Five Square Feet For Every Guest

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30630, 22 December 1964, Page 13

Five Square Feet For Every Guest

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) TORONTO. If you want your guests to be comfortable at your Christmas party, you should allow about five square feet of space for each. Draw up the guest list, too, with an eye to mixing and matching people carefully—to ensure that they will have something to say to one another. The type of party you give will depend on the type of guests whom you are inviting. That will also determine the cost. Hints to planning are given by Claire Dreier, an expert in wedding planning, who notes, for example, that any good reference book will tell you that two slices of bread make four party sandwiches, and that people eat about three • sandwiches and a half each. Next, she says, it is important to “get organised so that you have absolutely everything ready, including the sandwiches. The successful hostess is not one who has to keep running into the kitchen.” Partly to keep people on the move instead of standing still in their five feet of space, put the bar, if there is one, in the farthest position from the door, and scatter plates of food around the room. “If you are serving a buffet dinner, arrange your furniture round the room so people can sit in groups. Serve both tea and coffee, and if you are saving space, you can serve it from the kitchen. Bring it in on small trays, and get someone to

help you by serving the cream and sugar. Use lump sugar at a party. “Serve hot things hot and cold things cold, and have plenty of ice for beverages. Make sure that you have enough of everything. “If you have a specialty in food, always serve it. If you are trying something new, try it on yourself the first time, never on guests. Do not apologise for what you serve. After all, you choose it.” If you see someone sitting alone, help him and help your party by putting him to work. Ask him to pass sandwiches, empty ash trays, or serve coffee. As hostess, you should find time to spend a relaxed few minutes with each one of your guests. If you are giving a big party, introduce the first few arrivals to one another, and after that introduce newcomers only to the few people nearest to you. Big party or small, you must be available to greet all your guests. Finally, Miss Dreier suggests, a glamorous party can be fun. Women guests enjoy having an excuse to wear their newest dress. Car Rolls Over.—When turning from Hansons lane into Haynes avenue about 1 a.m. on Sunday a car driven by Clive William Bruhns, of 76 Greenpark road, rolled over. A passenger, Pamela Whitta, of 31 Ballantyne avenue, suffered head injuries and lacerations and was admitted to the Christchurch Hospital. Mr Bruhns was treated for head and arm injuries.