Double the Fun ... Two Parties Instead of One

Well it’s that time again – time to start thinking about holiday entertaining, especially if planning on hosting a large party. It’s lovely to entertain at home, to invite people into your private space – your inner circle. It's a warm and welcoming way of saying how important and valued each relationship is.

Here's a tip that I’ve used at home and professionally: To simplify entertaining, it can make sense to have two smaller parties on consecutive evenings – say one for business and the other for personal friends – rather than inviting everyone to one large event.

The smaller gatherings are more intimate, they provide the opportunity to group people that have the most in common together, and they allow more time for the hosts to spend with each guest.

Because almost all the party items can serve “double duty” when hosting back-to-back parties, it really isn’t much more expensive, if at all, than having one. Flowers, rentals, food and beverages can be used for both with minor tweaking.

I’ve often done this at work where we might have an employee party one evening followed by a customer or business partner event. At home I’ll have a family gathering followed by friends or business colleagues. Now I will say at home, I keep the first night smaller so there is less clean up before the next event.

Anyway, something to think about.