Party Hosting Like A Pro: your ultimate DIY guide. Hosting comes as second nature to some, but can fill others with dread. This party planning guide has everything you need to be the host with the most, whether it's an intimate dinner for 10 or a wedding for 100.

I worked in events for more than a decade before retraining as a chef, going to wine school, and founding Rosanna ETC (read more about me here). So I'm full of stories, like the time I had to run out and buy emergency sandwiches for the British royal family or when I had to play music to baboons for a week to prepare them for a music premiere happening at the zoo. I've ordered more canapes, addressed more envelopes, and opened more bottles of wine than I care to remember, and the result is a hefty chunk of experience that I think is invaluable to anyone planning a party, DIY style!
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📝 How to start planning a party
First and foremost, start with the holy trinity of DIY party planning and create the following documents:
- Schedule: A detailed hour-by-hour breakdown of the event that shows the setup, things like food and drinks service, and any entertainment. This will help you keep on track with timings and ensure you don't forget anything.
- Guest list: Who is coming, their plus one (if applicable), and anything important to note, like dietary or accessibility requirements.
- Budget: Keep track of your spending by creating a budget and noting all the costs. Give yourself a contingency of 10% for any unforeseen expenditure.
🪩 Party Hosting FAQ
Here are the common components of a party, and all of my best tips and nuggets of experience on each one. This is my ultimate DIY party planning guide.
✉️ Invitations
Traditionally, it is customary to invite guests 6-8 weeks in advance of an event. However, if it is a wedding, a 3–4 month window is more advisable, especially if it is a destination wedding! Sending a digital Save The Date as soon as you know when the event is happening is wise to give your event VIPs enough notice to ensure their attendance.
Physical invitations are rarer these days but add a very classy edge. However, asking for RSVP via email or phone is much easier than asking for return mail.
Websites like Paperless Post allow you to send personalized email invitations, receive responses, and track guest names and special requirements all in one place.
🍽 Food
What type of food to serve at a party?
Are you hosting a served sit-down meal, a buffet lunch, a casual mixer with simple snacks, or a formal drinks party with platters of canapes? It is important to plan the vibe of the event and also know your limitations and what is feasible. A plated 3-course meal plus added amuse bouche for 30 is impossible with one person in the kitchen! But a cold buffet lunch can be, or a series of grazing boards. If you are serving a seated meal, consider hiring staff to help serve and clear. Allow 30-40 minutes to serve, eat, and clear each meal course in your schedule.
Normally, canapes would be served before a meal or during a shorter drinks party. Bowl food is more substantial and would be served at a standing party in the place of a sit-down meal.
How many canapes per person?
Canapes are served before a meal or during a drinks reception. Bowl food is served in the place of a sit-down meal. A combination of both, plus some static snacks like nuts, olives, and dips, will work well at a party with no formal dinner. The other option is creating a grazing platter or charcuterie board with cold meats and cheeses for guests to pick from.
Allow 10 canapes/hors d'oeuvres per person per hour the event is going on. If you only serve canapes and bowl food, I will allow for 10 canapes per person and 3 bowls. Then, later in the evening, serving dessert canapes or putting out petit fours can be fun.
Top Tip
Serving a cold starter is an excellent way to save time, as you can make and plate it ahead and have it on the table ready for guests when they sit down. This gives you time to work on the main course. Similarly, making a dessert ahead of time will be a real boon if you are busy hosting and don't want to keep disappearing to the kitchen.
🥂 Drinks
At one end of the spectrum, you can simply place bottles on the table and in an ice bucket for guests to serve themselves. For larger, more formal events, you can hire a bartender and servers to walk around and do top-ups.
If your bar offers simple pre-made drinks (for example, just wine and beer), allow 2 bartenders per 30 guests. If you offer a cocktail menu, increase it to 2 bartenders per 15 guests.
How many cocktails per person?
Cocktails are a fun way to put your spin on an event. Create your own, or serve your favorites. Allow 3 cocktails per person per hour. Serve more than that, and you risk having to pick people up off the floor and roll them out the door.
