The only pairing more perfect than peanut butter and jelly or spaghetti and meatballs is wine and cheese. So celebrate the union with a party of the pairing – have some friends over for a wine and cheese fiesta.

As with any party, it’s best to ask your friends to bring their favorite wines, cheeses or desserts. As the host you should have at least three different kinds of wine on hand: a red, a white and a dessert wine. It’s also a good idea to prepare a cheese plate before you know what your guests are going to bring. Wise choices to pair with any wine are havarti, chÇùvre, Gouda and Brie. Crackers and artisan breads are your best option for serving cheese – layer the crackers around a pile of sliced or torn bread chunks and you’ve got a delicious centerpiece. Fresh fruit on the side is also a must, especially grapes, pear slices and strawberries if they’re in season; if not, use your nose and find fragrant, fleshy fruits to suit your cheese palette.

Make sure your table is equipped with a plate just for the cheeses and a couple of different knives for cutting them. Little plates, whether plastic, paper or ceramic, are not necessary for guests to eat from, but they’re much nicer than napkins. Also, definitely have enough wine glasses to go around. If you don’t have enough you can ask guests to bring their own – just make sure everyone knows whose belong to whom – or buy a lot of cheap plastic ones from the dollar store.

Make your guests rinse their glasses between wines so they don’t use multiple glasses. If you want to be really fancy, you can have a pitcher of water by the sink for rinsing purposes – just like at a wine tasting.

Plan to let guests sit or stand to mingle, with chairs sprinkled around the room. Having conversation-starters like a “”Would You Rather”” book laying around are an additional plus if you’ve got them.

Play some classic jazz in the background and you’ve got yourself a classy little party, no matter if the dress code is campus-casual, dress-casual or just plain dressy.