Article: No party is complete without food -- if you want your guests to stick around, provide food. But you also don't want to spend the next three days glued to the kitchen, so what do you do? The party has to be fun for the host, too!  Consider a DIY-style food service. Have all the ingredients for tacos, sundaes, breakfast, or anything your heart could imagine. And it's another element of fun for your guests when they feel like they're doing something, it gives them something to talk about and enjoy. Have finger foods available for guests as soon as they enter. Something they can pop in their mouth in the blink of eye. They'll be content from moment one! Anything from veggies to chips to fruit to cheese to dessert is good! Also, finger food is easy and quick to prepare, too. Think DOA -- drinks on arrival. Just like the food, you want your guests sated as soon as possible. Having something to drink from the get-go allows you freedom from worrying about serving, in addition to all your other responsibilities as people trickle in.  You could have a signature drink for the entire night (matching the color theme?) Just for the record, having a bowl of punch is efficient and tasty, and you could also have DIY cocktails too (set up everything for martinis with a little instruction sheet in the corner, for example). Or just a big ol' tub of alcohol and soda! Take care of your DDS, if you have them. Don't relegate them to drinking water or Diet Coke. Have flavored syrups available for homemade soda, or splash up that tonic water with fruit juices and garnishes. Arrange it so that you won't be distracted from being a good host/hostess by the need to tend to the music. Putting your iPod on shuffle just means something embarrassing like the Oklahoma! soundtrack will start playing or worse, someone will steal your iPod. So set up music that keeps it pumping and that no one will be walking away with. Wireless speakers are a good investment if you don't already have them. Design a playlist now of all songs that meet your party needs. This is a great activity for a committee and the committee members can include their teenage children to help! Make sure the playlist is long enough so repeating will go unnoticed. When the party rolls around, you hit "play" and your DJ-ing job is done! This is another good activity for a decorations committee. Your theme should make this a lot easier -- once you know it, you can narrow down what you need and let the committee handle it. If you don't want traditional decorations, use tablecloths and/or place-mats and the like,  for easy clean up. Here's a bare minimum checklist of things to have:  Tablecloth and/or placemats Matching plates/cutlery/napkins Centerpiece for table(s) Lights Party favors, seating tags, drink tags, etc. Your home probably isn't ideally set up for a party yet. You want easy access to the bathroom, the food and drinks from just about anywhere, and loads of lounging space. So where will everything be? Do you have enough chairs? How about the music? Make sure everything you DON'T want messed with doesn't get messed with if you're in a location that has important or necessary items for it organization. So, designate a catch-all space for all things that your guests are not welcome to get near; breakable goods, antiques, valuables. If you have a small guest list and know exactly who is coming, consider having a few personalized items to make them feel special and to remember the party. It can simply be a specially-decorated cupcake, a table centerpiece, a favorite dish, or a glass that's all their own. If you're using the same glassware, have a drink marker to identify their drink with as a simple, personalized touch. These can take the place of name tags. Never have over 20 people in a room without some type of name tags and a mingler game! With all the labels and things you can print off the Internet, you have no excuse! We're not going to beat around the bush here: if you're having a party with alcohol, children or teens drunk proof and kid proof everything. You'll regret not doing so way before morning when it rears its ugly head. Lock doors that you do not want children behind unchaperoned or provide a chaperoned area. Get the pillows and Advil ready and have the carpet cleaner on standby  It's your party, so you are responsible for your guests. If drunk driving is an issue, take their keys when they arrive. Hide them and only give them back when they're sober enough to drive. You're not being a square -- you're saving your butt if something were to go wrong. ALWAYS have a clean-up committee. What's worse than a great party and a huge mess to clean up afterward? A good party and a huge mess to clean up afterward with no cleaning supplies. So when you're buying your cream cheese and vodka, take a gander through the cleaning section. You'll need some paper towels, some garbage bags, some sponges, and some cleaning spray, if you don't already have these. Ideally, you've roped a few friends into helping you clean up afterward. Either that or you've prepared a really effective guilt trip for them before they walk out the door. Even seen clean up games for adults where groups are assigned areas and the winning group gets a nice prize. You're a good guest to them, right?

What is a summary?
Figure out the food. Plan the drinks. Plan the music. Buy or make decorations. Plan your set-up. Consider personalized items. Drunk proof your location. Don't forget to plan clean up!