How to Host a Successful Oscar Night Party Without Breaking the Bank

You don't need to have your own personal pile of gold to honor that shiny statuette at your own Oscar Night party!

Have you been inundated recently with newspaper and magazine articles advising how to hold the "best" Oscar night celebration? What I have always found to be somewhat confusing and always alarming is how much money you can spend on these parties. Just because Oscar has a golden hue doesn't mean that you have to haul out a lot of your own coins to celebrate. Take your cue from the stars of the Academy Awards themselves, the producers, directors, screen writers, and actors: be imaginative, be creative, and don't go over budget!

As with all of your parties and social events, I can't stress enought that you should be organized! Once you've decided that you actually want to host an Oscars party, take your pen to paper and write out the following: who you want to invite, what time you want the party to start, what kind of food you want to serve, and how low-key or pricey you want your party to be. Once you have hard numbers in place, this is a springboard for you to start shopping for invitations, paper goods, decorations and foods. Keep a separate piece of paper for each category; mark down any personal recipes you'd like to make and whether or not you want to ask your guests to bring food items themselves. Only when you have the actual number of people (and err on the side of more than you expect) can you develop a working budget for yourself. Stick to it, no exceptions!

The 79th annual awards show is scheduled for February 25th this year. Since the Oscars generally run overly long (like maybe into February 26th!), consider your guest list. Depending upon your social circle, your friends may have infants, toddlers and/or school-aged children. Obviously (I am assuming here that they are good parents!), these folks will have to either leave the party early, hire a babysitter, or not attend at all. Give your friends a break! These are the Oscars, not the Second Coming. Make play spaces available for the younger and older kids, and have toys, games and videos available for them. If you can, delegate who will be supervising the kids at what times. Be sure to let your guests know IF they are invited as a family. (And be specific! If you want an adults-only party, make sure your preference is clearly spelled out in your invitation.)

Speaking of invitations, be sure to get your invites out at least two weeks prior to the big night.. I can't stress again how specific you should be in your invitations, whether they're electronic (email), by phone, or by sending out more 'formal' invites through the mail. Don't be surprised if you do get guests who respond back by saying that "Johnny and Susie are really looking forward to coming with us!" Be flexible - they're your friends, and this is supposed to be a fun event shared with people that you truly like. If your party will be geared towards enjoying the evening in a truly adult way (liquor, racy costumes, etc.), call your friends and tell them honestly and up front that the party is for adults only, and that you look forward to including their kids at a 'more appropriate time'.

When you do send out invitations, it's a great and fun idea to ask /strongly suggest that your guests come dressed as a 'movie star'. This movie star (and this applies to men and women here!) can be from any era of the movies. Costumes don't need to be fancy, rented stuff, unless that's what your guests like to do. Others on a tighter budget can get away with maybe a wig, over the top makeup and costume jewelry,a cowboy hat, or stuff they can buy cheaply at thrift or consignment shops (old fur or faux fur coats, heavily beaded gowns and dresses, boas, remnants of well-used tuxedos, top hats, canes, over the top shoes, long gloves, the possibilities are endless). Not only can they be creative and pull together their look inexpensively, they'll be doing a good deed by supporting charitable thrift shops. Upper end consigment shops will have a lot of their own items on the clearance racks as well, since most are now post-seasonally priced following the holidays. Let your guests decide how fancy - or not - they choose to be. Of course, this 'movie star' rule applies to the host and hostess as well!

One more quick suggestion for your invitations - if you are sending them out in the mail, consider putting a pinch or two of confetti into the actual invitation itself! (Sidebar: my kids were born in the South. It was almost inevitable that you threw a few sparkly pieces into birthday party invitations. When we first moved to New Jersey and I sprinkled a few pieces of confetti into the first of my girls' birthday party invitations, New Jersey folks did not take kindly to this tradition. Never did it again, and still regret not having done it again to this day. Who doesn't like shiny confetti?!) I'm not saying that you should inundate your envelope or the card with confetti, just somewhere between six to twelve little slivers per invite. (An entire bag of brightly-colored small confetti will set you back 79 cents, more or less.) After all, it's "Show Time!"

