The summer sun brings out the sense of fun in everyone, so seize the moment and host a cocktail party!

Everyone always enjoys a cocktail party; you can make it as relaxed or as formal as you like and everybody can get excited about trying new drinks.

Last minute invites

Don’t worry if you were waiting to see what the weather was going to do before hosting a summer party, puttyprint.co.uk have a great next day service for party invitations if you order by 10am. And don’t worry about needing to come up with something from scratch - there is a brilliant range of cocktail themed invitations that you can personalise with your party details. All you need to do is choose your favourite design and then add the time, venue, and dress code for your event.

Cocktail menu

It pays to do a bit of research beforehand and decide what you would like to serve to your guests. There are a few standby spirits such as gin and vodka, but if you rely on what’s lurking in your drinks cupboard, you may find yourself a bit limited! It's better to choose half a dozen drinks and make sure you have the ingredients to make them well. Choose some classics (martinis, cosmopolitans, mojitos) and then a few with a twist: passiontinis are fun, and Mississippi Mudslides make a good dessert style drink.

Equipment

You can go all out and stock up on swanky pieces of kit, but the chances are you have a lot of the things you need – most people have a cocktail shaker lurking in a cupboard somewhere! If not, they can be sourced very easily, even supermarkets sell them in the homeware section. A rolling pin can be used to crush ice, and at a push, a sieve will work as a strainer.

What to choose?

Print out some menus so your guests know what to choose, and you can make up jugs of the popular cocktails in advance. Why not create a ‘lucky dip’ and ask people to pull one out if they’re not sure what to have? And as for party games, if you have a few guests who’d like to unleash their inner Tom Cruise, have a cocktail shaking competition!