parties i cannot throw a party that is not a disaster. i have had 4 birthday parties. 2 of them had no guests come..the other 2 well i just wasnt paying attention to the guests so i deserved the disaster. is there anyway to have a good party with just family members?
The key is to keep the guests moods, especially fun and social levels, maxed. Make sure you have enough fun objects for everyone... a stereo is a must, since you can all dance together and fill fun and social together. Also make sure something is available to eat so the guests don't go hungry. The earlier you max all their needs and the longer they stay maxed, the higher the party score will go.
The guests only come if they are friends with the person doing the calling. That means that the one doing the calling needs to be friends with anyone who you want at that party. (Which gets weird if you are planning a party for your teenager and it's the mom who does the calling.) Food and group entertainment are musts. But it's also a good idea to have the coffee expresso machine primed. The guests can't make their own expresso or coffee, but can pick it up from the machine if you've had one of your Sims do the "serve" thing so that it's available. (I had expected them to put it on a try, but they just leave it in the machine, taking a cup for themeselves first.) Also make sure that there are plenty of bathrooms handy to the party area. (I tried stall types, but they don't seem to like them even if they're desperate, so they all fight for one of the family bathrooms. So now my party houses have 3 bathrooms attached to the room where I hold the parties.) The guests will leave if they can't get to a bathroom (and they seem to wait until the last minute to find one, and generally seem to prefer the one with someone in it.) Also, if your poor host or family member can't get away to use the bathroom, it's a bit of a bummer when they have an accident. (I've had one bridesmaid do that and one bride. Every time I tried to send them to the bathroom, someone would do something to knock it out of the queue.)