DO NOT invite your guests to arrive too early. While some sites or articles suggest that you play games before the show, I strongly advise against it. (This is based purely on personal convictions: I think that idea is stupid and a waste of time. A lot of people don't like board games, and become easily bored and fidgety.) Have folks come to your place no more than an hour before the show is set to start. I suggest this for two reasons: a) people generally show up late anyway, and b) this gives you and your guests just enough time to watch the stars walk down the runway themselves. This is one of the few times that it's perfectly acceptable to say "Eeeeew!" when a particularly ugly gown shows up, or a hairdo that appears to have been styled by John Waters makes its debut. The stars are putting themselves out there for just that reason: to be judged by us, their fans. Make the most of it!

I recently read an article that suggested that the host put down a red saran-wrap like 'runway' for guests as they enter your house. Saran-wrap like runway, huh?! This invites nothing but potential frivolous lawsuits or, at the very least, more than a couple of banged-up partygoers. Also avoid red wrapping paper; same deal - people can/will trip on it, rip it up with heels, or do a generous slip and slide routine. If you want to do a red carpet, and it sure is tempting, go out and look at table runners. There are many, many 'discount' stores that specialize in kitchen and bedding items. At this time of the year, you may very well find red or gold velvet table runners left over from Christmas and now on the clearance table. Most of these runners are fairly long, but you'll probably need at least two of them. Look for cherry red, burgundy or gold table runners; velvet, if on sale, is great! Make sure that you tack the table runners down (or use double-sided packing or duct tape) from your entry way. If you're feeling especially flush, buy four runners and run them side by side for a double width, extending the carpet by tacking them head to toe for that extra runway length. I'd suggest you check out TJ Maxx, Marshall's, Bed Bath and Beyond, Linens 'n Things, and Home Goods for some good price hunting.

As your guests enter onto the 'red carpet', take a picture. A lot of article may suggest taking Polaroids. This is a very viable option if a) you have a Polaroid camera already (you can also buy them for around $30), and b) you are willing to splurge on Polaroid film, which isn't cheap, or c) you're planning to use the photos as 'party favors' and giving them to your guests at the end of the party. You can get better quality, long-lasting prints if you use a digital camera, though, assuming you already have one. If you can't or don't want to print them out during or at the end of the party, you can always set up a little 'slide show' for folks to view; either make copies or email the individual prints to your guests at a later time. While Polaroids are great for 'in the moment' gifts, they can be expensive, and the quality of the photos themselves aren't nearly as clear as digitals or even 35 mm camera shots. You can avoid taking the 'runway shots' altogether, but they really do set a fun, festive tone to the start of your February 25th party. For many of us, it's the closest we'll ever get to having our photo taken on the red carpet!

Food can make or break a party. I strongly advise against serving heavy, dinner-type foods. Most of your guests will have had their dinners at home before your party anyway, because of the show's timing. Go light! Go healthy! Go inexpensively! If you own a crock pot or fondue pot, you're already golden! Fix a batch of chili, a hearty stew, or a hearty soup, and keep it warm (in batches) in the crock pot. Have small rolls on hand to serve with them. You can actually buy gigantic frozen bags of chili, soups and stew fixings at places like Costco or BJ's, so you can save time and money right there. (Add a little extra spices or herbs of your own, if you choose, to give it more of a homemade flavor.) Keep the crock pot setting on 'low', and be sure to replenish it during the evening so that it not only 'looks' good but that the food is freshly and promptly added to the pot. If you have a fondue set, it's a little more tricky to keep an eye on that device. You might want to do a light cheese fondue with small rounds of breads and crackers. Once the fondue is empty, don't bother to clean and refill it. It takes too much time and effort to keep a fondue pot continually going. Look at it as a special one-time 'treat' for the evening; once it's gone, just remove it.

