The Final Fifteen

Before you can look like this:

You’ll have to have had some time like this:

Dean Pollak was at Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and hadn’t realized the Deans had been popular for so long and in places as far flung as Tibet and India. As she rounded the corner, you cannot imagine her shock as she came face to face with herself!

Every competent party host wishes they had eight hands fifteen minutes before the guests arrive. There are a multitude of tasks that cannot be done any sooner than the last minute, and the last fifteen minutes are always crunch time. Getting ice and lemon ready for the bar, uncorking white wine (or sticking it in the freezer because you forgot to chill the bottles), getting the hors d’oeuvres on platters and bowls as well as into and out of the oven, and last but not least, dragging a brush through your hair, putting on your face and getting in your party outfit. Getting dressed has to be last job on your to do list or the debris of party set up will be all over you.

 You want pleasant surprises for your guests all night long (specialty cocktails, one room lit only by candles, two desserts, making a new friend) but none for yourself.  This requires a plan. How are the Deans so sure? We will tell you how: when our party plan is not memorized, whatever is not on the list, does not get done. Vegetables go unroasted, whipped cream stays in the fridge and not on the dessert, champagne goes uncorked.

Host Tips: As frantic as those last fifteen minutes can be, it is just as important to let the tension go once the guests arrive. To be able to relax later, make a plan first, for the novice on paper, but at least in your head. For any help with your plan, contact us and let the Deans help you tweak it. 

Our Most Important Guest Tip: Never ever show up early for a party.