What is the big secret behind a great party? As the host you have to arrange that one event smoothly and timely overflows in the other. Therefore, if you are hosting a sit-down dinner you have to get everyone on the dinner table. This smoothly moving from one planned event to the next is very important to keep your guests entertained.
As a host of a party, one of your mayor duties, or works of honor (depends on how you see it yourself) is, that you are a kind of “traffic manager”. Traffic manager sounds very ordinary, but it describes exactly what you need to do if you want to make your party a success. Just take care that the party is not stuck or stands still in the middle of a traffic jam, you have to arrange the escape route. To explain what I mean, I give you this example. Imagine that you are on a party and all guests are invited to sit on the table because dinner is ready. Then it happens; only two or three guests are going to the dining room and the rest is still talking and keeps talking. Now that is a real nightmare to the host. Beware that this never happens to you. Keep moving the traffic, if necessary put a little pressure on it, so that it arrives at the dinner table without any jams.
What does all this talk about “progression” mean, anyway?
Do not worry it is not as difficult as you think. People even gave a name to it, ever heard of “party progression”? When a party takes place in various venues, one usually speaks about a party’s progression. The party progresses from one location to another. Of course that does not mean that the party is going through the whole town, though so called “progressive dinners” in fact are doing that exactly. Progressive dinners move from one person’s house to another for the several courses.
You can imagine that you are doing that kind of party in your own house, by serving the drinks in your living room, take your guests to diner in your dining room and close the party by serving the dessert in your patio. It is proven that this is a very effective trick, first you force the guests to move around and mingle as well, and second it adds a certain interest to the party. If you manage to mingle the individuals and thus meeting each other, while moving them around, then you have a winning party!!!