Entertaining is meant to be fun, so whatever style of gathering you are planning, try to keep it simple. Here's how to get the party started... and keep it going!

Planning

For a cocktail party, decide on no more than six canapés (three cold, three hot) but make them really substantial (you don't want a house full of tipsy guests).

One signature cocktail is enough, but plan to also offer champagne or a sparkling wine like Prosecco. Sangria is a great idea if you are having a lunch.

Location, location

Guests want to relax, you want to relax, so plan to set down the food in various accessible 'stations' around your home. Guests can help themselves and you don't have to fuss.

Raid the pantry

A party shouldn't cost you a week's salary. Use a few basic pantry staples to create delicious canapés. Combine a can of crabmeat with creamed sweet corn for a delicious savoury tart filling or bruise some canned tomatoes and mix with anchovies and caramelised onion for a flavourful toasted pizza bread topping (cut into squares, this makes the perfect appetiser in 5 minutes flat).

Whether it's a teen's birthday or Dad's footy night, nothing gets a better rap than home-made sausage rolls (and it's what I serve at cocktail parties, too). They are a cinch to make from premium beef mince mixed with a beaten egg, tomato paste, fruit chutney, Worcestershire sauce and herbs and spices, then rolled in sheets of frozen puff pastry sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Save on time and money by using packaged, sliced, wholegrain bread instead of serving crackers or corn chips which crumble easily. Cut bread slices into quarters (remove crusts first) and toast lightly in the oven. Make bread cases for tart and quiche fillings — they are healthier and cheaper than pastry.

Buy pre-prepared

Check out the supermarket shelves for packaged goods like vol-au-vent cases (these always look more professional than home-made) and meringue nests (ideal for mini-pavlovas, mixed berries or sorbet). Also, check in the freezer section for boxes of Asian specialties like dim sum and spring rolls (though this is an expensive way to buy them) and catering supplies such as green prawns, prawn cutlets and salt and pepper squid. In cold storage, look for smoked salmon, trout and chicken which can be quickly assembled into cocktail sandwiches, canapés and mini-wraps.

Store-bought dips have become a little clichéd. Fashionable again is traditional home-made chicken liver and brandy paté, smoked oyster and mussel mousse or spicy rocket herb paste which you can make fairly quickly from fresh ingredients.

Eggs are inexpensive party food; serve them soft-boiled on an antipasto platter, as a filling for tarts and savouries, and mashed with butter and sour cream served with caviar as an über-stylish spread with mini toasts.

It's all about presentation

Your food will have a professional caterer's touch if you focus on the details.

Choose one full cheese, such as a brie or camembert, rather than wedges of many, and serve this with a handful of caramelised figs, muscatels, almonds or dried peaches set on colourful paper leaves and presented on a crisp white platter.

Scrap the tired old parsley garnish; use leaves from the garden; be festive with flowers (just make sure they're edible first). I love to toss baby violas through a green salad, even decorate the icing on cupcakes.

Cheap tricks

If you are having a crowd, make dessert the coolest thing on your menu. Buy frozen mini gelato cones (they come in bags of 120) and arrange in a huge glass bowl filled with crushed ice.

If it's a birthday and you are responsible for the cake, save yourself the angst of 'the novelty cake'; order a heap of baby cupcakes and arrange them on a foil-covered board. Guests can help themselves and left-overs can be popped into pretty party bags for them to take home.