Overcoming Party Panic

The preparations that come along with entertaining guests can be daunting right up until the moment the first of the crowd arrives if we’re lucky or, if we’re normal, until the refrigerator door closes after somehow fitting the mounds of leftovers. It can be easy to lose sight of the pleasures of parties when you’re worrying about accommodating everyone even before they’ve arrived. These five tips offer you reminders and measures to take in alleviating party prep stress, whatever the occasion may be.

1. Take a chill pill: stress only leads to more stress. Yes, the countdown is dwindling to the moment the guests arrive, but stay calm. Slowing down, breathing and focusing will encourage composure under demanding deadlines. Speeding up and becoming frantic leads to mistakes that need correcting, costing more time than it would to take a deep breath, focus on your tasks and push the nagging clock to the back of your mind.

2. Accept help: if someone offers help, take it. People typically enjoy helping; if they didn’t they wouldn’t have offered. Besides, you are not expected (by anyone other than perhaps yourself) to wait on your guests hand and foot. The point of a get-together is to get together, to enjoy being with the people you love, even if that means during the final touches to the mac ‘n cheese or rearranging the dessert tray. If the person offering isn’t someone you know well, dishing out a bit of work may alleviate the newcomer’s nerves, while also making him or her feel like a part of the group. Finally and perhaps most obviously, accepting help alleviates the stress of party preps, as more hands on deck will get to-dos done faster.

3. Don’t overthink it: prepare food that can be served chilled, like shrimp cocktail or chips and dip along with dishes that can be made in advance, frozen, then thawed like mini-cheesecakes or baked on the day of the party, like lasagna. Snack-sized or finger foods are particularly helpful, creating lenient eating time expectations. Don’t forget to prepare some dishes that are vegan-friendly too, so that any unknown dietary practices don’t take you by surprise. Peruse the Web for dishes that omnivores and herbivores alike will enjoy. Think along the lines of mouth-watering mini butternut squash pot pies. And for drinks? A self-serving bar station and coolers, if not B.Y.O.B., is ideal for a friendly, time-saving atmosphere.

4. Think of the bigger picture: provide activities or a party theme that let guests entertain themselves, such as arts and crafts tables for kids’ parties, pool tables for adult parties or a pool party that everyone can enjoy. Along with that, setting up seating areas in groups encourages conversation among guests. These minor additions make the atmosphere itself fun as well as relieves some of the hosting pressure.

5. Know when it’s time to quit: your guests have RSVP’d to spend time with you. So while they’ll surely be impressed with how your sugar tuile was perfectly thin, uniquely shaped and crumbled over the unnecessarily complicated pastry—the name of which they can’t pronounce—they’re not there for the food or drinks. Well, they’re not only there for the food and drinks. Squandering the whole party in the kitchen without actually entertaining can make for a real dud of an event. The party is for you as much as it is for your guests and after all the hard work you’ve put into it, you surely deserve to let loose.

Parties are supposed to be fun, and when throwing one try to be a part of the good times rather than hiding away doing party preps. Leave the hors d’oeuvre presentation alone, accept the appearance of your (beautiful) buffet and don’t forget to enjoy yourself. Bon soirée!