Entertaining / Holidays - with Enthusiasm, Taste, and Style

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Entertaining / Holidays

with Enthusiasm, Taste, and Style

COLLIN MILES

Rags to Riches Entertainment Group

An imprint of Aauvi House Publishing Group

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Published by Aauvi House Publishing Group at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Collin Miles

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

E-ISBN: Smashwords Edition

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While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

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Titles by Collin Miles

Socialite – Make Your Life Fabulous and Enjoy What Life Has to Offer

Home and Car Impressions – Harmonizing Your Home and Car with Your Lifestyle

Entertaining / Holidays – with Enthusiasm, Taste, and Style

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Contents

Book Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

1 – Event Planning

2 – Orchestrating the Whole Affair

3 – Invitations and Thank You Notes

4 – Hosting Parties or Making an Entrance

5 – Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch or Dinner

6 – Holidays and Special Occasions

7 – Afternoon Teas and Cocktail Parties

8 – Champagne, Wine Tasting, Caviar

9 – Weekend Getaways

10 – Themes – Events, Parties, Holidays

Closing Remarks

End of Book

About the Author

About the Publisher

Books by Aauvi House

Excerpts by Aauvi House

Credits

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Introduction

In its brief history, Aauvi House Publishing Group has become the new it marketers of information-based lifestyle solutions in the self-help and how-to markets for all age groups. Reinforcing a belief that living a planned extraordinarily fulfilled lifestyle is of paramount importance to its readers.

The Insiders’ Lifestyle Guides series is a first, of a twenty-one book series, that will be revised and re-launched periodically with all new material. These books feature famous themed cities represented by the book covers and include an introduction comprising a short story about its featured city. Annually, the series guides will be rolled up as chapter inserts into a single book and sold during the holiday season.

Anyone who desires the secrets to A-list living, values their appearance, is concerned about lifestyle or just needs more information can benefit from reading and continually referring back to the Insiders’ Lifestyle Guides series. Each book – practical in its approach – is full of facts that teach you how to make the most of your life, how to achieve peak performance, and how to maintain general health. In short, the Aauvi House Publishing Group, Rags to Riches Entertainment imprint’s ability to offer its readers a more complete and concise migration path to an extraordinary red carpet lifestyle, just got better.

Information Is Timeless

Everyone holds a secret desire to be part of the A-list seeking a confident, fashionable, and extraordinary life. These series guides make transformation routine to which all men and women will relate.

Actionable Strategies

The Insiders’ Lifestyle Guides series contains specific strategies in each book and edition that can transform lives. It details social skills of boosting confidence, replacing bad habits, and re-inventing one’s self. These books will appeal to professionals, parents, and generations of young adults.

About the Authors

The Insiders’ Lifestyle Guides series are written by a team of contributing authors, all of whom have a witty, quirky, slapstick appeal.

About Our Cover Story – Philadelphia

Since jet setting is part of such a grand lifestyle, the Insiders’ Lifestyle Guides series theme includes a cultural or travel experience with every book. That is, between promotional junkets, film festivals and red carpet appearances, celebrities can rack up as many frequent-flyer miles as they do trips to rehab. And so can you, once you have an insider bird’s eye view of the possibilities.

Whether traveling by plane or virtually by way of these pages, our cover story, Philadelphia Pennsylvania and its water views; majestic view of the Philadelphia skyline along the Schuylkill river. In the center, appears evidence of the skyscraper-building boom that occurred after 1987, when a height restriction for Philadelphia buildings was lifted. Prior to that time, architects agreed that no Center City structure would climb higher than the statue of the city’s founder, William Penn, sitting on top of City Hall Tower with its lighted clock.

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the fifth-most-populous city in the United States. It is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, and it is the only consolidated city-county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 Census, the city had a population of 1,526,006. Philadelphia is the economic and cultural center of the Delaware Valley, home to six million people. Popular nicknames for Philadelphia are Philly and The City of Brotherly Love, the latter of which comes from the literal meaning of the city’s name in Greek.

In 1682, William Penn founded the city to serve as capital of Pennsylvania Colony. By the 1750s it was the largest city and busiest port in British America. During the American Revolution, Philadelphia played an instrumental role as a meeting place for the Founding Fathers of the United States, who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787. Philadelphia was one of the nation’s capitals during the Revolutionary War, and the city served as the temporary U.S. capital while Washington, D.C. was under construction.

About Entertaining / Holidays

There is something great about A-list living and Entertaining / Holidays, the fourteenth book of a twenty-one book series, is one more step to achieving a high society life. Style is not related to money, it is about the attitude we have toward one another and ourselves. We entertain to bring people together and show one another that we care.

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Event Planning

Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, concert, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates, selecting and reserving the event site, acquiring permits, and coordinating transportation and parking. Event planning also includes some or all of the following, depending on the event:

Developing a theme or motif for the event.

Arranging for speakers and alternate speakers.

Coordinating location support (such as electricity and other utilities).

