1. Send your invitations by e-mail

In other words, replace your paper invitations with email invitations, faster to do and often free.

• You will find hundreds of online templates that you can customize.
• Your guests can see the guest list, print a route and also reply via e-mail.

2. Decorate with what you have

• Arrange the scene with soft music and dim lights and add a few candles to play even more in the mood.
• Try to add a decorative element that you already have near the front door so that the atmosphere of the festival is established automatically.
• Put on a themed hat so that the mood moves from room to room.

3. Make your guests move

Help your guests mix by putting food and drink at the opposite ends of a room. Guests will have to travel to get both, and they might end up chatting with someone they met on the way.

• Place food strategically in other rooms so that everyone does not gather in one room in predictable groups.
• Put fewer chairs than there are guests to help people mix.

4. Try a food-themed party

Simplify your work and expenses when organizing a party by choosing a theme for the food you serve.

• Make a dessert party, a brunch party or even a late tea.
• You will be amazed at how easy and inexpensive it can be (and how much your guests will like to participate by bringing food adapted to the theme).

5. Plan accordingly

Determining how much food and drink your guests will consume can be difficult: plan too little, and you will be humiliated; Plan too much, and you will eat and drink leftovers for weeks.

Consider these tips:

• Allow four per person if you serve a meal; Eight if this is not the case.
• The drinks. Assume that each guest will have three drinks. You will shoot five or six glasses of a bottle of wine and 16 cocktails of a bottle of spirits.
• Main dishes. Anticipate that each guest will consume 175 g (6 ounces) of meat, 125 g (1/2 cup) of each side dish, and a handful of lettuce leaves for the salad.
• Assume that a dessert of 9 inches (be it a cake or pie) will be enough for 8 to 10 people.

6. Hiring help

Hire someone to help you with the details of the party and to give you more time to enjoy your guests. He or she can help you get past hors d’oeuvres, serve dinner and clean after the meal.

• Your assistant can also take care of the chores that crop up at the last minute: go to the store to buy more ice, find a vase for unexpected flowers and help the guests on the go to find their coats.
• You will be happy to have help and time to devote to your friends.

Organizing a party for a particular event need not necessarily be stressful or costly. There are some simple tricks and tricks you can use to make sure everyone is having fun on your next little evening, including you.