The art of entertaining starts long before your guests arrive. Revel is chef, food stylist, and housewares designer Mariana Velásquez playbook for setting up a headache-free affair. Her starting place is always the why—why are you inviting people over? This answer becomes your north star, guiding you through planning from what mood you’d like to set to how many people to invite.

Since no gathering is complete without food, Mariana provides fifteen tried-and-true menus for any type of event. Organized by time of day, each menu is accompanied by a detailed plan and set up, where Mariana pulls from her countless hours of hosting experience to suggest her preferred order to buy and prep as well as how she sets up the space to create the tone she envisions for the affair.

With 85 delicious and dreamy recipes alongside gorgeous photography by Gentl & Hyers, Revel invites you to enjoy every aspect of throwing a party. Whether you want to follow these menus to a tee or use them as inspiration, Mariana reminds you that hosting can be as extravagant or unfussy as you’d like as long as you are having a fabulous time through it all.