A Passion for Parties: Your Guide to Elegant Entertaining
With a client list that ranges from corporate heavyweights Morgan  Stanley and Marriott Hotels to style-setters Tommy Hilfiger and Kenneth Cole to  Elton John and the Prince of Wales, David Tutera's party-planning prowess is  indisputable.A Passion for Parties, his first book, reveals the secrets  of the Tutera touch, so now partiers of all stripes can benefit from his  decadent aesthetic. In 10 chapters that cover everything from choosing the date  and the invitation to design concepts and the icing on the cake, Tutera distills  his years of creating gloriously unrestrained events into practical advice for  artful entertaining.Whether planning an intimate dinner for four, a formal wedding, a New Year's Eve  gala, or a Memorial Day clambake, the key to a successful party is, of course,  passion. Tutera addresses the basics of organizing and hosting various types of  parties, and throughout shares colorful anecdotes and "Tutera Tips" that vary  from the obvious ("If you use open flame candles, make sure you keep the flame  away from flowers, tablecloths, and other flammable materials") to the  conscientious ("Leftover food from your event can be donated to a local homeless  shelter soup kitchen"). Menu ideas, flower arrangements, table settings, and  more are discussed in detail, and photographs from Tutera's occasions  demonstrate his special flair and provide plenty of inspiration. If Martha's too  New England and Colin Cowie too L.A., Tutera's touch could be just right for  you.--Rebecca Wright