will they be able to see?
If the party is in the evening and there are to be games, or if it is a dinner party with games to follow, consider your lighting arrangements well in advance. If there is the possibility of a lamp for each table, are the cords long enough to reach? Can you borrow lamps if you haven't enough? Or will you use the sort of lights which fasten onto the edges of a card table? Get them plugged in and out of the way ahead of time, so that the furniture needn't be pulled about later. All these details are very important to entertaining well and effortlessly, and such ease can never be achieved without plenty of thought and considerable work beforehand. If you think of everything (well, nearly everything-we're all human!) before the party, you'll be able to have a good time at it yourself, which is the ultimate test of successful party-giving.

the dining room,
In addition to a good dusting and vacuuming, your dining room table ought to be well polished or waxed. If you keep it that way, it need not be specially done for a party. Just be sure to check it with a critical eye. All silver in use or in view should be thoroughly and re­cently polished. All these jobs can be checked well in advance, and preferably finished at least two days before the party. Check china and glass. If there are some you use only at parties, they may need washing, no matter how carefully you store them. If you use candles on the dinner or buffet table, be sure you have new ones of the right color.

The last minute details in the dining room are, of course, setting the table and arranging the centerpiece.
Your supply of flat silver and other accessories may limit the kind of party you can give. But don't let your lack of silverware prevent you from giving any parties at all. It will probably mean not giving a really formal party, which is wholly unimportant.

flat silver
Here is a list of the minimum silver you need for a dinner party. If you firmly intend never to entertain more than eight at dinner, you need eight of each item, except for teaspoons, of which you should have at least eighteen. For a buffet meal, you need a fork and knife for each person, and if you have to offer a combination of breakfast and dinner sizes for the main course, the sky won't fall, and the users of both will enjoy their meal equally well. The same holds true for mixing patterns of silver. If you haven't enough flat silver to supply the number of people you've invited for a buffet meal, borrow enough to supplement your own, whether the pattern's the same or not.