Letitia Baldrige Quotes

A cocktail party is what you call it when you invite everyone you know to come over to your house at six p.m., put cigarettes out on your rug, and leave at eight to go somewhere more interesting for dinner without inviting you.

To get fifty people to a cocktail party in New York, you ask one hundred. In Hollywood, you invite twenty.

I like the creativity of planning a party, or cooking and taking care of people, creating a memorable meal or event.

Entertaining on any scale can be stressful and daunting.

The most important thing for having a party is that the hostess is having fun. I'm very organized. I make a plan for absolutely everything. I never have anything that has to be cooked while the guests are there. The only thing I might have to do is take something out of the oven and carve it.

My best hostess tip is to have good food and really good music!

I threw a big-ass party. It turned out a bit different from Perry's [in That's Ordinary World], but it was pretty nuts. It wasn't me that threw it though, my wife threw me a surprise party. So [unlike Selma Blair's character] she didn't forget.

There must be some good in the cocktail party to account for its immense vogue among otherwise sane people.

Getting last-minute cancellations can put a black cloud over an event before it has even started. If it's a large, casual cocktail party, then I'll often not say anything until the next day. But if you're not able to make it to a small, seated dinner, you have to call the host - there's nothing worse than an empty chair at a table.

I don't give parties, and I'm not in that social scene. I couldn't care less.

The cocktail party - as the name itself indicates - was originally invented by dogs. They are simply bottom-sniffings raised to the rank of formal ceremonies.

One cannot have too large a party. A large party secures its own amusement.

If you feel compelled to give a New Year's Eve party, don't invite people to arrive too early or they'll go off the boil before midnight.

Large cocktail parties are an infamous technique for ridding yourself of social obligations to people you usually don't know well or like much, which is such an unpromising beginning that I've rarely known one that recovered and turned into a great party.

I misremember who first was cruel enough to nurture the cocktail party into life. But perhaps it would be not too much to say, in fact it would be not enough to say, that it was not worth the trouble.

Is he having a party?" "Dorian is a sociable king. He likes keeping people around him, mostly so he can mock them.

My dinner party,' Miles grated. 'It's just breaking up.' And sinking. All souls feared lost.

If I host something, even if it's just dinner at my house, I like the event to move. So that means cocktails in the family room, and then moving outside and having appetizers on the patio, and then moving to dinner at the dining table. It's just the idea of the event being curated to every little detail.

I love a themed occasion - it provides endless possibilities for the menu, decorations and drinks pairings.

Every great summer party starts with a list. Throwing something together chaotically ends up being more work than taking 15 minutes to make a plan first.

I can't have a party without deviled eggs.

Oh, I suppose my wife and I will open a bottle of champagne with another couple.

The last time I went back to a girl's house for an impromptu house party I spent most of the night straightening out rugs, putting down coasters and alphabetising DVDs while all around me people got off with whoever was closest and gradually headed off to various rooms to make more mess, no doubt.

As my guests leave even my most simple parties, I consistently hear the same thing: 'That was the best time I ever had,' and it's always me saying it. But I do know in my heart they all feel the same way, probably.

Making out an invitation list for a party brings out the worst in everyone. It is then that our most ruthless estimates of the people we know come into play.