Entertaining One's Pals

I got a bit squiffy the other day and invited a host of my chums to help me embrace my next decade 'with insouciance and style'. I failed to think through the catering arrangements or what will happen if rain stops play in the garden so I am leaving things to the Fates and hoping they'll be kind.

Here are some possible strategies for having a good time, most of which I've had to discount unfortunately. (Like hiring a band of wandering musicians/minstrels)



Lavender umbrellas and someone to serve the drinks





Inviting celebrities of the order of Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh





Setting up discreet corners for flirting and gossip (This incidentally is Mrs. Gerald Legge who would one day become Raine Countess Spencer, Princess Diana's stepmother)




Finding creative solutions to the table's centrepiece




Asking beautiful people and letting them just chill out




Borrowing a tapestry for the party mis en scene





Classing things up with the odd debutante




Allowing people to feel at ease (under a Goya portrait destined to reside in the Metropolitan Museum of Art)




Or simply inviting everyone to pay homage at a levée


All these images taken from Slim Aarons: Once Upon A Time pub. Getty Images and Harry N Abrams Inc New York, 2003