Arranging décor, tables, chairs, tents, event support and security, catering, police, fire, portable toilets, parking, signage, emergency plans, health care professionals, and cleanup.

Event Planning Services

The first step to planning an event is determining its purpose, whether it is for a wedding, company, birthday, festival, graduation or any other event requiring extensive planning. From this, the event planner needs to choose entertainment, location, guest list, speakers, and content.

The location for events is endless, but with event planning they would likely be held at hotels, convention centers, reception halls, or outdoors depending on the event. Once the location is set the event coordinator or planner needs to prepare the event with staff, set up the entertainment, and keep contact with the client.

After all this is set the event planner has all the smaller details to address like set up of the event such as food, drinks, music, guest list, budget, advertising and marketing, decorations – all this preparation is what is needed for an event to run smoothly. Therefore, an event planner needs to be able to manage their time wisely for the event, and the length of preparation needed for each event so it is a success.

Event Planning Checklist

This Event Planning Checklist was developed to assist the professional event planner when they are organizing business-related events. Not all items on the Checklist will be relevant to every function.

In later chapters, we will be discussing more intimate affairs, without the services of event planners or party services.

Event Planning Checklist

Type of Event

Conference

Lecture

Meeting

Panel Discussion

Reading

Reading/Book Signing

Symposium

Workshop

Other _____

Contact Person (usually chair of organizing committee)

Name

Address

Telephone number/fax number

E-mail

Committee

Members (include telephone numbers and e-mail addresses)

Meeting schedule

Distribution of responsibilities

Budget

Source of funds

Accounts required (for example: travel, entertainment, accommodations, honoraria, posters, printing, flowers, labor, office supplies, photographer, disability accommodations, etc.)

Space Reservations

Location(s) for event – consider capacity requirements

Location for reception

Location for dinner

Harsh weather contingency plans

Disability Access and Accommodations for Speakers, Special Guests, and Participants

Access accommodation notice on announcements and invitations, when appropriate. (Examples: Please list any disability accommodations needed; For disability accommodations, please call …)

Accessible location

Special transportation

Accessible hotel room

Lowered podium

Wheelchair access to stage

Special seating section

Sign language interpreter/communication assistance

Alternatives to print materials

Speaker/Panelists

Invitation

Background information (resume, social security number, publicity photograph, title of lecture (if applicable), audio and video release forms (if applicable), background reading material (if applicable)

Speaker’s/panelists’ agent contact information, if any, including telephone numbers

Honorarium

Venue escort(s)

Travel plans

Accommodations

Ground transportation between airport/ train station and venue

Venue shuttle transportation

Parking/parking passes

Identify individual to introduce speaker/ panelists at event and/or moderate panel

Thank you/honorarium and expense reimbursement

Special Guests

Invitations

Travel plans

Venue escorts

Accommodations

Ground transportation between airport/ train station and venue

Venue shuttle transportation

Parking/parking passes

Follow-up, if necessary, after event

Invitations

Design and print

Guest list

Include venue map on invitation or enclose

Response deadline date

Person/telephone number to whom to respond

Internal distribution, if appropriate

Extra invitations for archive files

Name and telephone number of contact person

Dinners/Receptions

Budget

Catering services

Menu-planning (mindful of dietary restrictions)

Number of tables and chairs for dining

Number of chairs at head table

Flowers

Linens

Final guest count

Place cards

Host/Emcee

Schedule of evening/timeline

Podium and microphone

Photographer

Coat rack

Registration

Tables, chairs, linens

Name tags

Conference/meeting information packet, pencils, pens

Gifts/takeaways (if desired)

Information table

Trash receptacles

Coat racks

Book Signing

Bookstore providing books/service

Location for book signing

Podium and microphone, if required

Table for books, chair, linens, flowers

Table, chair for author

Cashier

Cashbox, cash for change

Distribution of funds after event

Publicity

e-Digest

The Gate (previously News and Events)

Smith online calendar

Venue calendar and/or local media calendars

AV Needs

Overhead projector

Slide projector

Data projector

CD player

DVD player

Laserdisc player

VHS/videocassette player

Audiocassette player

Laptop

Video-Audio Taping

Permission of speaker/presenter

Sound Needs

Podium with microphone

Lavaliere (small clip-on microphone)

Microphones for panel

Lighting Needs

Special requests

Platform/Room Setup

Water bottles, glasses

Table (panel discussion)

Linens (including skirting) for table

Chairs (on stage)

Microphones

Physical layout to venue

Podium spray (flowers)

Smith Banner

Bulletin boards, chalkboards, easels, large writing pads, pens

Additional Publicity

Posters

News Release

Daily Jolt

The Gate

e-Digest

Postcards to venue mailboxes

Additional Staff Assistance

Venue staff requests

Dining services

Media services requests

Public safety – police and fire

Security

Ushers/greeters

Reserved Seating

Press section, reserved special-guest seating

Signage

Special-needs section

Miscellaneous

Thank You Notes

Event Planning as a Career

Event planning is a relatively new career field. There is now training that helps one trying to break into the career field. There must be training for an event planner to handle all the pressure and work efficiently. This career deals with a lot of communication and organization aspects. There are many different names for an event planner such as a conference coordinator, a convention planner, a special event coordinator, and a meeting manager.

