How to host like a pro

Everyone has totally different ideas of what makes a perfect party, of course they do, we’re all different and we all love different aspects of socialising. But if you’re planning a party then the common denominator is that we want to spend quality time with the people that we’re inviting.

Hopefully these tips will help you to create a fabulous stress free get together, however big or small.

1. Choose your vibe

No matter if it’s for a cup of coffee, low key dinner party or full blown party, my aims are always the same; to make my guests feel comfortable, at ease and for everything to appear as seamless as possible. The easiest way to make guests feel at ease is to set the tone of the event from the outset and stick to it.

The best way to achieve this is by getting the right information across to your guests from the outset to limit last minute panicked questions about what to wear/what to bring/formality etc. Lets face it, we’ve all been there 😆

This means nailing the tone, style and wording of the invite.

I have always loved to send beautiful hard copy invites but quite honestly, they’re pretty much always cost prohibitive and take such a long to organise that I nearly alway don’t get it done.

Somehow a text message or email just isn’t quite enough but thankfully there’s a better option.

Paperless Post offer all the beauty and experience of receiving paper post but with the convenience of online. Being in a digital format has the added benefit of being able to keep track of your RSVPs.

The detailing throughout their collection is absolutely stunning. Which isn’t really surprising considering they include world-famous designers and lifestyle brands, including Kate Spade New York, Oscar de la Renta, Jonathan Adler, and Rifle Paper Co. as designers of their collection. I know right!!

I adore the colours and illustration style of the Harvest Market invite. Perfect for an informal dinner party.

2. Curate your space

One of my favourite parts of hosting is making my every day spaces feel special. I always try to set and decorate a space well before guests arrive so they feel like a lot of effort has been made for their arrival. It’s also down to practicality as attempting to get two children and myself ready before an event is hard enough without having to think about setting a table minutes before guests walk through the door.

Pulling the colours and styling through from the invite gives an instant dose of wow.

I’ve taken the orange, green and browns of the Harvest Market invite and added a pink element as I can’t get enough of pink and mustard right now 😄.

3. Keep it simple

I have an inability to cook food and talk 🙈, seriously, I’ve been known to forget about whole parts of a meal, miss vital ingredients and totally mess up cooking times all because I can’t help but gas the moment my guests arrive, alcohol obviously has nothing to do with this whatsoever 🙊😂  So I always try to keep food as simple as possible and prep as much in advance as possible. My favourite dishes are ones you can chuck in the oven in one dish and favourite puddings are things like cheesecakes that can be entirely prepped well in advance.

This goes for booze too. Low maintenance, easily accessible (for guests as well) and in abundance is my rule of thumb.

Last but definitely not least…

4. Lighting

Candles, candles and more candles.

My whole family take the p*** out of me for insisting on adding a million candles to any table/ worktop/ windowsill and turning all the lights down super low whenever we have people round. But seriously, it’s the best way to create a more relaxed environment!

*This post is sponsored with store credit however, I genuinely use Paperless Post and all my words and opinions are totally my own.