The Art of Entertaining: Hosting Unforgettable Events with Style and Ease

It’s not easy to organize a truly memorable event. Planning an event is no small undertaking, especially if your previous experience is limited to intimate gatherings and social gatherings. Finding a venue, assembling a guest list, and deciding on a budget barely scratch the surface of what’s required when preparing for an event.

Looking to master the art of party planning? Below, we’ll take a look at some of the most important things to bear in mind if you’ve saved the date for a big event that’s looming on the horizon. 

Entertaining at Home or Venue Location?

If you’re looking to host a truly unforgettable event, singling out a spectacular location is crucial. However, premium venues don’t keep cheap. For most events, it’s recommended to set aside around 20% of your budget for venue hire. However, for weddings, you should be allocating upwards of 50% of your overall spend to venue costs. 

Of course, these are baseline estimates. If you’re eyeing up a more exclusive venue or a space with the wow-factor, you can easily find yourself spending five or even six-figure sums. Worried that your budget won’t stretch to these eye-watering amounts? Consider staging your event at home instead. 

Preparing Your Home for a Big Event

Provided you’ve enough space to accommodate your guest, a domestic setting can work surprisingly well when hosting an event. You’ll need to think logistically when planning a home-based event. Firstly, how much usable space does your property actually have? As a rule, you’ll want to keep anything above the ground floor off limits from guests, using your largest spaces like reception rooms to host your guests. 

Consider foot traffic and whether your home has the right layout to host a busy event. Chances are, you’ll need to shuffle around a few things to ensure optimal flow. If you’re out to make a big impression with a discerning guest list, it’s also worth bringing in the insights of a home staging expert. After all, people can spend a small fortune on venue dressing, so it makes sense to put as much thought into your surroundings when hosting an event from home. 

If your interior floor plan isn’t really a good fit for a large-scale event, a home event is still possible if you utilize outdoor space, with a sprawling garden easily accommodating upwards of a hundred guests. However, you’ll need to be prepared for unpredictable weather. Whether you’re worried about an unexpected downpour or unseasonably high temperatures, event marquees can help safeguard your social gathering against any weather conditions. 

Start Early with Your Guest Lists

If you want to ensure maximum attendance, make sure you’re hammering out your guest lists and sending out invitations as early as possible. Wondering how soon you should be sending out those save-the-date reminders? This really depends on the event you’re looking to throw, but you’ll want to leave potential guests at least one month to RSVP. 

Pulled together your guest list and ready to dispatch your invitations? Put a little thought into invitation etiquette. For formal events like weddings, big birthdays, and milestone anniversaries, mailed invitations are the only way forward. 

If you want to boost attendance, spending a premium on invitations is a must. In the United Kingdom, the average wedding guest spends around £1,000 to attend an event, so you’ll want to pull out all the stops to get extended relatives and old acquaintances to commit to an RSVP. 

Draft in Helping Hands to Lighten the Load

You might be able to organize an unforgettable party without bringing in the help of a party planner, but making sure the day itself runs smoothly is a different matter entirely. You might need help preparing an outdoor space for a glamorous garden party or housekeepers to ensure your interiors are looking their best before you start welcoming guests. 

Once the big day arrives, you may need to assemble a small army of butlers, a personal chef, and a couple personal assistants to ensure everything goes off without a hitch. Looking to fill vacant roles or find household staff for your next social event? Make life easier on yourself by using a private household recruitment agency to single out and screen the best possible candidates. 

Photo by Thallen Merlin

Go with a Dress Code

If you want to maintain a certain air of sophistication during an event, dress codes are important. Whether you’re angling for black tie or aiming for a more offbeat affair, you’ll need to clearly communicate to your guests what’s expected from them in the wardrobe department. 

Sometimes, people need a little help decoding the dress code, so don’t leave anything to chance and provide examples if need be. Ideally, these specifics should be signed off early enough so that you can include them along with your invitations. 

Lock In a Budget

Organizing and hosting a memorable event doesn’t come cheap. In the UK, couples celebrating their anniversary in style could spend anything up to £100,000 on celebrating the event, with catering and entertainment accounting for the biggest individual spend. If you’re aiming higher and looking to stage the social event of the century, expect to shell out considerably more. 

Before you start planning any specifics, make sure you have a clear idea of how much you can realistically spend on your event. Depending on availability and supply chain issues, you may find yourself having to spend over the odds on certain things. Single out those essential elements that you’re prepared to spend a little more on if need be, building in some leeway so you can go over budget if need be. 

Hosting an Unforgettable Event

Keen to ensure your next event goes down in the history books for all the right reasons? It’s easy to avoid the usual missteps that can land you with a reputation as a bad party planner. First and foremost, pin down your venue early. A domestic setting can work well provided you have sufficient space and ample amenities, but don’t be afraid of exploring venue locations if you’re looking to make a lasting impression. 

Next, think carefully about your guest list. Start drawing up your guest list as early as possible, providing your potential attendees with plenty of time to RSVP. Want to secure maximum attendance? Mailed invites are going to make a much better impression with would-be guests. What’s more, make sure you’re laying out all essential information about the event, including dress code specifics. 

Finally, enjoy your special event with friends and family and have fun!