Tara Wilson
Even entertainment experts sometimes freak out when a large crowd is expected at their house for a party. “Last year was my 25th wedding anniversary and I live in a two-bedroom house,” says Chicago event planner Sharon Ringiér. "We wanted to include a lot of our friends for dinner, but I was concerned that I had nowhere to seat them. I ended up converting my living room into a dining room, my kitchen became the buffet, and the dining room housed desserts and drinks."
You can follow Sharon's lead:be creative, think about the flow of the crowd, and be willing to repurpose your stuff to make it work.
If you're having a formal dinner, you need room for chairs and tables, plus room to walk all the way around. For most people, the living room works best. Sharon moved most of the living room furniture from her to the garage (see tip below) and rented six-foot tables, pretty fruitwood chairs, and bedding to create a new dining room.
If the tables and chairs are still tight in your uncluttered living room and you're not having a formal dinner, consider going Moroccan-style, says Sharon. Lay out stackable plastic milk crates or spools of electrical wire and cover them with a round table (you can find an old mixer at a flea market, restaurant supply store, or caterer).
Cover the table with upholstery and tuck it under, then cross the runners over the top so that each end falls in front of a seated guest. Scatter pillows around the room to sit on. "It's a different kind of experience, a fun change of pace," Sharon says.
Photo Credit:Ralph Kylloe, 2013 Gibbs Smith, Rustic Elegance, Ralph Kylloe
Any piece of furniture you clean to make room can go here, and it's a convenient place for guests to escape the fray.
Tara Wilson, president of Tara Wilson Events, says, "If you have rooms or areas of your home that you don't want your guests to access, find a way to quietly but beautifully get the message across. For example, I'll put 'The Station buffet in front of doors I don't want to be accessed, or an arrangement of tall vases filled with floating candles on the stair landing to deter guests from going up.
Sometimes it's not practical to hide part of a room when items are moved, for example if the study opens up to your office space. Hanging fabric swags or curtain panels is a festive way to keep your items hidden and separate from the party area.
If you don't have a wide bar to use as a gas station, make one. Sharon says that when she and her husband threw a party while renovating their house, they used two sawhorses and an unfinished door to make a generous serving table.
Don't despair if your makeshift bar looks ugly:cover it with rented bedding, and if the flat surface is susceptible to spills or stains, protect it with a layer of plastic in the middle. "A simple polyester blend is cheap and looks stylish," says Sharon. "During the holidays, clothing rental companies offer promotions, so check it out."
Remember: Keep food accessible from both sides of your buffet when possible.
Marley Majcher, CEO of The Party Goddess!, says it's important to avoid bottlenecks. People congregate around where drinks are served, even if they're non-alcoholic, so keep the beverage serving station to the side, like Sharon did by placing hers in the dining room.
Tara also offers a great bar idea for outdoor gatherings:"If you have a room that has windows that open to your backyard," she says, "put your bar inside that room and serve drinks across the windows." windows. This can conserve outdoor space when it is limited."
Marley recommends looking at her existing furniture with an imaginative eye, especially near service areas. "Our kitchen at home is combined with the family room, where I have a built-in desk and shelves," she says. "The shelves are great for napkins and drink toppers, and the desk itself works perfectly for a self-service bar or buffet. So get creative!"
At her anniversary party, Sharon took a beveled glass shelf from her office and placed it on top of a bookcase in her dining room to use as a beverage bar. She moved the dining room table to the side to use as a gift table, moved all the chairs out to the garage, and put her desserts on a card table in the corner of the room. This made the traffic flow easily as people served themselves.
Anywhere you have gas stations or want social activity, get rid of the chairs. The kitchen and dining room are prime areas for people to mix and mingle, they'll have more fun on their feet.
