AS December rolls around again, we start once more on the merry party-go-round; last year's social excesses but distant memories. Katie Foley spoke to three diverse professional event planners: a party planner, a corporate event manager and a children's party expert about the essence of a good party and how to recreate it in your own home.

A pithy piece of dialogue from the multiple romance movie "Love Actually" sums up perfectly the way most of us feel about the December stalwart: the office Christmas party.

Harry: "Right, the Christmas party. Not my favorite night of the year and your unhappy job to organize."

Mia: "Tell me."

Harry: "Well it's basic really. Find a venue, over-order on the drinks, bulk buy the guacamole and advize the girls to avoid Kevin if they want their breasts unfondled."

Parties come in many shapes and forms: the good, the bad and - like the party mentioned above - the ugly.

Getting it right is almost a science. It's something many professionals train for years to be able to pull off: chemistry.

French national Stephane DeMontgrose and business partner Benoit Thebaut started Riviera Events in Shanghai in 2004.

The company now organizes parties for the cream of the crop: five-star hotels, international alcohol brands, fashion labels, luxury car companies, bars and nightclubs.

They now also have offices in both Beijing and Hong Kong and in 2009 turned over 20 million yuan (US$3 million). DeMontgrose says while they work on a grand scale, a similar kind of atmosphere is achievable at home.

"It's nothing complicated: your space, your food, your drinks, your lights and your music are the top five and then obviously the people you are inviting - you need the same balance between people who like to talk and like to be vocal and noisy, and people who just like to sit somewhere on a couch and have a quiet chat with their neighbors."

When it comes to Christmas parties, it can be hard to have something fresh, so you shouldn't be afraid to keep them short.

And depending on whether you are expecting local or expat guests, your entertainment plans should vary widely, he says.

"The way you structure your rundown is very important and I think especially here in China, people need to be entertained and you need to provide them with pretty much back-to-back content.

"Whereas I would say in the West, actually it is okay to leave people alone and they want to just quietly have a drink, chat with their friends etc, but here in China, if you leave people on their own more than 10 minutes they will just go home because they will think the party is over."

He says the main mistake people make when organizing their own parties is believing that because it's their event and they have worked hard on it, everybody invited will show.

"That is one thing in Shanghai: it is a very, very competitive market when it comes to stuff to do.

"There is always something happening - there are always 10 friends having birthdays, there's always an art gallery opening, at the same time there will also be a few restaurant openings, maybe two fashion events and two nightclub parties, so people sometimes make huge mistakes when they go for very, very big spaces because they think that 100 percent of the people they are inviting will come."

You are only as good as your last party, he says, and if you get the small, practical details wrong that is all anyone will remember.

"So it is really attention to detail and trying to be sensitive to all the different dimensions: the smell, the temperature, the lighting, the music volume, the quality of your flooring, making sure you have coat checks and parking."

He says it is the sum of all these little details that make a successful event.

Corporate event manager Tsewei Ma, originally from Singapore, has worked in event management in Shanghai for almost six years. She says any event should reflect the people attending.

"(You should think about) the kind of crowd that you are working with, what is relevant to them, what they like and then work accordingly backwards.

"It's really just the details and having thought through how people are going to move through your space and the things that they will be experiencing at various points along the way."

She echoes DeMontgrose as she sums the essence of a good party into a small number of succinct points: good food, good wine, a good crowd and good content - "something to give people to start talking about."

Children's party organizer Ruby Li has one more to add to that list: good behavior.

Li was born in Hong Kong, but moved to the United States when she was 16. She is the founder of Ruby's Party, a party goods supplier.

In 2009 the company hosted and organized more than 90 parties in Shanghai, predominantly for expat families.

"I think good behavior is really, really important," she says.

"Good laughs, good behavior, good games, good prizes; we want kids to behave well and to enjoy it. If the kids are happy, the parents are happy."



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She says when it comes to hosting children's parties at home, safety is an unavoidable concern and that parents should choose a safe, open area to avoid having kids running through the house.

"You don't want any accidents or embarrassment. If you are having it outside, have it outside. Don't go in and out."

She says parents need to be wary that there is one sure-fire way to kill the ambiance of any kids' party.

"When they come to my party room, I don't actually let them bring any computer games - no PSP or anything.

"The problem is when you have a party at home, a lot of times the kids will want to turn on the computer and that's the end of the party - everyone will sit in front of the computer and play games."

Entertainment - possibly hiring a clown or a magician, or even dragging out the board games, is crucial.

Older kids frequently prefer not to have parents at the party and enjoy more practical craft-based activities such as making cupcakes, sushi or pancakes.

"Or something that's harder to do like painting or printing their own T-shirt or picture frame."

Stretching the definition of "older kids" to the absolute limit, Ruby's Party once had an insurance company book the party room for their annual dinner instead of going to a restaurant.

"I told them: 'What about all those little chairs and little tables for the kids?'" Li says.

"And they said: 'Oh, it's OK - we want to bring back our childhood memories.' They had a barbecue and they had games and cards and drawing and singing and dancing; they had fun."

So as December is upon us and the party invitations start to stack up, it's prudent to remember that fun can be had both 'in' and 'out'.