Party Tips & Inspirations

Friendsgiving Table Setting What to serve, how much to prepare, and how to divide the dishes so everyone brings something useful—and the host actually gets to enjoy the evening. Friendsgiving has a way of becoming one of the best gatherings of the season. Good friends, familiar food, a table that gets a little crowded, and nobody particularly eager to leave. But figuring out how much food to make can be surprisingly complicated. Do you need a whole turkey for ten people? How

Table with bottles of wine, wine glasses and a large acrylic ice bucket with ice and wine A thoughtfully arranged wine station keeps drinks organized, helps guests feel comfortable and gives the host more time to enjoy the gathering. Hosting often becomes a series of small interruptions. Someone would like a glass of white wine. Another guest needs a corkscrew. Someone else asks where the water is. A guest sets down a glass and cannot remember which one was theirs. Before lon

Work backward from the feeling you want to create—not just the time on the clock There is a particular kind of panic that arrives before a party does. The food is not quite ready. The ice is still in the garage. You have changed your shirt twice. And just as you notice that the powder room needs a fresh hand towel, the doorbell rings. Professional event planners avoid much of this last-minute chaos by working backward from the moment the first guest arrives. In a recent Good