information, the date and the location of the party but the time will not be the same on all the invitation. Instead of a specific time to be there, however, the invitation will state a certain number of hours during which guests can stop by. Some open house parties last all day, from morning until evening, but others only last a few hours in the afternoon or evening. On an important side note it is counter-intuitive to ask guests to RSVP to an open house party, because the point is to have people coming in going throughout the event.
Progressive Party ( Safari Supper)
A progressive dinner (US) or safari supper (UK) is a dinner party in many locations (is a great way to get to have mini neighborhood parties) and only deal with one course preparation and eating at different locations.
We love this idea for apartment (Flat) dwelling or small communities. Typically you start with appetizers and drinks at neighbor one’s home and move to neighbor two for the main course and neighbor three for dessert and finally neighbor four for drinks and light snacks. Although it is a little difficult plan, and does require careful and complex planning, the idea is relatively straightforward and great way to host holiday parties for groups.
One of our favorite ways of doing a progressive party is to make it a regional theme for each home, such as Italian, German, or French holiday traditions. Various wines to suit the “courses” are generally served at each location. Keeping it to 4 or 5 houses in the same neighborhood makes it more reasonable for travel time.
On a side note: This style is a good way for singles to meet because each neighbor can invite two or three people from outside of neighborhood or community.
Both types of parties are great ways to host in small spaces!
The holidays are upon us and you want to throw a party. Great!
The most important thing to consider is what type of party you are comfortable hosting? If you plan a party around your talents and your style, then the party will be successful and fun.
Below are a list of party types and for the next few blogs we will proved you with more detailed information about these types of parties. Just in time for Holiday Party Season.
Open House Party (Stagger guest party)
Dinner Party
Cocktail Party
Tea Party
Hors d’oeuvre Party
After Party
À la bonne franquette Party (Pot Luck Party)
Progressive Party ( Safari Supper Party)
Activity Party
Here are some questions to ask when you are trying to decide on the party type?
Do you like to entertain in a formal or informal environment?
Can you accommodate a large or small group? Which do you prefer?
Is this party for just family, just friends or a mixture of both?
Do you enjoy party planning?
If you’re hosting a dinner party, ask attendees, on the invitation, to alert you to their dietary restrictions and allergies. The more serious the allergy, the more careful you will need to be with food preparation and cross-contamination. It will take more effort, but you will want your guests to enjoy their dinner safely.
For example my brother is allergic to shellfish, and has gotten sick from cross-contamination when the spoon used for the shrimp sauce was use for the meat sauce. A trip to the hospital for anaphylactic shock is not a great way to end a dinner party!
Food for thought! 🙂
Small business ownership is very rewarding when it is done correctly. Every business owner wants to be able leave their business to their family members. But do you have a succession plan?
Here are some questions to ask yourself:
Some things you should make sure you have:
1) a mission statement, 2) clarity of values and purpose, 3) clearly defined roles, 4) knowledge of strengths and weaknesses and 5) a strategic plan that will take you into the future.
Family owned businesses (FOB) have some unique set of challenges. Yes, many of the business issues they face exist in “mainstream” business environments, but are exaggerated in a family business. Here are 9 tips to managing your family owned business.
Multicultural Weddings
In our new global world many people fall in love and marry people outside of their culture and religion, this makes weddings much more personal and special. But remember it is your wedding and it is about you and your partner*. So make it clear to your families you want to incorporate your families’ customs as part of the event, but you may not be able to do everything they would want. Here are 7 tips when you are planning your wedding:
You will not make everyone 100% happy with your choices, but don’t worry about that. The important thing is you tried, and when the time comes they will see how beautiful everything is. In the end it is about celebrating your union.
* Partner meaning Bride and/or Groom ( Bride and groom are use to but are inclusive of same-sex couples)
Protocol and Etiquette – Fun facts from around the world
An unintentional faux pas can be committed when you are meeting your new in-laws or at a multicultural event
Here are a few tips you may want to note.
