Party preparation ideas for making a party special

Why not make your party a little special? Here’s a few easy ideas to make your celebration a memorable one!

Think theme from beginning to end. Carry your theme through from your invitation to your tablecloth and dishware, decorations, music, and party favor.
Let your invitation set the tone for your party. Will it be fancy and formal or casual and fun?
Save the paper products for the kids. For a formal affair, bring out your best. For casual, use casual dishware or purchase inexpensive white or clear dishes from a store like Linens and Things or Target. If there will be children at the party, go ahead and put paper products for the kids in a pretty basket.
Ditto for wine glasses. Consider purchasing an inexpensive case of wine glasses from a discount store like Target.
Use seasonal place cards to identify the various foods you are serving as well as regular or decaf coffee and hot water.
Display fresh flowers or floral arrangements. If cost is prohibitive, consider purchasing various bunches of inexpensive flowers in a monochromatic theme. Cut the stems short and place each densely packed bunch in a different vase. Either arrange vases in a grouping or line them down the middle of the table interspersed with votive candles.
For a buffet table, display higher/larger centerpieces. For a sit-down dinner, smaller/lower centerpieces.
Be creative and turn something you already own into your centerpiece. Here’s a few to try: fill in the base of a topiary with small ornament balls and tie a pretty bow at the base, float a single flower in a bowl with water; fill a container with glass balls (or other ordinary objects like apples) and water; fill a variety of glass containers with similar items - for example, one with peppermints, one with candy canes, and one with red and white square shaped mints.
If serving a buffet, display your food at varying heights. It can be as simple as placing a lego container upside down under your tablecloth! Try a tiered dessert stand or cake plate for hordeurves.
Also for a buffet, wrap each place setting in a cloth napkin and tie with a pretty ribbon. Set out in a basket on the buffet table.
Give your guests a fun party favor like a burned CD, a small scented candle, chocolate truffles, a gourmet hot chocolate mix, or a Christmas tree ornament for each family. For a holiday party, consider lining your stairs with small poinsettias, and then giving them out as party favors as your guests leave.
For a sit-down dinner, placecards and table decorations can also become party favors. Try a picture frame with your guest’s name in it, an ornament with their name on it tied to a napkin with a pretty ribbon, a wrapped gift centered on their dinner plate, or a glass candy cane hanging from their wine glass.
Purchase personalized paper napkins with your family’s initial. Set them out in your powder room for guest hand towels.
If you don’t want to be left with leftovers, purchase some type of disposable containers like Gladware and send your guests home with your extras.
If you’re having a breakfast or brunch, purchase disposable coffee cups with lids and as your guests leave, offer them a cup of coffee for the road.
If you’re having a cocktail party, set out a large tub of bottled waters for your guests to take with them as they leave. You can decorate the bottles with a silver covered wire with stars on it- available at any party store.