How to impress your party guests this festive season
There are so many individual elements that make a good party: people, drinks, food, music, lighting and atmosphere. Often it's the way all those things come together to create a certain mood, or vibe – a kind of alchemy that turns what could've been just another party into a night that everyone talks about with nostalgia for years to come.
So, where to begin? With little details, according to the experts. From a rose-inspired recipe to the best sober drinks to impress your guests with, here are some tips and tricks to help you host a party to remember...
Content Creator Matilda Bea Lawlor's Party Tips
Build out a DIY bar
"...where your guests get involved in the mixing and shaking of the martinis. You can create custom espresso martini recipe cards and pop all the necessary ingredients out on to your kitchen unit, bar cart or dining table. This is not only fun, but also helps delegate, while you finish off cooking or prepping other things."
Use your kitchen sink
"If you really want to go the extra mile, turn your kitchen sink into your very own ice bucket or Champagne sink. Spruce up your ice with XL moulds and pop cranberries or rosemary inside to give it a festive twist. The ice will stay frozen this way for a number of hours and your fizz will be ice cold all evening long. You don’t have to go for a traditional Champagne either – save your pennies and opt for an English sparkling wine (Hambledon and Nyetimber are my personal favourites)."
Manifest It
"I invited a group of friends to a vision board manifestation session last year in the run up to New Year’s Day and everyone loved it. I asked people to share their favourite Pinterest board links and then printed out photos of images they had pinned. We gathered old newspapers and magazines, sat together around a table and each person had a canvas for the base of their vision board. Once finished, it’s a lovely piece to put up in your work-from-home office to reflect back on. Make it as serious or as playful as you want."
Add a theme
"Themed parties are always going crazy on TikTok and I’m always thinking of the next fun idea for when to invite friends over. If your birthday falls around the time of Christmas-New Year and you’re hosting a New Year’s Eve party to celebrate, I’d add the theme ‘A Tini Bit Older’ with an espresso martini twist to your evening. There are so many fun things you can do:
1. Get crafty and design martini shaped place names and menus for your guests
2. Shake up an espresso martini tower
3. When cooking up your espresso themed dishes, you could even prepare a help your self tiramisu drawer in your fridge!"
Broadcaster and Glassette Founder Laura Jackson's tableware tricks
"New Year, to me, feels really disco. Even more than Christmas Eve, I want to dress up, put my heels on and feel glamorous, to mark the end of the year and the start of a new one – and I want a table that reflects that. I’d probably choose a rich, burgundy tablecloth with really long, elegant candles in a similar shade, and bows everywhere, with simple white flowers for contrast. The rich burgundy is a tablescape trend we’ve seen come through in fashion and in homeware, and it sits perfectly on the table at this time of year. It’s a really deep colour, it layers well with similar shades and has an innate ability to elevate.
I have some beautiful water glasses that I bought from a vintage shop in France. They’re tall, slim and each one is in a different rich primary colour. I only get them out for special occasions. Everyone gets a different colour, which adds personality to each table setting.
A personalised Christmas cracker filled with a lip balm, a lipstick, a joke, some sweets or a bow tie is a good conversation starter. Creating a party favour like this is a great way to personalise everyone’s place at the table, too, and to get them asking, “Will you pull my cracker?” or “What joke did you get?” Have fun with it."
4 of the Best Drinks for Sober Guests
(Because non-alcoholic or low alcohol drinks can still feel like a treat)
Château La Coste NOOH Rosé, £36.50, a non-alcoholic rose wine created by award-winning winemakers
Lyre’s Amaretti, £23.99 – a nutty amaretto liqueur.
Pentire Adrift, £27.80 – with rock samphire, sage, lemon citrus andCornish sea salt.
Sipsmith FreeGlider, £18 – with refreshing eucalyptus and spicy juniper undertones. sipsmith.com
A Dessert with the Wow Factor
Culinary artist Celine Rousseau shares the rose-inspired recipe that will impress your guests
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
• 3 gelatine sheets (5g in total)
• 1 vanilla bean
• 300ml heavy cream
• 200ml milk
• 50g sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 500g strawberries, washed, dried and thinly sliced
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Soak the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water for 5 min. Remove them from the bowl and squeeze out excess water before using.
2. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod with a knife.
3. In a saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk, sugar, vanilla seeds and a pinch of salt and bring to a simmer over a low heat.
4. Remove from the heat, add the softened gelatine sheets and stir until completely dissolved.
5. Divide the mixture between 4 coupe glasses and refrigerate until set, at least 3hr.
6. Arrange the sliced strawberries on the pannacottas in an arrangement like rose petals and serve.
Extracted from La Table By Celine (Prestel)
Nicky Hilton and Rebecca Vallance on how to be the best host
For a relaxed energy, I like mini grilled cheese toasted sandwiches, hot dogs and sliders. Then for drinks, trays of espresso martinis and skinny margaritas. Nicky Hilton
I always think the energy the host sets for the evening dictates the vibe of the event, it's always best to bring your A-game with warmth and a great sense of humour. Rebecca Vallance
For tableware Baccarat Crystal is my favourite. I love Rebecca Udall’s homewares as well, and Byredo candles. In the daytime I like flowers to be all white or soft pastels, especially orchids or peonies. For nighttime I like to create more of a ‘mood’ with flowers in darker tones. RV
Nicky Hilton for Rebecca Vallance Holiday Capsule Collection is available now, Rebeccavallance.com
This article originally appeared in Red magazine
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