Event planners’ work is considered either stressful or energizing. This line of work is also considered fast paced and demanding. Planners face deadlines and communicating with multiple people at one time. Planners spend most of their time in offices, but when meeting with clients the work is usually on-site at the location where the event is taking place. Some physical activity is required such as carrying boxes of materials and decorations or supplies needed for the event.

Also, long working hours can be a part of the job. The day the event is taking place could start as early as 5:00 a.m. and then work until midnight. Working on weekends is sometimes required, which is when many events take place.

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Orchestrating the Whole Affair

Meticulous planning, comfortable digs, elaborate platters may be important to your reputation as a host, but vital to it is your understanding that every prearranged drinking session calls for two kinds of acts: The first is mixing beverages; the second, mixing people.

Whether you are serving spirits, beer, wine or non-alcoholic beverages, whether they are frosty coolers or frothy punches, their purpose is to create fun and peace. As for guests – whether friends, family, colleagues or acquaintances – all should be carefully blended in your mind beforehand, and during the party re-blended in the most stimulating proportions. To this end, as a good host you need, first and always, to be a resourceful mind reader.

You should start with the proposition that friends who are warm toward you are not necessarily warm toward each other. Mindful of this kind of sensitive interplay, you’ll naturally choose for small gatherings, guests who’ll be as compatible as gin and tonic. For larger parties, two or three abrasive acquaintances may provide just the right chemistry needed to transform a low-key party into an exciting party – like yeast in small quantities, they often guarantee the lively but controlled fermentation on which good parties rise. In any event, guests – however diverse – who share wisely chosen drinks do become compatible. Arriving whether as friends or strangers, they leave with a glowing feeling, having found the same warm company.

The Guest List

After drawing up your guest list, it’s best, except for the most formal parties, to telephone invitations or to make them in person. Not only are they warmer and more immediate, but they make it possible to convey additional information about the nature of the party – how many people will be there, what to wear and if a meal will be served. And it’s always advisable to send those few dreamy acquaintances in every crowd a written follow-up.

Most guests at a party will relax only if the host him or herself can unwind. You should take care of all preliminaries hours before or, if possible, the day before the event. Amassing ice cubes, polishing brandy snifters, shopping, cooking, marinating, table setting, choosing music for the party, setting out cocktail napkins, or hiring party help to do it for you – these are some of the jobs that must be attended to beforehand if you want to enjoy yourself at your own party.

If it’s going to be a smallish get-together for no more than five or six couples, you’ll probably be able to handle the drinks and food yourself, without having to spend half your time in the kitchen or behind the bar. But if you’re planning a grand gala for more than 12, you’ll be well advised to arrange for outside help – unless you want to make do with premixed punch and prepared finger food.

A few duties may have to be held off to the last moment. If, for instance, on a cold day you’re planning to serve Irish coffee, buy the whiskey, the fresh coffee and heavy cream the day before. The cream should be whipped and stored in the refrigerator about a half hour before the guests arrive; the coffee should be ground at the same time; the coffeemaker should be filled and ready to go but not plugged in until the last moment.

Rehearsing the Party

Another key to relaxation for the thoughtful host is simply rehearsing. If, for instance, you’re concocting a wine cup you’ve never made before, or a punch, it’s a good idea to swizzle up a half pint or so the day before the party. Even if you’re going to use a tried and tested recipe, a quick run-through can be useful; you may be using different gin than you formerly used, or the lemons may not be as tart in the fall as in the spring. The practice run gives you the polish and assurance that every skillful host enjoys.

If you’re planning a party to start at three o’clock on a weekend afternoon, set your bedside alarm for an early hour in the morning rather than noontime; it’ll take longer than you think to wrap up all the last-minute details. You’ll be doing yourself and your guests another favor if you not only write out a checklist beforehand, but also consult it long before party time. All such checklists are only worth the paper they’re written on unless they’re checked and carried out. And make sure those bunches of watercress that were so hard to find are actually decorating the platters of cold cuts and not buried in the refrigerator for you to stumble over next week.

Greeting the Guests

When the guests arrive, remind yourself that no matter how busy you are, everyone appreciates a friendly word of welcome at the door. Shake the hands of your guests. Add a gracious kiss on the cheek if appropriate for those guests who are acquaintances.

Expect that each guest will arrive thirsty and hungry – and offer drinks within moments, trays of hors d’oeuvres within minutes. Since the greeting of guests at the door and first-round dispensing of drinks is always fast-moving, it’s a good idea to have a friend or your significant other act as cohost. The load is lightened, of course, if you’ve hired a