A lot of time, money, and energy goes into planning a party. The last thing you want is to expend all those resources only for your big event to be a bust. It doesn’t take much—an ugly argument, a slip and fall, or a dish cooked to slightly less than perfection, and you can feel as if your entire night unraveled before your eyes.

Fortunately, when it comes to party planning, the best-laid plans don’t have to go awry. Careful and extensive planning is always important, but there are a few areas where you can virtually guarantee the night goes off without a hitch. Whether it’s a birthday party for your kid or a dinner party for you and your closest friends, the principles remain in place. Here’s how to ensure the success of your party.

Sketch Out the Night

Guests and hosts alike can bristle at the idea of structured fun, especially in adulthood. While you don’t need to intricately choreograph your evening, you should try to operate within a loose framework: have a beginning, middle, and end. Try to manage the flow of the party with introductions, group participation around dinner, and more freeform interactions afterward. Don’t let guests feel neglected. It doesn’t take more than one dissatisfied guest to bring the mood down.

Forgo the Fragile

“Walking on Broken Glass” may be a fine Annie Lennox song for your party playlist—but a terrible situation for anyone at your party to literally find themselves in. Accidents are bound to happen even if everyone is being careful. Sometimes an errant elbow bumps a glass off a table, or perhaps someone gestures so wildly they forget they’re supposed to be holding their drink and end up spilling it instead. Avoid dangerous messes and save guests embarrassment by not using anything that could break. Disposable plastic champagne flutes, for instance, provide the same light weight and clarity of glass flutes, but won’t shatter into thin and dangerous shards if they tip over or fall. Best of all, you won’t have to worry about carefully washing them at the end of the night.

No Trouble To See in the W.C.

If you’re hosting a party, it should go without saying that you’ll need to give the house a thorough cleaning before you have guests over. While you don’t need to agonize over the entire house, the one area where you do need things to be spotless is the bathroom. Over the course of the evening, your guests are going to have to use the facilities at some point. If they set foot in a bathroom that’s less than immaculate, the discomfort with the state of the washroom will begin to cast a pall over the proceedings. So, to avoid this, ensure yours is clean!

Party Smartly

Once you know how to ensure the success of your party, you can search for all the supplies you need from Smarty Had a Party. The best in single-use tableware and drinkware will fit any theme or mood you want, with colorful and sustainable options for your next event.