Before thinking about the content of your evening you need to book the right venue for your party. Whether you book a hotel function room, a grand marquee or just a church hall, you must be sure that the catering arrangements are suitable for the range of guests you will be inviting.

Hotels are well capable of providing a hot meal or buffet but sometimes need a little persuasion to provide a range of food for a wide enough range of tastes. If you are hiring a marquee or church hall you will need to organise the catering yourself, but at least you will be sure to get what you want!

Having booked the venue, the next thing to do is book your entertainment. A live band is a good place to start. Because of the range of ages likely to be invited - aunts, uncles nephews and nieces as well as your immediate family, its a good idea to book a band who would describe themselves as a function band.

This should reassure you that they will have the range of songs in their repertoire to cater for a wide range of tastes.

Consider also hiring a table magician who could travel round the tables doing tricks whilst your guests are seated, creating a good ambiance during the meal or buffet and not creating too much noise.

Put small gifts in each of your guests' places - such as:

Rocket balloons - these make a great noise. They fly around the room in a harmless way, and your guests can say hello to each other when they are going to pick them up.

Little puzzles and games - metal puzzles and ball bearing into holes games are cheap and popular and will get guests talking around the table while they are solving the puzzles or playing the games.

A bowl of sweets and chocolates on each table is a nice gesture.

Pin up or display on a table some photos of yourself as a baby or during your youth and invite guests to write who's who underneath.

Ask your function band to do a round of "guess the year" - the function band can sing songs from different years and guests can shout out the answers. You could give a prize for the first correct

answer and maybe a booby prize for the furthest out!

Bring along a few little "spot prizes" which the function band can award whilst people are dancing. Items such as boxes of sweets (Celebrations?), novelties or silly things like a whole pineapple,etc..

Organise a simple quiz with a prize of a bottle of wine or chocolates. Walk round and hand it out at the tables, this is a nice way of saying hello to everyone. Here's an example (it's a great icebreaker):- "To make sure you all get to know each other I have set you a challenge. You have to track down 10 people and write something about them to prove you've spoken to them. At least one must be someone you've never met before. In the event of a tie the function band will award the prize to the most entertaining entry. Have a great night and thanks one and all for coming".

Remember to do a table plan. It's a good idea to think about who will sit together and to mix it up a bit to help people to get to know each other and makes for a warmer more friendly event in the long run.

If you are going to make a speech, make it short and write it first, and then check with your function band that you can use their microphone. Ask at the start of the night and they will show you how to use it properly!

Above all prepare your evening in advance and then you can relax and enjoy the fruits of your labours.