Cocktail Parties

Planning a Cocktail Party

First, decide on a guest list for your cocktail party, or at least have a general idea of how many people you think might attend. This number dictates the amount of food, drinks and seating you need, so it's important to have a good estimate before you start your other planning.

Think about how long you would like your party to last. Most traditional cocktail parties are two or three hours long. Your party can last longer, but again you will need more food and drink if you're planning a longer party.

Consider what types of drinks you want to offer. You won't be able to provide alcohol and mixers for every drink under the sun, but there are a few basics you'll want to have on hand, such as:

• Vodka
• Gin
• Scotch
• Tequila
• Whiskey
• Orange juice
• Club soda
• Seltzer
• Ginger Ale
• Cola
• Grenadine
• Tomato juice
• Horseradish and Worcestershire sauce (for Bloody Marys)

Also provide red and white wine along with a couple of varieties of beer for the less adventurous, and have bottled water available for those who want it. You might also want to learn how to make a couple of fun nonalcoholic drinks for any nondrinkers in your group.

Once you have your basic list you can go shopping for supplies.

How Much Do I Need?

The biggest question when throwing a cocktail party is "how much alcohol do I need?" You don't want to go overboard and blow your budget on drinks no one wants, but you also don't want to run out of alcohol before the night is over.

A good rule of thumb is one bottle of wine for every two people at the party, as well as a six pack of beer for every two people. If you know that you have more wine drinkers than beer drinkers coming to the party, you can play with these numbers a little.

You should also have about a pound of ice for each person who you expect to be making cocktails, just in case.

Buying liquor is always a tricky proposition because you never know what different people are going to want to drink. You might end up running out of whiskey while no one touched the gin. It's probably a good idea to buy a couple of bottles of each different kind of liquor, both so you'll have a good supply and so that people can sample different brands.

If you want to save money on this part of the party, consider offering just a few "theme" cocktails. This is a fun way to spice up your cocktail parties and reign in your budget. For example, a "south of the border" party might include Mexican beer, mojitos, margaritas and tequila shots. A martini party could offer two or three different kinds of martinis. You would still want to offer beer, wine, and nonalcoholic options, but sticking to a couple of signature drinks could help corral your budget while giving you a theme for food, décor and dress code.

Remember also that you will need glasses for the different kinds of drinks you are serving. Wine glasses work for juice, water and cola as well as wine. Beer can be drunk from bottles if you don't mind the look of bottles cluttering up your party. Highball and lowball glasses are a must, as are margarita or martini glasses if you are planning to feature those cocktails. Plan to have twice as many glasses as you have attendees. This may mean you'll have to rent glasses, but it is a nice touch to have real glassware for your party.

Cocktail Parties and Food

Cocktail parties focus on the drinks, but great food is really important too. The idea is to provide people with little bites they can eat with one hand (because the other hand is holding a drink) and no utensils (because you won't have enough chairs for everyone to sit down at once).

What you serve is entirely up to you, though having a theme can help tremendously. It's a good idea to have some meat-free bites in case you have any vegetarians attending the party. You should also try to serve things that are good hot (or cold) as well as at room temperature unless you have a way to keep hot things hot and cold things cold through the party.

Check out the appetizer recipes at LovetoKnow Recipes for inspiration. It's a great idea to have a couple of things that are easy to pop in the mouth, as well as a cheese tray with bread or crackers for those who are eating wine. Fruit or vegetables cut small are also a good idea (with or without the chocolate or cheese fondue), and don't forget tiny sweet treats like mini cookies or small pieces of fudge or brownies to tame the sweet tooths in the house.

It's a good rule of thumb to have about six bites per person, but you don't want to run out of food, so it's always good to have a little extra. That's where things like fruit and vegetables can really save you if you run out of mini pizzas or canapés.

Seating and Other Matters

It's customary to have about half as many seats as you have guests for cocktail parties. The idea is that this will force people to mingle because they can't sit down. If you don't feel like inflicting that kind of torture on your friends, have seats available for almost everyone. You'll still get the feel of a fun party without forcing people to be on their feet.

The dress code for a cocktail party can be anything from black tie to black jeans. Having a theme and announcing it on your invitations will give guests an idea of how they should dress. They'll understand that you dress differently for a luau-themed party than you do for a "Sex in the City" style bash.

The most important thing, however is to have fun and enjoy being with your friends and trying some new food and drinks. Cocktail parties are a lot of fun to throw and to attend. Your friends will remember your swanky party for a long time to come.