Real Simple Party Formula

It’s a good bet to buy this magazine JUST for the holiday gift ideas, but it’s also chock full of other good stuff too. Best little black dress, holiday decor ideas, stress free party planning, and thought provoking essays for this reflective time of year.

My favorite article though is the one on stress-free party planning. As an Organic Freedom, planning is not my strong suit. I’m much better at throwing something together at the last minute and letting things be. And the most stress-free parties I’ve thrown have usually involved very little planning. The years that I decide that I’m going to order some coffee and donuts from Dunkin Donuts, let the kids run wild and the grownups gather around the dining-room table are the best and most memorable parties I’ve had as of late. The stress ones? High-concept, big planning, highly structured. Not my thing.

So while I love their ideas for throwing a stress-free party — make easy, impressive foods, go old school punch, rent a coat rack, etc. — I do think you need to take your personality into account (and the personalities of your friends) when throwing a party.

PixiesDidIt! doesn’t talk to much about extraversion vs. introversion because so often as women and Americans, we are pushed to be extraverted no matter what the cost! Remember class, participation is 50% of your grade! So what I have found as an introvert is that a party that can fit around my dining room table is as big as I’m going to enjoy. My favorite get-togethers involve two to 12 people, tops. I enjoy in depth conversations with a couple of people rather than a bunch of people more.

I don’t mind cocktail parties, but I tend to stay longer so I can have longer more in depth conversations, plus I get more comfortable the longer a party goes on (maybe it’s because there are less people at the end?) But also when I’m a guest I can just relax and enjoy the configurations and conversations that happen. I’ve also gotten better as I get older of not feeling bad if I need to extricate myself from a boring guest or I’ve commandeered someone the whole night. Usually I’ve already scoped out their personality type and made sure they don’t need to extricate themselves from me!

I don’t like throwing cocktail parties myself because as the hostess I feel like I need to have meaningful conversations with all my guests. And this means I can never relax and just have fun in the moment, I always need to be planning the next conversation. This has everything to do with me being and Organic Freedom. It’s harder for me to plan, and harder for me to let go of the illusion that everyone at the party wants to have a meaningful interaction with me! Plus, the energy it takes me to interact with so many people after I’ve been planning this party for so long is really hard. So, I like the dinner party!

Tomorrow I will be throwing Thanksgiving for 7 to 12 people (Yeah I don’t know the final head count!) But I will have enough for everyone and it’s a party I’ve thrown many times before so it’s not so much planning as relying on past experience to craft my present, which is my favorite thing to do as an Organic Freedom.

What’s your party planning type and your strategies for having fun at your own party?