Ice Cream Social

Send the invitations. If you plan to email electronic invitations, do it three or four days before your party to remind everyone of particulars. If you are going the snail mail route, send them out seven or eight days prior.

Prepare for the party. If you want to host at a local park or forest preserve, check out rules (alcohol, hours of operation, etc.) and plan accordingly. You might arrive there a half-hour early to signpost along the way to let your guests know where the spot is. Small bits of poster board usually suffice, but you can also tie a few helium balloons or ribbon curls to the signs to set it apart from other events going on in the area. I’m fortunate enough to have a half-acre of a backyard, so I would opt to have this shindig chez moi for the sheer convenience.

• Set up basic tables and seating. You want a good surface to set out the potluck being brought over by your endeared ones. Most parks and forest preserves already have picnic tables in place. In your own yard, big 4’x8’ sheets of cheap plywood or medium density fiberboard (MDF) can be bought from your local home improvement center and will be useful in many events. Stick a couple 33-gallon garbage cans (preferably clean) or a pair of sawhorses under the board, and voila! Instant tabletop. You can disguise the humble makings of your table with a bed sheet or bargain basement tablecloth. Try home centers like Bed, Bath and Beyond or Linens ‘n’ Things for reasonably priced covers. Even cheaper sources are garage sales, thrift shops, and flea markets.
• Put out your foodie contributions. Since you’re the host, you can decide how much you want to stick on that table. I usually put a few dishes out, to form a base of goodies on the table. I might pick up a few pints of Hagen Daz in strange flavors, a platter of ice cream cones, a bowl of fresh berries or melons, and a few bags of chips (a little salt to balance the sweet!). Decide what you want to do and how much. Then stick with it to avoid going overboard on the food and budget front.
• Set out the munching tools. I like to make clean-up a breeze with paper dishes, napkins, and plastic cutlery, but if you are extremely sensitive to ecological
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