cosvteorry
Let’s
How to throw
WE’VE OFTEN THOUGHT DECEMBER SHOULD BE
designated National To-Do List Month. You’ve got to shop
for presents, send cards, decorate the house, make travel plans, bake cookies … whew! It’s no wonder that “throw a a great holiday
holiday party” is often way down there after “knit the dog a holiday sweater”—or doesn’t make the list at all. gathering,
And yet, a warm, festive, friends-and-family-filled evening can be a wonderful gift to both your guests and yourself, and without the
it’s not as difficult to pull off as you might think. When we moved from the small-town South to Manhattan a dozen years bah humbug
ago, we shared an apartment with a kitchen so small it could
barely fit us both. We had demanding new jobs and scanty bank BY LAUREN PURCELL
accounts. We owned exactly eight wineglasses, and those were
AND ANNE PURCELL GRISSINGER
mismatched. But none of that deterred us—in fact, just the
opposite: It inspired us to devise practical strategies for throwing stylish, successful parties without hiring a caterer, hocking
the jewelry or having a nervous breakdown!
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
EDWIN FOTHERINGHAM
Here’s our primer for the ultimate holiday get-together.
