The busiest time of the year is undoubtedly the most fun, with countless soirees to attend and endless outfits to swish around in. However, the social swing of December can, on occasion, become something of a chore. So how do you perfect the art of party attending? Here, the world’s most seasoned event givers and goers garnish us with their infallible tips for being the most sparkling guest at any celebration – and the most charismatic man in any room.

Watching Graeme Black and his Staffordshire bull terrier amble from the front door of Wood End, his Grade II-listed Georgian house, with its far-reaching views over the Yorkshire Dales and a serene-looking Semerwater below, along through a grassy meadow towards the exquisite Thorns Gallery that Black and his partner, the designer Jonathan Reed, have cleverly created from an old cowshed, you would imagine the artist was born and raised here.

New year, new you. It’s just around the corner. However, research shows that more than 80 per cent of New Year resolutions fail by February. The reality is that one ill-considered strategy picked from a whirling pool of nebulous positivity simply won’t work. So, where should we actually begin? And what are the changes we can make that will really, well, change things?

It happens to the best of us. We’ve all been culprits of those diplomatic white lies – the false promise of having all your loved ones over for dinner – and next thing we know, they actually expect an invite. You’ve now got to think about tablescaping, food, wine, dessert, crackers, the whole lot. But this year, we’ll go by the rule that if you put one good drink in your guests’ hands at the start of the function, the rest will (hopefully) handle itself.

The busiest time of the year is undoubtedly the most fun, with countless soirees to attend and endless outfits to swish around in. However, the social swing of December can, on occasion, become something of a chore. So how do you perfect the art of party attending? Here, the world’s most seasoned event givers and goers garnish us with their infallible tips for being the most sparkling guest at any celebration – and the most charismatic man in any room.

Watching Graeme Black and his Staffordshire bull terrier amble from the front door of Wood End, his Grade II-listed Georgian house, with its far-reaching views over the Yorkshire Dales and a serene-looking Semerwater below, along through a grassy meadow towards the exquisite Thorns Gallery that Black and his partner, the designer Jonathan Reed, have cleverly created from an old cowshed, you would imagine the artist was born and raised here.