A Passion for Parties: Your Guide to Elegant Entertaining

Whether planning an intimate dinner for four, a formal wedding, a New Year's Eve gala, or a Memorial Day clambake, the key to a successful party is, of course, passion. Tutera addresses the basics of organizing and hosting various types of parties, and throughout shares colorful anecdotes and "Tutera Tips" that vary from the obvious ("If you use open flame candles, make sure you keep the flame away from flowers, tablecloths, and other flammable materials") to the conscientious ("Leftover food from your event can be donated to a local homeless shelter soup kitchen"). Menu ideas, flower arrangements, table settings, and more are discussed in detail, and photographs from Tutera's occasions demonstrate his special flair and provide plenty of inspiration. If Martha's too New England and Colin Cowie too L.A., Tutera's touch could be just right for you. --Rebecca Wright

Product Description

Truly great parties cast a powerful spell. They delight the senses, lift the spirit, and enchant their hosts as well as their guests. No one wants them to end, and in fact they never do, as the best ones live on as cherished memories. But how exactly do you produce one of these magical gatherings?

The first thing you do is consult David Tutera's A Passion for Parties. One of the world's premier event planners, Tutera produces extraordinary parties for such disparate luminaries as the Rolling Stones, Tipper Gore, and the Prince of Wales. Now, in this lavishly illustrated entertaining guide, he reveals his trade secrets and helps you stage your own unforgettable event.

As inspiring as it is informative, A Passion for Parties is a comprehensive guide to planning any kind of party, on any size budget. Tutera begins with the basics: how to find a location; select the invitation; choose a theme; and make decisions about menus, table settings, music, lighting, flowers, and decor. Then he shows you how to apply those basics to a variety of events: intimate gatherings, birthday parties, weddings, formal celebrations, and holiday entertaining. For the major events, he guides you through the technical details -- what to know if hiring a caterer, live band, valet parking, or tenting service -- and pulls in specialists like wedding cake expert Sylvia Weinstock and culinary master Wolfgang Puck.

Best of all, Tutera identifies the key elements of all parties, large or small, and offers a dazzling array of possibilities to make each party special. Throughout the book you will find dazzling photographs that bring all of his ideas to life. So whether you are planning a romantic fireplace picnic, a ladies' breakfast, a tented bat mitzvah bash, a New Year's dinner party, a Memorial Day clambake, or the wedding to end all weddings, David Tutera helps you throw the party with your own personal flair.

As lighthearted as it is invaluable, David Tutera's A Passion for Parties is sure to become your party bible.