Everyone dreams of being a great hostess. Well, not everyone actually – I know plenty of people who hate nothing more than the idea of pandering to every awkward guest’s whim, cleaning up after them and having to prepare all that food. However, many people do like the idea of throwing splendid parties that everyone enjoys, cooking scrumptious foods for the guests at dinner, or creating an event that has everyone talking for months.
If you are anything like me, you will have these delusions of grandeur without having the talent and commitment (or the time!) to host a party anything like the ones you dream of. You can make a cake and buy some crisps, or arrange the food and invite everyone on the wrong date. You can end up creating the best party idea, and then forget to tell anyone about the theme. If you are anything like me you can turn up to your own party pissed, or can manage to burn all the food. Essentially, we just don’t have the follow-through.
There is, however, a way to get around it. There are ways that can be the perfect hostess, with not a hair out of place, whilst at the same time having to put in barely effort. The method? The method is commonly known as cheating!
What to eat
Start with thinking about food. If you are hosting a dinner party, prepare loads and loads in advance. Dishes that can be cooked in the days coming up to the event take the weight off your hands, making you look smarter and somehow endlessly efficient. It is the oldest trick in the book. Alternatively, get a local restaurant to cook the food for you, Come Dine with Me style!
If it is a party then you can save time but getting posh party food from a classy place like Waitrose – or you can shell out on really simple food to make impressive looking canapés – squares of cheese, piles of crackers and bowls of fruit can all look far smarter than you would ever imagine!
Decorations
For decorations, less is sometimes more. You could go for the all out party banners, streamers and balloons – but I find a couple of smart ribbons around banisters can look cooler. The best cheating methods if you have kids is to get them to do some decorations for you – everyone will say it is cute, and you don’t have to put in any effort! I know they say child labour is dead... but I beg to differ! (Joke!) You can even avoid doing any sort of decorations by setting a wide ranging theme, and letting the guests put in the effort!
Spread the word
To get a bit of a buzz going about an event, ask a few of your nearest and dearest friends to drop it into conversations. Mention it all the time, and at the beginning be a little tight with the invitations to make people think it is all exclusive. You can even print invitations on white card, and use some of that transferable foil to make one of the corners shine. It looks really smart, but with pretty much no effort.
Lead by example
As for the hostessing, appearing to do a lot is the main thing to concentrate on. Simply waltz around pouring wine into lots of people’s glasses, and they will always remember you looking after them – just don’t skimp on alcohol quantities.
Start off by taking peoples coats, and they will remember that for the rest of the night. Be sure to make the (sometimes boring) chit chat, and direct your guests in the direction of other people. After about 15 minutes of settling people in they will think you are wonderful, and you can relax for the rest of the night!
There you go – use these techniques and even the worst hostess will be glowing! (Oh, make sure to use lot of hairspray to keep the hair tamed!)
Image via x ray delta one's Flickr