Do you give cocktail parties?

[trof]

Or is that a geezer thing?

We do, once in a while.
It's advertised as such, drinks & heavy hors d'ouvres.
Usually starts at 5 and we kind of expect everyone to clear out by 7:30 or 8. There's always enough finger-food so that supper would be superflous.

I'm a lazy bastid, so I set up a self service bar.
(I also put out a tip jar, if you think you gave yourself really good service.)
Besides, I want to chat with our friends, and not spend the whole evening bartending.

Early on I discovered that people tended to bunch up, talking at the bar, and getting in the way of thirsty guests.

I now post this sign there:

PLEASE!

NO LOITERING OR EXTENDED CONVERSATION IN THE BAR SERVICE AREA

YOU MAY RELATE YOUR LIFE STORY IN THE MAIN SALON

THANK YOU
-The Management

[El Fuego]

1. I want to hang out at YOUR house!

:)

[trof]

3. Thanks.

If you're ever in the neighborhood...
;-)

[WCGreen]

2. Put wine in one area....

Beer in another...

And liquor in another....

[trof]

5. Thanks. Tried that once.

Got "Do you have a beer?"
"Sure, it's over there in the cooler."

"Do you have any white wine?"
"Right over there."

We have a kind of counter/bar in the great room and that's where everybody gravitates to.

[arwalden]

8. The Queer Eye Guys Recommend Putting Booze On One Side...

... of the room, and all the eats and goodies on the other side of the room. In between fill-ups people are bound to run into each other and chat a bit.

How much does one of these soirees set you back? (Not including tips.)

[trof]

10. 'At's what we do!

And I'm not even GAY!
;-)

Booze is at one end and eats at the other.

It's not THAT expensive.
Friends usually volunteer to bring their favorite munchie.
"Can I bring my Vidalia Onion Dip?"
"Sure."

Some times that's the deal.
"Come by for drinks at 5 and bring an hors d'ouvre."

I keep a fairly good liquor cabinet anyway.
It has to be less expensive that a sit-down dinner party.
They drink as much at those too.

[nemo137]

4. that's awesome.

If a frat through a true cocktail party, I'd have to attend. We threw them in high school, sort of low grade ones (we tried to be classy, even if we were underage. What can I say?)

[hickman1937]

6. Set up 2 or 3 "bars" around the party.

Or hire a couple of neighborhood kids 18 and over to circulate and play waiter. A good host never outright demands that his guests not bunch up. A good host encourages guests to move around.

[trof]

9. 1. There are no neighborhood kids old enough.

2. I like self service, and so do our friends.
3. A good host has friends with senses of humor who appreciate his bar signs.
4. A good host encourages guests to do whatever the hell they want.
;-)
5. Answer to "2 or 3 bars": So that's 2 or 3 1.75 ml bottles of gin, vodka, Scotch, bourbon, rum, Canadian.
2 or 3 ice buckets
4 or 6 bottles of tonic, soda, Coke, ginger ale, 7-Up.
2 or 3 pitchers of "branch" (water).
Enough glasses and napkins to stock all of the above.

I know your heart's in the right place, and I appreciate your suggestion, but my limited funds limit me to one (1) bar.
;-)

[matcom]

7. yes

nothing better! your right. heavy hors d'ouvres and HEAVIER drinking.

love them. no better way to spend an evening than with friends.

[trof]

11. Yer a geezer.

Who knew?
Yeah, it's a good evening.
Doesn't keep me up too late.
;-)

[RetroLounge]

12. Do youplay lounge music in the background?

A bit of Esquivel always works great...

RL

[Initech]

13. Cocktail parties? Hell no. Keggers? Hell yes!

[HEyHEY]

14. I throw wicked parties be they cocktail or otherwise

The secret is the prostitutes!

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. I used to. They were fun!

And remember, cover all the seats and sofas with things so that no one can sit down. That keeps them standing, and thus mingling, and also makes them WANT to leave in 2 hours or so.

[Iris]

16. Sounds fun. Can I come to the next one?

[SOteric]

17. Yep.

Though often for other people. It's one of this regions more popular ways to entertain for the young, upwardly mobile, professional types and most frequently requested catered event.

[LynzM]

18. Sounds fun!

Maybe we will do that as our house-warming... there aren't enough seats in our place for everyone I'd want to invite, anyway...

[Chan790]

19. .

Cocktail parties: Hell yeah.

[djeseru]

20. I sure miss them.

Went to a few in college.

My step-dad used to have them before I moved in with him and my mother. He also had great pool signs on the fence in the backyard: "Welcome to our ool," etc...

[Left Is Write]

21. Yes, we have given cocktail parties.

We try to give them a vintage atmosphere/feel.

The last time we had one was at holiday time, and we're thinking about throwing another one this year.

[Ivan Sputnik]

22. No. I've only been to the corporate type

where it's basically a press conference with drinks. Ugh.

I remember my parents going to real cocktail parties, all dressed up and with my mother wearing perfume. They always seemed to have had a lot of fun.