Entertaining can be stressful and anxiety-inducing, even for the most seasoned hostess. For your next party or gathering, here are a few tips so you can level up your hosting game and take some of the stress out of it:

Provide Great Entertainment

A party without some form of entertainment can turn into a snoozefest pretty fast. Not everyone is great at mingling and small talk, so if you leave your guests with nothing else to do than to stand around and talk, you might have a very quiet, awkward atmosphere. Give your guests something fun to do by renting a photo booth from The Photo Factory.

Photo booths are a great source of fun and entertainment, and can supply plenty of laughs for hours. Your guests will thinking of creative and wacky poses for the camera, and they can take home their photos as souvenirs from your party. The Photo Factory is the top photo booth rental company in NYC because they offer a wide range of services including attended booths, unlimited sessions, unlimited printing and downloads, and even a social sharing station so your guests can easily share their photos online.

Curate a Killer Playlist

Nothing is drier and stuffier than a party with no music. To really set the atmosphere, curate a playlist specifically for your party beforehand. This way, every song that plays will be in line with the theme or event, and you won’t have a random off-theme song suddenly playing and disrupting the mood.

Make Your Home Smell Heavenly

It goes without saying that you should clean your home before entertaining, but so many people forget to also make their homes smell nice. Make your home smell inviting by putting fresh flowers in the foyer, the living room and dining room. Or you can use room sprays or diffusers. Just be sure to steer clear of overwhelming or overpowering scents; these will have the opposite effect of inviting, and may even trigger allergies or headaches with your guests. Stick to clean, crisp, fresh and subtle scents, just enough to give your home a pleasant aroma.

Have Yummy Snacks Ready

No matter how well you plan, some things inevitably don’t turn out as timed. Either your food takes too long to cook, or you have some guests unexpectedly turn up a little early. Make sure you have quick but yummy snacks ready for your guests to munch on while they wait for the main meal. Chips, crackers, cheese and cured meats are incredibly easy to throw together, yet they are tried and tested crowd pleasers and will keep hungry guests happy and satisfied.

Invite the Best People

What really makes a party is the company. Don’t just stick to the same old group of people who always come to your parties or who regularly see each other. Mix things up a bit and invite other people you know who you think would add extra life and zest to your gathering, like your coworker with a great sense of humor or your very charming gym buddy. Instead of only inviting people from work or school, try basing your guest list on common interests.

At the end of the day, a party doesn’t have to be perfect to be a success. As long as your guests are well fed and having fun, you can relax and enjoy the party yourself. Don’t get so caught up in the details and being the perfect host that you forget to enjoy the moment and the company of your guests.