Haute Hostess Christine Chiu's Guide To Throwing The Most Fabulous Fête

My second secret is having interesting save the dates and invitations. If you have to be digital, be creative, whether it’s sending a movie invite or a musical invite. But I generally like tangible things. For my sex party I sent out leather whips and studded paddles. They were sent inside a huge black rose and black calla lily arrangement bouquet by Jeff Leatham. Then on the invites I literally outlined what was happening at the party. 

So it gets people excited, teases what's to come, and it really shows guests how much effort you've put into the invitation, which is obviously an indication of how much exponentially more the party is going to be.

For the proper occasions I’m also starting to practice a morphing of the save-the-date and invite. Like, the save-the-date is more of an invite and then if you’re confirmed to come, your actual invite is hand-delivered and it's a gift. 

For instance, for my husband’s 50th birthday we took over Costa Palmas in Cabo. We flew a whole group of couples down. So first we sent a video invite with information and a teaser of the resort, and then once they committed to coming they got luggage stuffed with alcohol, clothing, blankets, passport holders...like a full luggage set!