Decide if you want to throw a themed cocktail party, as you may want to serve themed drinks. For example, if you are having a tiki cocktail party, you may want to serve a rum punch or a Blue Hawaiian, which require different ingredients than a normal home bar's stock.
Work out your budget for the cocktail party. It is not essential that you provide a full bar. As long as you have a variety of spirits, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks, the guests will most likely be content.
Choose the location for your bar. You want to make sure there is a flow of people past the cocktail bar and into standing or seating areas. Place the bar away from the appetizers or other food and away from the entryway, to avoid a bottleneck. If possible, place your bar in the kitchen, because it is easier to clean spills off counters and tile than off carpet.
Protect the bar area by laying down place mats on the counter or table and rugs on any carpeted or hard-to-clean floor. If the bar will be away from the kitchen, make sure you have a nearby source of water and kitchen towels for spills. Lay a tablecloth over the table. If you are putting up a collapsible table for your bar, make sure it is about 30 inches (76 cm) wide and 6 feet (182 cm) long, to avoid a long wait for drinks.
Decide if you prefer a self-serve bar or a bartender. Hire a bartender a month to a few weeks in advance, as the good freelance bartenders book up early.
Choose a signature drink, if you want to provide drink that matches the theme of your party. This can be mixed in advance. For example, if it is a winter cocktail party, you can mix eggnog in advance and have it available for guests. If you are going to have a punch bowl, consider putting it on a table of its own, since the punchbowl and glasses can take up a lot of space.
Make a list of the liquors, beer and wine you want to provide. If you want to have wine, choose a white and a red, but stay with the same type of wine so that the guests do not have to make more decisions. Consider stocking these staples that are common to a self-serve bar: vodka, rye whiskey, tequila, white rum, gin, and scotch or bourbon. If you are serving themed-drinks, buy other ingredients, such as Blue Curacao or Irish Cream. Buy mixers, such as tonic water, club soda, cola, cranberry juice and other sodas.
Make or buy plenty of ice. You can never have too much ice at a cocktail party. Place a full ice bucket out and refill it throughout the night.
Assemble the necessary glasses, such as wine glasses, martini/cocktail glasses, highball glasses and rocks glasses to serve whiskey on the rocks.
Set out the appropriate tools. These include: a long spoon for stirring, a metal drink shaker with a strainer, tongs for the ice bucket, a bottle opener, a wine corkscrew and at least 2 small measuring cups, known as jiggers.
Pre-cut fruit garnishes like lime wedges and orange peel about an hour before the party. Set them out, including toothpicks and bowls of cherries and olives right before the party.
Set a trash can underneath your bar.
Set up your bar to have the following layout of 4 rows, starting from the back: The first row should have liquor bottles, red wine and white wine, in order from left to right. The second row should have a water jug, juices and garnishes. The third row should have soft drinks, jiggers and other bar tools and openers. The fourth and front row should have napkins, an ice bucket and tongs. Only keep 1 or 2 bottles of each liquor or wine out at once and restock as the night goes on.
Set glasses to the side of the bar layout.
Place beer in a bucket full of ice to the other side of the liquor layout, or beside the table for easy access.
Refill the ice, garnishes, beer and bottles throughout the night.
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