Fun Facts:
Czech Republic: Never applaud in a church, no matter what the occasion is, a wedding, or even a concert.
Denmark: Never get up from the dining table until the host or hostess does.
France: when you go to the dining table, let your host indicate where you should sit.
German: Never drink until your host or hostess begins at a dinner party.
Hungary: at a formal party, you must wait to be introduced, but at an informal one, you can introduce yourself.
Italy: a man should always pour wine. It is considered unfeminine for a woman to pour wine.
Spain: Everyone says “chin, chin” and chime glasses before a toast.
China: The most senior person is introduced first.
Thailand: when dining, a spoon and fork are used, and knives are rarely placed on the table.
United States: dining Americans keep their left hand in their lap and eat with their right hand.
Greetings:
Greetings are one of the most important things you need to get right; think about it: a greeting is your first impression, and you can never make a first impression.
In North America, having a firm handshake and looking someone in the eye is very important, but that isn’t true worldwide.
In India, the greeting is hands placed in a praying position, about chest height, and a slight bow.
In Japan, it is a bow with arms to the side. The relationship with the person will dictate the level of the bow; your boss or company owner gets a lower bow than your co-worker. Older people also get lower bows, for example. Now, in Japan, people do give foreigners a handshake, but it is not firm. It is gentle and quick.
In French-speaking countries, you kiss on the cheek, a light brushing of the cheek (an air kiss if the person is not very close to you) as a hello. Business meeting a light handshake is fine.
Some East African tribes greet each other by spitting at each other’s feet.
You start with a handshake in Russia, but a good bear hug is the way to go.
In some Islamic countries, it may be forbidden for unrelated men and women to touch; men never offer their hands to women as a greeting.
In Austria, handshakes should be firm, and kissing a woman’s hand is still polite as a form of hello.
These are just a few quick examples of Greetings.
Forms of Address:
In North America, using someone’s first name in business and personal situations is quite common. But this is not true for the rest of the world.
In most countries, when first meeting someone, it is essential to use Mr. or Mrs. (Miss, Ms.) before their family name until you have been told you can call them by their given name. That brings me to an important point. Given Names.
In most countries, your first name (the name that appears first on a business card or birth certificate) is not really your given name (the name the person is called). For example, in Asia countries, the family name may appear first on business cards, followed by the given name. Tominaga, Keiko in the US would be Keiko Tominaga.
In some countries, the first name may be a family name given to everyone in that family, or what we (in English-speaking countries) would call a Middle name is actually the given name.
Marie is a popular family name in Catholic French-speaking countries in Central America; many times, Marie is listed first but is not the person’s given name.
Before you meet someone, check to make sure or ask him or her for his or her given name.
Gift Giving:
Business gift-giving in some countries can be a tradition that is a sign of respect, friendship, and appreciation.
For example, in Japan, when you go away for a holiday (vacation), you must bring something back to your co-workers. It can be a group gift of candies and/or sweets from the place you went. If you are meeting a client (and traveling to Japan for the meeting), you want to make a good impression. You should bring a gift from your country, and there should be some thought (a story) behind the gift. It should never be something that has your company logo on it. However, in China, group gifts with your logo are acceptable, and individual personal gifts could be viewed as bribery.
If you are going to a client’s home for dinner (in Europe, Japan, South and Central America), you should bring a gift as a small thank you for the invitation to the person’s home. If they have children, a small gift for the children is also very nice and goes a long way. Again, it should never have your company logo on it; if it is wine, you should never expect it to be one you drink at dinner.
If you are going to meet your in-laws, you should bring flowers for your mother-in-law and if your father-in-law drinks, a bottle of his favorite wine or spirit.
Please note all of these are generalizations, and it is important to ask your host or hostess what the correct protocol or etiquette is if you are unclear. It will make them happy you care enough about their culture to ask.
Planning101.com 