Give your guests adequate warning. Two or three weeks before your party is a good time to issue invitations. A themed evening is a lot of fun, but something as simple as ‘come over for cocktails’ will always go down well. Bear in mind that your guests need to eat: plan your event before dinner and provide food afterwards, or ask guests over after dinner (which means at least 8 pm).

Ask your friends to dress up a bit. You will all have more fun. Clean the house up a bit beforehand and make sure it smells nice: aromatic oils or scented candles work well. Make sure the lighting is low. Put Louis or Lady Day on the stereo.

Provide nibblies. Make them small enough to pop into a lipsticked mouth in one go, or else supply little plates and plenty of horizontal space and coasters so that your friends can put their drinks down. Savouries are best before dinner; sweets, fruits and cheeses are popular afterwards.

A cocktail night can be very expensive. In Australia it is okay to ask very good friends to ‘bring a bottle’ but do specify what sort of bottle, whether it be a spirit or a mixer. If you are inviting people you don’t know well, do cover the costs yourself.

The best way to save your sanity is to have a pre-planned cocktail list. Blossom’s rule is to have no less than three options (one of which should be non-alcoholic) and no more than eight (two of which should be non-alcoholic). More than that and you run the risk of unbridled experimentation on the part of your friends. If this is not the point of the evening, it generally leads to a Bad Cocktail Experience

Have fun: print your cocktail list on little cards for your friends to peruse, or else get a blackboard for your ‘drinks specials’.

If you have only three drinks on your list go for one sweet, one dry and one mocktail.

If you have more than three, aim for a mix of sweet and fruity, sweet and creamy, citrussy, dry, and non-alcoholic. If people are cautious they can stick with mixers such as lemonade, champagne and mineral water.

Try to limit the number of different liquors that you use. A good cocktail list includes no more than two spirits, no more than three liqueurs, and assorted mixers. Try a vodka-and-rum night, or a gin-and-whiskey-and-cointreau night. Add mixers such as sparking wine, vermouth, soft drinks and fruit juices. Limiting your ingredients will encourage you to get creative—and not break your budget!

Don’t forget that you need sufficient glasswear to allow your guests to sample their drinks at leisure. If you need to, ask guests to keep track of their own glasses, and include those sweet little widgets for keeping track of stemmed glasses.

Try to organize your party such that before your guests arrive you have the following ready to go: trays with a few pre-mixed drinks so there isn't a queue at the bar or mixing station (don’t forget glasses and napkins); nibblies in an easily accessed place with small plates or napkins; a fridge or icebox in which your friends can place their beverage offerings; a place for guests’ coats and handbags.

If your friends and guests are smokers and you don’t like smoking in your home, don’t turf the poor things into the cold or make them feel bad for their habit. Provide an outdoors smoking area that is sheltered and comfortable. Ensure that there are ashtrays and matches available. A very thoughtful touch is to add a bottle of port or brandy and a few snifters. Do everything you can to make all of your guests as comfortable as possible all the time. Remember to keep a taxi company phone number handy!