Making jugs of cocktails is a great way to mix things up (no pun intended) without making everything individually. Check out my round-up of the best cocktail jug recipes.
How much wine to buy for a party?
Allow 3 glasses per person per hour for a drinks reception or half a bottle per person for dinner. There are 6 small glasses of wine in each standard-sized bottle, with a 125ml or 5oz serving size. To decide how much wine to buy, divide the total number of glasses you need by 6 to get the number of bottles to buy. Then, add a 10-15% contingency to ensure you don't run out.
Red wine vs white wine
As a very (very) general rule, men tend to drink more red wine, and women tend to drink more white or rose wine, so this will partly depend on the gender demographic of your guests. It also depends on the season. In colder weather, guests will drink more red wine, and a menu will be more likely to feature items that pair better with red wine, with the opposite being true for events in spring and summer. For an easy split, I'd suggest a 60/40 ratio of red to white in winter and a 40/60 ratio of red to white in summer.
Read my basic food and wine pairing tips to know what to serve at a dinner party.
What soft drinks to serve
Serve two soft drink options or mocktails in addition to still and sparkling water. More people abstain these days, and only so much elderflower cordial one person can ingest. I like to offer something with ginger beer, like my homemade redcurrant cordial.
Top Tip
If serving champagne or sparkling wine, fill the glasses halfway to the top 15 minutes before guests arrive. Then, 5 minutes before the start time, fill them to the top. Always keep sparkling wine in the fridge or ice buckets so that it is served chilled.
🎶 Music and Entertainment
Playlist like a pro
Unless you have hired musicians or a DJ, the music is up to you. Make playlists ahead of time and make sure they are long enough for the duration of the event or section of the party.
Live music
A live band is a fantastic way to create an atmosphere, but make sure you have the space for them, and make sure you factor in breaks and what music to play at those times. Ask the band what floor space they need, anything like lights or chairs, and what audio setup they need. Be sure to offer them food and drink!
🎤 Speeches
Ask any speech givers to practice and time their speeches so you can add them to the schedule. If they need a microphone, ask them to come early and practice with the mic before the event starts. Plan for how they are going to get the microphone. Will it be handed to them, and by whom, or will it be on the stage on a mic stand?
If you are the host, you should also prepare a few simple words. Even if you don't want to make a speech, it might be sprung upon you!
💐 Decor
To really push the boat out, hire a florist to make some elegant and seasonal floral table displays. But it is possible to elevate the event space with a few simple tweaks if you'd prefer not to. Dried flowers can add an impact while being cheaper, and they will last past the event date, so you can enjoy them for much longer.
Candles are an excellent way to sort out both decor and lighting. Everyone looks good in candlelight, and it adds tremendous ambiance, too.
Food can also work well as cheap decor ideas for an event. For example, you can use pumpkins and other ornamental squash as cute items to group together on tables with candles over October and November.
At Christmas, use Christmas tree ornaments and baubles in the same way. In summer, use lemons and limes. Empty shells can also work well if you are serving seafood!
💡Lighting
Lighting is so important, so make sure the room is not too light or too dark. Candles are a lifesaver, but make sure they are safe and won't set fire to anything or anyone.
Uplighters around the room's edges in colors that suit your theme always look great and professional. Be mindful that warm colors like pink and yellow/gold will be more flattering and inviting than blues and greens. Having a few lamps on at home is better at creating a mood than the main ceiling lights.
👔 Dress Code
People like to have a dress code to judge the event's tone and know what to wear. Decide on formal, semi-formal, or informal, depending on the style of the event and what atmosphere you want to create. A formal dress code adds gravitas but can be inappropriate in some venues or formats (e.g., you probably wouldn't generally stipulate Black Tie/Tuxedo for a backyard BBQ).
It can be simple, and you can have fun! Some examples include 'Beach Fabulous,' 'English Countryside Glam,' 'A Day at the Races,' 'Christmas Sparkle,' 'Halloween Horror'
Sometimes, it can help to send guests a mood board on Pinterest to ensure and give options.
If there are items that are not suitable for whatever reason, be clear on this, too. For example, 'no shorts,' 'no open-toe shoes,' 'no hats,' etc.
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