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share the love valentine's day isn't just for couples anymore by Kelly Beachell Gasner | 1 2 3 4
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Most important, though, are those nostalgia-inducing sweets: heart-shaped lollipops; those little sugar hearts with the sayings on them; foil-wrapped chocolates. Place bowls or bar glasses filled with treats around the party area, and your guests will be transported back to grade school.

[A Note on Oysters: While Casanova considered raw oysters to be the most effective of all the aphrodisiacs, they can have some serious and very unsexy health risks. Only serve oysters if you have a very reliable fish market, are assured of their freshness, and aren't planning to serve hard alcohol. The results of mixing raw oysters and spirits are as unsexy as it gets.]

beverages
Champagne is the drink of choice on Valentine's Day, and the best way to serve it is in a Kir Royale. To make one, pour one spoonful of Crème de Cassis (a blackcurrant liquor) into a flute and top with champagne. You can offset the costs by asking guests to bring a cold bottle to share (share the love AND the booze). The resulting drink is sweet, pink, bubbly, and fun.

Other favorite drinks that fit the theme are Cosmopolitans (garnished with fresh raspberries for a festive touch), Sea Breezes (also known as Cape Codders), Russian Fruits (see sidebar below), or good old red gelatin shooters. All these drinks are vodka-based, so two or three large bottles of vodka should suffice for a party of 10 to 20 people. Make sure you have lots of fruit garnishes; they're indispensable flirtation aids ("Can you tie your cherry stem in a knot with your tongue?"). Mix up big pitchers of your selected cocktail beforehand to avoid mess and bar back-ups.

music
Save Barry White for another night -- you don't want the music to be too sexy or too serious. Pick music that will suit the crowd: eighties compilations for a get-up-and-dance mood; lounge music for a more sophisticated group; hip-hop for an urban mix; or a little of everything for a more eclectic group. Avoid love ballads, classical music, and Kenny G. Choose tunes that will keep the mood upbeat and friendly.

share the love
Party games can be hard to pull off among quasi-adults, so have some fun activities available that can get everybody what they really want on Valentine's Day: a little attention. The fastest way to get it: a kiss. Set up an area as the kissing booth (a sign hung in an empty corner is enough), and assign each guest a shift in the kissing booth by writing times in 10 or 15 minute increments on slips of paper and having arriving guests pull them out of a bowl. They work the booth, kissing and being kissed, for the time they drew. The kissing booth is open and free for the duration of the party. If a kissing booth is too risqué for your particular crowd, set up a massage booth instead. Who doesn't want to be caressed on Valentine's Day?

that's right: there more this way!

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