What is your style? Our livelihood and manner of living in regards to home, possessions and friendships are always evolving, just as the world around us matures. With each decade comes new challenge and change. Instead of being a strictly couples-oriented society, we now have friends who are single, divorced and widowed, and the social order has altered the make-up of families many times over the past 30 years.

Successful parties are largely made up of the energy and confidence of the host, but good events are also highly influenced by individuality. There are small parties held in studio apartments, grand fêtes on canopy-covered lawns, intimate dinners for 6 and rousing outdoor picnics for 70. The way we share our personality, homes and gracious giving can take place under the stars, under a shade tree or under your own soaring roof. And it can be done by anybody on any budget. If you are celebrating your first home or a move to the city or a country estate, the essence of you and your hospitality are the same.

Let’s have some fun and define your entertaining style, which, in turn, will help to delineate and reflect a myriad of personalities.

The impromptu revelry
While driving down a country road, a Kentucky native stops at Bob’s Market, a small, roadside community store buried in orange, red and yellow fall leaves and brimming with thick-skinned pumpkins and gourds. Inside, crusty, fresh-baked bread nestles on the counter next to shiny apples and jugs of homemade cider. Inspired by the crisp weather, she buys baskets of produce, a few gallons of cider, some spices, butter and sharp cheese. On the way home she phones a few close friends and invites them in for an evening. The first to arrive at her townhouse is a neighbor who starts a hickory-laced fire in the fireplace, while others pull in and begin to spike the cider and lay out a spread. A couple is inspired about ushering in fall and confers on the design of a pumpkin. A dozen apples are prepared for the oven. The cinnamon-and-clove headiness of the kitchen begs for the yeasty bread and cheese, and a game of dominoes ensues at their leisure.