[MrkLin]

Much like your parties, Michael, ours are by invitation only. We think of these parties as a chance for our friends to get together with each other, as well as a chance for us to get together with them. Our experience has been much like yours, in that about half to two-thirds of those invited actually attend. A big difference, however, is that we also have 1 single female and 2 single males who regularly attend our parties, yet we've never had anyone decline an invitation because of them. In fact, one of the males is rather popular with the ladies, and has become so popular, he's getting invited to other parties as well. (In fact, he and the single lady who regularly attends are quickly becoming an item, and they may even become a couple soon - score 1 for Lifestyle Cupid.) We do invite new couples on occasion, and we encourage our friends to bring along a couple with them as their guests if they'd like (subject to our approval, of course.) All we ask is that they let us know who the couple is before they invite said couple. We'll discuss from there.

We have only 2 bedrooms available for play areas, but the simple rule; "If you want privacy, close the door" seems to work just fine. The flip-side of that rule is, "If you find a door closed, leave it closed and move on." We've never had a problem at all.

We agree with you completely about keeping the bathrooms well-stocked with towels, washcloths, and other such sundries. We go so far as to put out a basket of little individual soaps for those who may wish to use them (a good use for all of those little bars of soap you seem to 'inherit' from hotel visits.) We also put baskets of rolled towels in strategic locations in the living room, and invite our guests who have 'lost all of their clothes' to make use of them. I've never had to actually come right out and ask someone naked to sit on a towel, but by offering that option, we've eliminated the need to say something. We've gone one step further, and provide bathrobes in the bathrooms and bedrooms for those who wish to use them. You can pick up inexpensive bathrobes at any discount store for less than $10 apiece - less when they're on sale for some reason. Whenever our local wally world closes out bathrobes for the season, we grab a couple.

I really don't know what it is about baskets, but people seem to love anything that's presented in one, or use it if it's meant for something to be disposed of in it. If you hand someone a condom, they'll chuckle and say, "Thanks," then set it aside. If you put a few different varieties in a small basket and leave them on a night stand, they'll use them. We put small bottles of lube, condoms, some KY warming lotion, and a wash cloth in small baskets and place them on each night stand in each bedroom, and a couple in strategic locations all over the house. Wicker waste baskets and clothes hampers complete the implication.

We provide the majority of the snacks as well as all of the soft drinks, bottled water, ice, and mixers (our parties are BYOB, but if someone likes cranberry juice or ginger ale, we'll provide that.) We do ask that our guests bring a simple snack with them for everyone to enjoy. The reasons for that are two fold - first, it takes the pressure to prepare everything off of Lin, and it introduces a wider variety in the snacks. We make it clear to our guests that it doesn't have to be anything fancy - just whatever they like to snack on. We've had some very original snacks pass through this way - everything from simple chips and salsa to cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto. (I should start a thread about party snack recipes - some of the items were very simple, but quite original and very tasty.)

We have a couple of dozen parties under our belts (no pun intended) and we've found that sometimes it's pretty easy to over-prepare. The main thing I would suggest to anyone wishing to host an invitation-only house party is that you know your friends, and you have some idea as to what they like and dislike when it comes to foods, music, mood lighting, or even scented candles or potpourri. We try to make our house (which isn't large by any stretch of the imagination) a clean, comfortable, pressure-free environment where everyone can kick their shoes off, relax, and let the evening flow as they choose to let it flow. Our guests know that we're always open to suggestion, and if they have any ideas, comments, complaints, or concerns, we want to hear them. We can't fix something if we don't know it's broken, and we want everyone to feel welcome and relaxed.