On Thursday, I’m having a couple of friends come over for a cocktail party! Excited!

I’m working on a couple of things that I want to make, of course pictures will be posted in the very near future. But for anyone else looking to plan parties for the upcoming “Christmas Season” (cannot believe its November already!) Here are 3 AMAZING resources to use if you are into event planning/cocktail parties/making something happen:

1. Epicurious

Of course Epicurious will have amazing things for recipes, menus, chef reviews. But what they also have that you may not know about is their recommended menus and sets for specific events!

In this video, Clinton Kelly from What Not To Wear talks to me about tips on how to arrange living and dining rooms, how to set up the table, and he gives us a little inkling on his favorite hor-d’oeuvres.

On top of that, Epicurious also has Cocktail Party Recipes IN SETS! Just so you won’t mix crazy foods together in a flurry.

I know I’m definitely making this Garlic and Cheese Crostini on Thursday.

2. Random: About.com’s Hosting A Cocktail Party

Ah, the wonders of SEO. This About.com article was top Google search for “Hosting a Cocktail Party” and this site gives me tips that I haven’t read anywhere else. Here are 3 good ones:

1. Stock up on plenty of ice. You’ll need it for chilling bottles of wine or champagne as well as serving in drinks on the rocks. A good rule of thumb is plan to have 1-pound of ice per guest.

3. Have twice as many glasses on hand as guests. For wine, champagne and martini glasses, wine glass charms will help guests to keep track of glasses as they mill about your party.

6. Don’t forget to stock up on mixers including orange juice, soda, tonic, ginger ale, cola, tomato juice, Tabasco, lemons, limes, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce.

3. Website : How 2 Heroes

For my internship at Regan Communications, this is currently one of their clients. How2heroes is a company based in New England that features how-to videos from people just like us. Not the crazy pants chefs or the ridiculously featured ones either, just very simple and to the point. Embedded below is just one of the recipes i found on making your own hummus!

How2Heroes will offer you person-to-person contact with people making things on video. It’s cute. Check it!