Lots of people get nervous at the thought of throwing a party. Will I be able to make a success of it? Will the food be okay? Will everyone enjoy it? So many questions but at the end of the day the people you invite to a party are supposedly your friends and if they are good friends they will just be happy to see you and anything else will be a bonus, so first of all don't worry so much. If the chicken ended up by being burnt because you forgot to take it out of the oven in time I'm sure your friends would have a laugh when you said 'That's it, we have a total disaster on our hands in the kitchen and telepizza are arriving in 15 minutes with the back-up meal!!!'.

But seriously, to try and make it work out the best it can you must first decide who you are going to invite. Invite friends that you know all more or less get along with each other. It's not a good idea to ask the ex's of people or you might end up with having a few tense moments during the party and that for starters spoils things!

Decide on the menu. It's a good idea to choose one that allows you to cook as many of the items a day or two before (just having to be warmed up on the night) which then allows you more time on the day to do other things.

Lay a nice table. If your home is small, lay the plates, knives and forks, napkins, glasses, condiments, drinks etc on a buffet table (with a pretty white table cloth) where everone can help themselves. If you have a large home and are going to have everyone sitting down, think of a colour scheme for the table and put a nice arrangement of flowers as well.

You must then think of the music which is one of the most important things to give an atmosphere to any kind of a party. Begin, as your guests start arriving, with nice melodious background music. Don't have it too loud as everyone wants to talk to eachother and you just want it there in the background to give the ambiance. After dinner you can then slightly turn the volume up, dim the lights down a little if you have that facility, and start to put on music that will have your guests starting to move their feet up and down as they talk. Your aim is to get some of them dancing as when people end up dancing they always have a great time.

If you succeed in getting them dancing then forget about worrying any more. You have a success on your hands and you can let your hair loose, forget about everything and just enjoy the party with your friends because you can be sure that if they are dancing they are doing just that.