Cocktail parties were always traditionally the early part of a dinner party. They were, and still are held mainly for business or corporate gatherings, but can also be for a family and friends get together. The cocktail party has now evolved and has become a theme party in its own right.

Take a look at the following cocktail party ideas to give yourself some suggestions and inspiration:

1. For your invitations, use cardboard to cut out a ladies shoe, a mans suit or a cocktail glass complete with straw and umbrella.

2. If your cocktail party is being charged to the company, then hire out a professional cocktail maker. Just watching them is great entertainment.

3. Otherwise you could place several tables around the venue with the ingredients and instructions so guests can make up their own cocktails. This will provide great entertainment for everybody.

4. For your decorations, I would simply use black and white balloons.

5. If you have a budget, you could hire a butler.

6. For your music, the obvious choices would be Classical or Jazz. Particular favorites would be Bill Evans, Eddie Harris or Tosca.

7. For your food, consider hiring a waiter to serve on trays. Go for finger foods and go through the full range, lots of choice from hors d’ oeuvres right through to desserts. Again, go for small size but lots of choice.

8. Finally the most important part of your cocktail party…cocktails!!! Make sure that you don’t leave anything to chance, so over prepare for everything so that your guests are not disappointed. You will go through an enormous amount of the following; ice, glasses of all shapes and sizes, fruit for garnish, little umbrellas and straws.

9. The most popular cocktails are usually the cosmopolitan, the dirty and many different variants containing martini. So stock up on martini! Also get in plenty of wine and champagne as cocktails will not be to everyones taste. Also get in the usual soft drinks as well as mixers; orange, cranberry, lemon and lime juice.

10. The most important thing to remember though is that the whole point of a cocktail party is that it is meant to be a classy occasion. A little bit of extra expense will go a long way. You should consider the extras such as butlers, waiters, cocktail makers and even a valet to park the cars.

We hope you’ve found some useful tips here. If you would like even more Cocktail Party Ideas then we have many more to make your theme party incredible for everybody. Our Cocktail Party Ideas will help you plan and prepare your party so that you and your guests have the best time possible that you will remember forever. Have fun!