Q. I am in the process of planning a party for my husband’s 60th birthday. We have excellent caterers in place but my problem concerns the place à table. We will have ten long tables in the marquee, each one seating 30 guests, but how can I possibly decide who should go beside whom? It is too large an event for precedence to play any part but I am already being leaned on by friends asking for either themselves or their children to be placed next to certain people they would like to know better. There is a lot of competition to be next to the same handful of people some of whom are — dread word — celebrities. How should I proceed?
F.P-G., Taunton, Somerset
A. Why not take a tip from Lord Marland, who recently entertained a similar number of guests at his 50th birthday party? As guests arrived they were directed towards two baskets, one containing blue cards for the men, one containing yellow cards for the women.
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