If the thought of entertaining, even the word "party," is too daunting, tell yourself you are just having a few people over for a little food and fun.

There are many reasons why you should NOT have people over and, believe me, I am familiar with all of them: The house is too dirty and you'd have to clean it. Then when you clean up, you lose things during your stashing frenzy. You have no time to prepare. Getting people together on the same day is a problem. You are too tired. It's too expensive.

None of these is a good enough reason to miss out on a memorable time with people you like.

People are usually happy to get together and socialize, especially if you keep it very casual and relaxed. Some of my best party-hosting experiences were accidental entertaining.

Here are some strategies to make it easier to invite people over.

- Next time you have overnight guests, plan a party a week or two later. You will have cleaned up for the guests and the house won't look a complete disaster.

- Connecting the party with an event such as a holiday (no matter how trivial) seems to be a good idea. A couple of weeks after the winter holidays is also prime casual party time.

- Involve your guests in the food preparation if time is short. Ask people to bring food.

- Shut off rooms, if necessary. People tend to gravitate to one central area, usually the kitchen, and they won't notice that they have been blockaded out of part of your home.

- If you are serving dinner, set up chairs and tables to accommodate everyone, no matter how mismatched, in case people want to linger and chat. Set the table ahead of time.

Home | News | Sports | Opinion | Weekend | Special

Sections | Classifieds | Archives

Copyright 2004-Fayette Publishing, Inc.