5 Tips for Your Next Cocktail Party

Sometimes throwing a party can seem like an overwhelming task, especially if you don't have a ton of experience. We recently threw a Goldmine cocktail party and we wanted to give a few tips to help navigate through your planning process. Our party was simple, thrown in the backyard, and in honor of our dear sister Lindsay. We strung some lights up, pulled out a couch and some chairs for seating and set up some basic tables and threw some linens over them. We even brought out a bar to serve drinks (one of the perks of having a mom who is an

event planner

and has a bar lying around).

1. Compose your appetizers like you would a dinner

Think protein, starch and veggie. Examples would be nuts, bread, olives, etc... We made a simple spread of pickled vegetables, BLT bites, lettuce cups, chimichurri chicken skewers, a cheese board and a stacked strawberry shortcake for the birthday girl.

2. Don't feel like you have to go all out on decorations.

Focusing on a simple vignette on the food table or bar not only makes more of an impact but also keeps you, the party planner, from feeling too overwhelmed. It's helpful to come up with a color scheme as well, to keep the party prep focused and concise. For more of a modern feel, we decided on a scheme of black, white, and clear with a few colorful flowers thrown in. Even though it was in the backyard, we didn't want it to feel too rustic. The banners added another element of color and festiveness to the party decor.

3. Use real plates, flatware and things you already own.

You won't have to decorate much because real plates "elevate" the look. Come up with a theme ahead of time and try and stick with that theme throughout. (ie. modern, vintage, etc...)

4. Serve a cocktail that can be made all at once, so that you don't have to be mixing drinks all night.

Nobody wants to be a slave to the bar the whole night. For our party, we made Vodka Strawberry Lemonade. We made a few pitchers beforehand that were easy to pour into glasses once the guests arrived. (Jump to the bottom of the post for our recipe!)

5. Flowers. Always pick up flowers from your local farmers market or grocery store.

You can keep them as one big arrangement for a centerpiece, or you can break them up for small arrangements around the party. We went to the local farmers market because they always have the best flower vendors there. The vendors had plenty of arrangements to choose from, but they also let us customize our own arrangement. Peonies were out of season, so we decided to do a big arrangement of just dahlias. We picked out as many as we wanted and they wrapped up the bouquet for us! Splitting the arrangements up and putting them in small glasses helped to spread it out throughout the party. By doing that, it feels like you are getting more for your money.