For our last party in our Nashville home, I wanted to create a beautiful and memorable spread, so today I am sharing some of my favorite “Party Planning Tips” to make your next cocktail hour equally as picture perfect and memorable! Here they are…

1. While picking up store bought things like cupcakes {these are from Gigi’s} is a great time saver, I always like to whip up at least one home-made item {like this yummy guacamole}. Served alongside Food Should Taste Good jalapeño or lime chips you will have some happy guests {I love that their tortilla chips are gluten-free!}! Equally as fun is a home-made cocktail; I have lots of great recipes here.
2. I always make a bright and beautiful flower arrangement! Here I chose three different flowers all in the same shade of pink; ranunculus, tulips, and peonies {here’s a closer look on my instagram}.
3. Rather than placing wine glasses directly on my coffee table, I like to dress up my display by placing them on a tray {here’s a tray similar to mine with gold detail}.
4. While you want ample space for food, I still like to leave a little space for decor. A stack of coffee table books, a pretty candle, or a starburst object will have guests overly impressed by your chic decor. {And if you are tight on space, place one of your food platters on top of your book stack, kind of like a cake stand!}
5. I always label my spread. Rather than explaining what’s in my appetizers {especially with all of the allergies circulating these days}, I let people know what everything is with cute place cards. {How cute are these mini chalkboard signs or these black and white striped cards!}
6. I make my life easier by placing extra bottles of wine and bubbly in an easily accessible location so guests can help themselves rather than browsing my pantry or fridge. Not featured here, I usually have an ice bucket chilling the next bottle. Don’t forget to have a wine opener handy or pre-cork it!
7. I am all about the gold details. I placed a cup full of drink stirrers {just as much decorative as useful} next to my drinks {how cute are the ones featured here from White Elephant Designs, they are little animal figurines!}. Then, since I am clearly going with a gold vibe, I chose stemware with gold rims to match the spread {shop them here}!
8. I love out of the norm display bowls for my chips and dips. How fun is this three section server which I used to display three different types of Food Should Taste Good tortilla chips! Or how pretty is the bowl that I used for my guac {similiar}. It’s one I usually have on display so it was fun to get some real use out of it!

All that’s left is a stack of cocktail napkins and a good play list! Cheers to that!

Thanks to Food Should Taste Good for sponsoring this post.