Life & Style

How to throw a party without throwing a wobbly

A party should be fun – so why do most of us go to pieces at the thought of throwing one? We get some survival tips from the experts

When you need to play host or hostess, it’s good to take some advice from the professionals.

Alanna Gallagher's face
Alanna Gallagher
Sat Sep 30 2017 - 06:00

Nothing lifts the spirits like a party invite, whether it’s a casual group message on WhatsApp or a gilt-edged printed invite that will have pride of place on your mantelpiece.

Most of us love to attend rather than throw a party, so when you need to play host or hostess with the mostest, it’s good to take some advice from the professionals.

“People tend to over-think every part of it and this is when it begins to feel overwhelming,” explains Tara Fay of Xena Productions, whose events include celebrity weddings and birthday bashes for captains of industry. Her advice is to pare it back completely and start at the point where your guests arrive. “Do a virtual walk-through in your mind as to how your guests enter the party, what they will encounter and how you want them to feel. Then, and only then, start filling in the details, not the other way around.”

PR firms recommend using Airbnb to find party venues that will be new to your guests.

The space is also important. While it needs to have toilets, a place to set up a bar, decent acoustics and a dance floor, in terms of venues think outside the box of what is readily available. Fay recommends places such as La Maison restaurant on Dublin’s Castle Market, which has just opened a great piano bar upstairs in the old Murphy Sheehy fabric shop, for an after dinner party; or Hatch & Sons, on St Stephen’s Green, whose little network of rooms would be great for a house-style dinner party.

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PR companies think similarly. “We want to take guests to somewhere they haven’t been before and are using Airbnb to find interesting spaces like a Tom de Paor-designed house in the Liberties or artist John Gerrard’s Georgian house in Rathmines, but check first if they accept parties,” counsels Emma Kelly, MD of Elevate PR.

Style of party

Then figure out the style of party you want to throw. In her book Entertaining is Fun! – How to Be a Popular Hostess, exuberant American decorator Dorothy Draper spoke about the different styles of entertaining. While it was published in 1939 its premise should remain a guiding principle. It is not about putting on lavish displays, but about being realistic about what you can spend, and entertaining accordingly. There's nothing wrong with everyone having card trays, beers and corn on the cob as long as they're not expecting to sit down to a five-course tasting menu.

“Sometimes simple can be super effective,” says Kelly, whose events company celebrated its 15th year in business last November, and held a Thanksgiving-themed event to mark the occasion. It included pumpkins that were simply inscribed with the word “thanks”, the work of a calligraphist whose copperplate script suited the gothic November night. “Simple decoration, flowers and scented candles help to engage all of the senses,” adds Kelly.

Some events companies will hire glassware, buy the drinks and serve it for you on the night.

If you can afford it, Kelly suggests hiring someone to help serve drinks, take coats and open the door. Catch Bar & Events and Mint Events will hire glassware, buy the drinks and serve it for you on the night. If you are on a tight budget set up a self-serve bar that includes non-alcoholic drinks, not just sparkling water.

Keep the food simple. You do not want to be stuck in the kitchen all night. “Cheese and charcuterie with bread and olives is easy-to-eat finger food and guests can help themselves.”

Playlist

A playlist is also essential, says DJ Martin McCann, who is available for private parties and plays at We Love Tuesdays at Dublin’s The Globe bar and Get Loose at Hogan’s bar every second Friday.

"These days, computer software programmes such as Serato and Traktor Pro enable you to make playlists you can constantly add to. A few select, well-recorded album tracks from any era normally sets the mood of a party. Tracks that are easy on the ear, slow to mid-tempo groovers set the tone nicely; Gil Scott-Heron's The Bottle, Voices of Our Times by Brian Auger's Oblivion Express and Stars in Your Eyes by Herbie Hancock never fail before skanking it up a notch with some ska, reggae or a bit of hip-hop, such as Toots & the Maytals' Pressure Drop and A Tribe Called Quest's If the Papes Come."

And lastly, who you invite is important, says London-based Fiona Leahy, who puts on lavish events for designers like Christian Louboutin, Louis Vuitton and Emilia Wickstead. “You need different people, different energies, different walks of life. A seating plan can make or break a party.”

10 Floorfillers suggested by DJ Martin McCann

  1. Joe Goddard – Truth is Light
  2. HiFi Sean feat Crystal Waters – Testify (Opolopo Remix)
  3. New Order – People on the High Line (LNTG can't get any higher mix)
  4. Get Down Edits – Life is Good
  5. Four Tet – Two Thousand and Seventeen
  6. LCD Soundsystem – Tonite
  7. Anderson.Paak – Am I Wrong (feat. ScHoolboy Q)
  8. Lord Echo – Thinking Of You
  9. Laidback – Fly Away/Walking in the Sunshine
  10. Gorillaz – Strobelite (feat Peven Everett)

Tracks to get men onto the floor:

I Am the Resurrection by The Stone Roses, Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads, There Is a Light that Never Goes Out by The Smiths