In modern entertaining, anything goes -- especially when it comes to daytime gatherings. Fill this party with cheerful whimsy by mixing and matching the fun colors and graphic lines of the pop art genre. