You’re just dying to throw the most fab-yoo-lous Oscar viewing party for all your friends but, unlike the big Hollywood stars, you don’t have a superstar party planner to turn to for advice. Lucky for you, Hollywood.com has tapped the imaginative brain of one of the stars’ favorite creators of chi-chi soirees, Randie Pellegrini of Cordially Invited.
One of Tinseltown’s most in-demand wedding and event planners, Randie’s crafted the as-seen-on-MTV nuptials for Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro, bat-biting Beverly Hills blowouts for the Osbournes, Grammy parties for music label giant BMG, special events for Creative Artists Agency, financier Kirk Kerkorian, InStyle magazine, and many more. Here’s what she suggests:
1. Make sure your party shouts awards. Incorporate your own version of the red carpet, with klieg lights, paparazzi flashbulbs, etc.
2. Build a dinner party around a meal served in one or more of the nominated films, or design every new course to symbolize a certain celebrity.
3. Keep the show running on the biggest TV screen you have, and tune it in on screens in different rooms so guests can always keep their eyes on the awards yet still socialize.
4. Provide a fun giveaway: Hand out your own awards in categories you choose, or give each guest a trophy souvenir to take home.
5. Create a game around predicting the awards. Winning guests receive a kitschy prize or have to perform a party-making stunt, like give their own acceptance speech, or sing along with one of the nominated songs.
6. Serve a signature cocktail designed around one of the nominated movies or stars: whiskey-spiked “Cold Mountain Lemonade” or pewter mugs of mead for LOTR fans.
7. Hire a limo to deliver your guests and provide an extra air of glamour–not to mention a safe ride home.
8. If your party is adults-only, offer to help provide a babysitter. Or, decorate a themed kids’ room with plenty of entertainment to keep the tots occupied and the adults free to relax.
9. Always serve a fabulous dessert–it’s the key ingredient to getting a big thumbs-up from your guests.
10. Above all, focus on hospitality. Make all introductions, and plan your party around your guests’ likes and dislikes. Go beyond the call of duty to make sure every detail is handled.
Most important of all…have fun!
