THE EXECUTION

Step 5: An Attractive Table

Whether serving food at a formal table or via a buffet, the table should be attractive to the eye. Place settings should be set appropriately. If serving via a buffet, the table should be covered with a table cloth and the various serving dishes placed in a beautiful and logical manner, allowing guests to serve themselves with ease and pleasure. Table cloths, napkins, plates, glasses, and flatware should be complementary but do not need to come from the same set. The serving dishes and utensils should be in good condition but need not all match. If you are using a centerpiece, consider how it will affect your guests. If a centerpiece is too tall it may impede conversation across the table. If a centerpiece is delicate and fragile, it may be in danger of being broken if placed upon a buffet table.

Step 6: Well-prepared Food

Even the best-laid plans can and will go awry if they are not executed well. It is always best to use the highest quality ingredients available to you. Fruit should be ripe, bread fresh, meat tender. If you are serving a variety of hot hors d’oeuvres, be sure that they are all warm when they are served. If you are serving a meat course, be sure that it is prepared to the correct level of doneness and has time to rest before being served.

Step 7: Servants

While few households employ full-time servants, it is not difficult to secure servers, bartenders, and chefs for a single event. Use a reputable company, preferably one that you have prior experience with or that has been highly recommended to you by a friend or associate whose opinion you trust. Be sure to explain your expectations clearly and require a written contract outlining all points.

Step 8: A Gracious and Cordial Hostess and Host

There are many ingredients which, mixed together, produce close to perfect hosts and hostesses. In more or less an equal ratio, they include organization, a genuine sense of hospitality, enthusiasm, interest, creativity, sensitivity and foresight.

~ Emily Post’s Advice for Every Dining Occasion by Elizabeth L. Post.

The purpose of extensive planning and preparation before an event is to allow both your guests and yourself to have an enjoyable time. As a host or hostess, your responsibilities are numerous, but your central focus is the well-being of your guests.

Remember always, it is far less important to have matching silver or delicate crystal than it is to be a warm, relaxed and gracious party-giver.

~ Emily Post’s Advice for Every Dining Occasion by Elizabeth L. Post.

If nothing else, and certainly if everything else seems to go wrong, concentrate on being, as Ms. Post states, “a warm, relaxed and gracious party-giver”. Engage your guests in conversation, introduce them to one another, see that everyone is enjoying themselves and the success of the event will be assured.

The Planning

Notes on Planning