Post the Second: Madame DeLyte’s Guide to Holiday Entertaining

Now that your home’s suitably decorated for the occasion, Gentle Reader, why not host a friendly holiday gathering? Whether for Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Yule, or just because you’re filled with a surfeit of love for your friends, your family, your fellow humans – it’s an excellent time to entertain. Here are some handy tips I’ve gleaned from my years co-chairing the Fabulous Party Association.

Step 1: Be Sure to Start Planning Months in Advance

Wait – do you mean to tell me you didn’t start already? All that nonsense about Christmas in July – that’s fine, if you like to leave things until the last minute. Starting in June allows you to hand-select a guest list, arrange the venue and theme, save for the copious amounts of food and drink you’ll need, and give you time to build custom decor, like a folding screen of festive greenery. Give yourself time.

Step 2: Select a Theme and Stick to It

Ostensibly, sure, your theme is “The Holidays” – but isn’t that awfully vague? What if someone comes dressed as Canada Day? That would be disastrous. People enjoy dressing up, and while you’ll never be able to entirely eliminate the jeans-and-t-shirt contingent, by enforcing a policy of costumes, or fancy attire, you’ll really set your event apart. Plus, people are more likely to remember “that Edward Gorey themed party” than “one of the fifty parties I went to over Break” – even if they’ve been copiously drinking.

Step 3: Carefully Choose Your Entertainments

It’s important to know your guests, and what sort of things they enjoy. At the FPA, for years, we’d try different parlor games, usually picked to match the theme. We made sure to keep track of how they were received.

If you don’t have any standard party games of your own, feel free to ask in the comments.

One of our most successful games was our festive winter murder mystery. Select guests were given roles and scripts -

- and throughout the night would re-enact certain scenes, giving away clues to the rest, who were left to piece the mystery together. Despite some misunderstandings, there had not been a real murder.

Step 4: Make Sure Those Entertainments Include Fabulous Prizes

If you’re making people dress up, shouldn’t you give them a little incentive? Costume contests are great for that. People love to outdo each other. You may find a stage handy at this point.

Step 5: You Really Ought To Have Room For Dancing, Too

And room for not dancing, as well. For every two guests who are rabid for the next surprise thrill you’re about to unveil, you’ll have three who want to sit and indulge in pleasant chat or vicious gossip. It’s wise to have a spot where those more low-key individuals can rest.

If a conga-line spontaneously breaks out after the period-dance-lesson is over, you’ll know that both types of guests will be just fine.

Step 5: Capitalize on People’s Vanity

We can all agree that people love seeing pictures of themselves, right? Set up a thematically-appropriate photo op they won’t find elsewhere and take everyone’s portrait. Tell your prey guests that while all pictures will be available online, that they can receive an 8×10 print for a suitable donation. If necessary, use guilt. They’ll buy.

Step 6: Some People Suck

Sweetie – can I call you Sweetie, Gentle Reader? – Sweetie, I have a secret. Despite all your hard work, despite your careful planning, despite all the money you’ve sunk into a single night to show your friends and family a good time – despite all this, Sweetie, some people are going to be like this:

And you know what the secret is, Sweetie? That’s okay. You can’t worry about it – you’ve done your best to make everyone happy for one festive night, and while you can be a good host by offering to freshen their drink or help them to another canapé – you still have a huge number of guests who are having a good time. You can’t worry about people like this. It’s not that you don’t care, it’s just that, as host, you’re far too busy organizing every damned thing to ensure that every other damned person does enjoy their damned night.

No matter what you’re celebrating, Gentle Reader, I hope you have a festive party or two to attend.

Tagged: Entertaining, Fabulous Parties, Fabulous Party Association, Festive as Fuck, Holiday Cheer, Holiday Guides, Holiday Parties