By Tresa Erickson

Feature Writer

The holiday season is fast approaching, and this year, you’re going all out and hosting your first party ever! You’ll need a date, time and location for the party first and then you can start work on the guest list.

Creating a guest list is not always as simple as it sounds. You’ll need a magic number, and for that, you should look to the type of party you are having and where and when you are having it. Having a formal dinner party late in the evening for 100 adults and kids in your small home might not be such a good idea, especially if you’re planning to do all of the work yourself. Formal dinner parties are usually intimate affairs involving adults only. An afternoon buffet-style party catered locally at a nearby banquet hall, on the other hand, might just warrant 100 invitations to people of all ages.

Because the holidays are one of the busiest times of year, not everyone you invite will be able to attend your party, so shoot for a slightly higher number and have a backup list on hand. If you’d like to make dinner for 10 people, invite 15 just to ensure you have a decent crowd. You don’t want to cook for 10 and wind up with only three guests at your dinner table. Provide an RSVP date on the invitations, and should more people decline than accept your invitation, get out that backup list and extend a few more invitations. Just make sure you are discreet about it. You do not want word to get out that you had a backup list and so-and-so was on it. That could lead to no party fast.

With magic number in hand, you can move on to the tricky part-determining whom to invite. To keep the conversation flowing, try to invite people with common interests and make an effort to introduce everyone. Should your party be limited to your closest friends, make sure everyone knows each other. Don’t invite three couples you hang out with regularly and one you see every now and then and expect everyone to have a great time. Chances are the one couple will feel left out, especially when the conversation veers toward events everyone else has shared together.

Watch out for potential conflict. If your great uncle and grandma can’t be in the same room for more than 10 minutes without fighting, chances are they won’t be able to do so at your party. Invite one or the other or neither. In fact, you might want to opt for the latter and leave both names off the guest list to avoid accusations of favoritism. No, it won’t be easy, and you’re likely to receive a few calls about it, but it could save you a lot of trouble later. Who wants their holiday party to be remembered for the big scene caused by a couple of people who couldn’t get along?

Playing favorites is never a good idea with party invites, so do your best to avoid it. Invite your whole work team rather than just a select few, unless you are having a really small affair with just the closest of friends. In that case, it might be best to invite the coworkers with whom you have the best rapport. Just make sure you invite ALL that meet the criteria. You wouldn’t want to slight someone and create tension at the office. Think carefully about the names you write down on your guest list and make certain you select the right ones. One wrong choice, like a supervisor few people get along with, can wreak havoc on the party dynamics.

Never lose sight of the party dynamics, and once you have a rough guest list in place, go over it a few times to make sure there aren’t any potential conflicts or issues. Cross off the names of anyone that might not fit or gel with everyone else. Put some thought into your guest list, and your party is sure to be a rousing success.