The Art of Entertaining... Planning the Party Layout

This is a series I've been wanting to start for a long time because if you couldn't tell from the blog already, I love entertaining.  I also am of the mindset that entertaining doesn't have to be complicated or stressful and with a little planning, forethought, and some of my simple entertaining tips and tricks, can be accessible to everyone.  The goal of this series to to share with you the art of entertaining and show you that you don't have to be Martha Stewart to host a dinner party (although it helps!).  See after the jump for the first tip of the series, planning the party layout...

The layout I used to plan the Polish Easter Brunch.

When planning for your party, getting a general sense where everything will go can be helpful for many reasons:

• to plan out how many decorations you need and where to place them;
• to figure out how much sitting/ standing room your venue has and how many people you can invite;
• how to serve your food (banquet table, table service, passed h'orderves, etc..);
• to make sure you have remembered to account for all amenities your guests may need;
• to reduce party setup/ prep time; and,
• to give you peace of mind so you aren't running around like a chicken with no head the day of the event.

When planning out your party space, make sure to account for these 4 categories of space:

• Seating Space — where will your guests sit/ stand/ dance/ mingle? If a seated dinner, who will sit where?
• Food/ Drink Space — where will you place your food?  Will it be passed or served?  Where will your drinks go?
• Decor — what kinds of decor do you need? Where will it go?
• Guest Amenities — where are the bathrooms? Where will guest place their coats/ purses? Is the trash/ recycling easily accessible?

I hope this is helpful to you in planning your next event.  Feel free to e-mail with questions and please stay tuned for the next in "the Art of Entertaining" series.