A cheat's guide to hosting a last-minute festive soirée

If you've said yes to hosting the party, but no to doing any preparations whatsoever, this one's for you. Everything you need to pull together a festive party with maximum wow factor, but minimal fuss.

Nectarine and Aperol spritz Source: Benito Martin

For many of us, something changes between sending out the invites and the actual event. Which is to say, the mind changes, but little else does. On invite day you have visions of a table groaning under the weight of all the festive fare you'll loving make and a home decked in more greenery and lights than a David Jones window.

You still want all the fuss and extravagance, but with way more extravagance than fuss.

A week before the party and those lights have significantly dimmed. Now you just want to pull off an event that is remembered for all the right reasons. You still want all the fuss and extravagance but with way more extravagance than fuss. Here's how you're going to pull it off in style.

Fizz up the welcome

A carefully selected cocktail offered with speed will hide all manner of ill-preparedness. Choose one with lots of fizz to amp up the party spirit. A classic Fino Bellini, Champagne lassi or Singapore sling will suit nicely. All three are simple to prepare and you can make a big jug in advance, ready to go.

Source: Adam Liaw

Pre-make the canapés

Serve your cocktail with a selection of easy-to-make canapés and you'll find yourself with time to relax with your guests. You can make all of these choices in advance, so they are ready to pull out when your guests arrive. Unlike many bite-size foods, each of these recipes is super-simple too. There's no time for fuss, remember!

You can make a whole heap of pizzette con pomodoro e acciughe in about 25 minutes flat. Source: Paola Bacchia

Find the recipe for these lovely bites here.

Work that oven

Dishes that go into the oven when the guests arrive and come out of the oven to go straight on the table are your friends. Even better if you can throw something into the oven in the morning and not have to think about it again until lunchtime. A baked ham falls into that category - if traditional feasting is your thing - but any slow-baked roast will do the trick.

Serving salads makes sense at a summer soirée. It's nice to be less formal and salads are cheerful and delicious.

If it's way too hot to even contemplate switching the oven on inside, note that most slow-cooked meats do fine on the barbecue outside. Just remember to use a rack to elevate the pan off the barbecue so the bottom doesn't get too hot. Keep an eye on the temperature gauge on the barbecue hood too. Slightly lower in temp than the recipe calls for is better.

It takes 10 minutes to pull together Food Lab's slow-roasted lamb show stopper. Source: Food Lab

Find the recipe before it falls off the bone here.

Veggie pleasers

Offering a vegetarian dish or two is a must at any gathering. The good news is, most are simple to prepare in advance and wait patiently to be served. A vegetarian frittata or lasagne can be heated in advance, or a muffaletta or fritters are perfect served at room temperature. All of these dishes are good to serve either buffet-style (and for sanity's sake, we highly recommend you do a buffet) or plated or community-style at the table.

A roast tomato, basil and haloumi lasagne makes it tempting to skip the meat option altogether. Source: Donna Hay

Find Donna Hay's recipe here.

Share the salad love

Serving salads makes sense at a summer soirée. It's nice to be less formal and salads are cheerful and delicious. Look, you could probably do all of the salads in advance and be ready like a pro, but who has the fridge space for that? The best thing to do is to ask each of your guests to bring a salad with them. It's neither outrageous nor unexpected to ask such a thing these days. Make it super-easy for them by preselecting a few easy recipes you want them to make, then leave the final choice to them.

A simple, cheerful salad that goes well with roast meat of any kind. Source: New Holland

Grab the recipe for this chickpea, parsley and feta salad here.

Dessert buffet love

Once everyone has eaten their fill (and most likely beyond) at dinner, it's time to pause a little while before offering dessert. Fill the drinks and mingle, knowing that you've got dessert ready to go. Serving a few dessert options at a buffet table means you don't have to make a lot of the same thing. Instead, you can make three or four really impressive options - though, of course, rather simple - desserts to complete your brilliant meal.

Impressive-looking trifles are always a hit and deceptively easy to pull together. Most puddings are likewise a cinch. Serve them with lashings of ice cream to keep things cool. You can't go wrong with any easy dessert: just make sure you make plenty.

A chocolate cake is a must and this one is made in one bowl in no time at all. Source: Donna Hay: Fast, Fresh, Simple

The easiest chocolate dessert cake recipe is here.

End on a high

Something that always makes a dinner party feel very polished is the offering of petite fours or something else small and dainty with coffee. Making coffee for a large group is always tricky, so don't be afraid to buy in some of those new 'cappuccino' or 'espresso' coffee bags, which make service a little more of a breeze after the feast that was.

Guaranteed you will be called 'the hostest with mostest' by some sloshed buddy at least once.

Set out your coffee options with a few plates of little morsels and everyone will feel very loved. Guaranteed you will be called 'the hostest with mostest' by some sloshed buddy at least once. Adding to your 'mostest' is the fact that most little morsels are easily made in advance, ready to whip out and be fabulous.

Austrian punschkrapfen never fails to impress (especially when speared with fairy floss). Source: Alan Benson

This delightful petite fours recipe is here.

Clean up help

Since we've completely nailed the menu and made everything so easy, the only really painful thing about hosting is going to be the clean-up. Ugh. Some tips for keeping on top of things:

• Start with a clean kitchen - before guests arrive, make tidying the kitchen your second priority (the first is tidying yourself, of course...)
• Strategically place plenty of rubbish and recycling bins - guests will use a bin if they can find one
• Place a tray for dirty glasses in a convenient spot
• Clean as you go - keep the dishwasher moving and don't hesitate to handwash to help keep up
• Enlist help - when someone says, "What can I do to help?", hand them a tea towel. A little help can move things along very quickly.
• Use stemless wine glasses that are so much easier to clean and manage
• Let it all go - at some point, things are going to get messy and that's okay. A party is to be enjoyed and tomorrow is all the time you need to set the house right again. Your guests want to spend time with you, not be astounded by your amazing cleaning skills. Go out there and enjoy their company.