Since you're already at Costco or BJ's, take another look around at what they have to offer. Miniature quiches, fruit bowls and baskets, huge chunks of a variety of cheeses with a remarkable selection of upscale crackers as an accompaniment, egg rolls, pot stickers, vegetable trays, pre-made pizzas waiting to be heated, even trays of deviled eggs. Not only are these foods in sufficient quantity for your party, because you're buying in bulk, you can save a small fortune as well. Also check out their selection of party plates, napkins, serving trays and cups as well. These discount megastores also sell a pretty good range of beer, liquor and all sorts of soft drinks, coffees and teas, too. If you can't find what you're looking for in the way of paper goods at Costco or BJ's, try your local party stores. Many of them have now gone the 'deep discount' route, slashing prices on goods specific to a particular event. Even if you can't find Oscar paper plates or napkins, look for paper goods that are gold in color. (Forget silver; there is no 'second place' for Oscar!) Spring for gold plates in two sizes, gold cups, napkins and utensils. While you're at the party store, check out the price of Oscar-themed decorations. Do they have small gold-toned statuettes or trophies? (Not only will these really brighten up your food serving area, they would be cute, inexpensive 'thanks for coming' gifts for your guests. You could also use them as prizes for best costumes: funniest, sexiest, most outrageous, cutest couple, 'oldest' and 'youngest' stars.) Remember - it's not WHERE you buy your party foods, paper goods and decorations, it's HOW you present them that counts.

Party decorations can be as fancy and over the top or as simple as your budget dictates. Make the time to visit Blockbuster, FYE, any and every movie rental or movie sales shop, and ask if they have any left-over posters or life-sized figures and cut-outs from recent promotions that you can have. Check out Ebay to see if you can pick up some really large posters at a good price. (Stay away from buying the figures and cut-outs on Ebay; the cost of shipping can be more than the purchase price itself.) Beg, borrow or buy issues of Vogue, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire magazines; they often have full-page, full color ads or photos of today's favorite film stars. Make a collage out of the pictures, or tape them around the party area. Use your creativity! (And hit as many stores as you can for those posters. They're big, they're fun, and they're fairly recent. Even if you have to pay a dollar or slightly more for them, they're worth their price and tie in very nicely with your Oscars theme.) You can decorate your serving table with more of those shiny pieces of confetti, inexpensive plastic gold-toned trophies, or deck it out with a black and gold or red and gold theme: table cloth, matching fabric napkins, napkin rings

Make sure that you begin slowly, by putting out a tray or two of appetizers and/or dips to have available to guests as soon as they arrive. Through the course of the evening, remove or replenish those items. Bring out your more 'special' dishes as the evening goes on and the bigger awards are being presented. Around 9:00 P.M., bring out desserts. As with all of your foods, everything should be either bite-sized, use one bowl, or be able to be cut no more than three times before it's totally consumed. Desserts can be bite-sized lemon squares (tying in with the gold theme of the evening), brownies, little fruit quiches, fruit kabobs (no more than five small fruits - blueberries, strawberries, bananas, kiwi fruit, pineapple or apple slices) per kabob, please. If there's a special cake or pie that you'd love to make for your party, be sure that it's pre-sliced before you bring it out. By that hour, people are already either pretty tired or well on their way to being so. Make dessert as simple as possible for them and yourself. Be ready to get the coffee - both regular and decaf - out even before you bring out the food now. If you have a dessert wine or liquers that you'd like to serve, have them all available on a small tray, table or separate serving part, together with glasses. (Glasses can either be the real deal or plastic; if you're serving champagne, fancy but plastic champagne flutes and glasses can be purchased at the party store.)

As your guests straggle home for the evening, you may want to present them with 'party bags'. Personally, I think that these are highly overrated. If you did take photos of the guests as they arrived in costume (very few having remained in them), giving them those photos either now or later is really one of the best gifts you can give. If your budget allows and you're planning on giving the photos at a later date rather than as guests leave, you could even frame the photos for a more personal touch.

Whatever route you chose to go for your party, the main think is that you just RELAX and enjoy yourself! If it's of any comfort, you can thank goodness that you're not among the ones being scrutinized from head to toe on the big screen, nor are you waiting to hear your name called (or not!) for the biggest night in your career.