A Musical Evening

As young people get older they are apt to become more and more interested in good music. Those who play instruments are especially glad to get together with their friends to play and sing. The home is very suitable for a musical evening. Little planning is needed other than to agree upon the time and place. If you made a list of your friends and the instruments they play, you might be surprised at the ease of entertaining in this way. See Chapter 20 for further suggestions in this connection.

Planning For A Party

There are a few suggestions for planning a party that will help one who is looking forward to entertaining successfully. If a party is not well planned, it may cause more trouble than it is worth. At best, having a large group of your friends in for the evening is no picnic. There are so many details needing attention that if one does not take care of them well beforehand they crowd in all at once. To avoid confusion, one simply needs to know what to plan and how to do it. When the proper preparation has been made, the host or hostess can be at ease during the evening and add much to the charm of the party.

Telephone your invitation if the party is informal and you are pressed for time.

Inviting The Guests

From the very beginning, it is well to think things through with respect to the night of the party. When inviting the guests, make certain that you pick a congenial crowd. One usually cannot invite all of his friends at once, anyway, and it is therefore wise to choose those who will get along well together.

There arc several ways of inviting guests. Usually it is not desirable to go about inviting your friends in the presence of others. This may embarrass those who are not invited. A phone is handy and quick, and is valuable for short-notice invitations. A short note is to be preferred to the telephone call, however, when there is time. You thus make certain that no detail is overlooked about time, place, and type of dress. Furthermore, those you invite can have your note to remind them when, where, and how the party is to be held. You can have fun working out a clever invitation in keeping with your party. For example, if the theme of your party is to be built around automobiles, you can cut out pictures of cars, paste them on the invitation, and make up a short verse about the party.

The Food Is Important

Usually it is necessary to plan party » food rather carefully. Both the kind of food and the quantity should be taken into consideration. The nature of the party you are having will determine to some extent the food you serve. By consulting your notes and using a little imagination, you can work in some new ideas that will delight your friends. The food can be varied as to color and taste quite easily, and in this way suited to the main theme.

Once your menu is completed you can figure the quantities of food needed for the number you have invited. It is then a simple matter to compute the costs of the party. Indeed, it may be wise to do this before you invite your friends to make certain your plans are not too ambitious for your pocketbook. Your home-economics teacher could help you with the menu.

You are now ready to make a shopping list (include prizes and decoration material if you need them) and go forward to purchase your materials.

Think up an amusing invitation if you have time.

Do The Hard Work Before The Party

Right here is where those who are inexperienced have trouble. They leave far too many things to be done on the night of the party. Everything that can possibly be planned and prepared in advance should be planned and prepared. This relieves the host or hostess from the many bothersome details on the night of the event. In some instances it may be desirable to ask one or two friends to assist you in the preparations and on the night of the party. Usually they are glad to do so and will help considerably in keeping things running smoothly.

Unusual Place Cards And Decorations

There are many ways in which a party can be made more enjoyable by a few clever decorations. These decorations need not cost money, either. By using a little imagination and expanding upon the theme of your party, it is surprising what can be done with a pair of scissors and the odds and ends about the house.

A fall party, for example, can have the necessary atmosphere added with some bowls of fruit, a few colored leaves from trees, and some wild flowers of the season. A beautiful centerpiece for the table can be arranged with fruit and nuts.

Fruit or vegetable place cards are not difficult to make. See the pictures on pages 392-393, for example, that show what can be made from raw vegetables. These can be made in a short time and add fun to the party. Clever place cards can be made from many different things. Use your ingenuity in thinking up novel ideas.

Sometimes it is a good plan to make place cards in the form of puzzles. For puzzles you could use pictures that resemble the names of the guests. Names like Hall, Brown, Bird, Freeman, Tucker, Smith, and Cook are very easy to portray in a picture. With some other names it may be necessary to use letters and pictures combined. The fun comes when the guests attempt to find their own cards.

The Night Of The Party

On the night of the party the skillful host or hostess is poised and relaxed. The details have been attended to. A suitable place has been prepared for the wraps; the chairs have been counted so that there will be plenty to go around; decorations, if there arc any, are properly hung; and the games and other equipment are handy.

The food has been prepared well in advance. There is no last-minute rushing around. That part of it that is to be served hot is ready to go on the hot plate, and dishes are laid out systematically. It is now time for the guests to begin arriving.

If it is a small party, the host or hostess meets each guest as he comes, welcoming him and making him feel at home as quickly as possible. If introductions are necessary, they should be made at this time to avoid embarrassing moments later on. Care should be taken to see that strangers do not feel like goldfish in a bowl for the first few minutes. Introduce them informally, then ask some member of the group to take them in tow while you go to greet others. If it is a large crowd, the hostess may ask a friend to meet the guests at the door.

Some guest may find that a friend or a relative from another city has dropped in for the day. If this guest telephones that she has a friend visiting her, the hostess should invite the visitor also. This is the simplest way out of the difficulty. It is the duty of the hostess to make the guests comfortable at all times, and to take the initiative when embarrassing situations crop up.

As the party progresses, the hostess should see to it that everyone is at ease and has the necessary equipment to carry on. The fun should be kept on the move, but there should be ample opportunity for conversation to develop. Remember that games and organized activities are really only substitutes for good conversation. If there are organized games, they should not take too long, neither should they be the most important part of the evening. If the games are planned well, they will move along of their own momentum; if they are not, they may bore the guests and slow the party down considerably.

Stop At The Right Time

The best time to stop a game is while the group is enjoying it. Do not wait until it has run its course and the guests are becoming bored. However, when you stop an activity be sure you have another one up your sleeve, unless it's time for the food (the best trick of all, of course!).

Those Awkward Moments

At the best-regulated parties there will be awkward moments. It is the job of the hostess to see that these icy moments melt away and are quickly forgotten by all concerned. It is up to the others to help the hostess and to move over the rough spots graciously. Valuable dishes may be broken, a good tablecloth burned, or some cocoa spilled on a new dress. When this happens, the hostess should quietly and effectively do what is necessary in the way of cleaning up, reassuring the one who was responsible and laughing it off. The one who caused the accident should do everything possible to make amends quickly, then pass on to other subjects. Later, perhaps the next day, the guest should confer with the hostess to see if something can be done to replace or mend the damage, but this should never be discussed on the night of the party.

Sometimes embarrassing moments develop about the time to go home. It is up to the guest to know when that time comes and, when it does, the goodbyes should be short and snappy. Assure the hostess that you have had a good time, then move along. The hostess, of course, should not give the guests an idea that she wants to get rid of them, but rather strive to entertain as long as they stay.

Goodbyes are best said indoors, especially if the evening grows late. Sleeping neighbors appreciate the guests who make a rather silent departure.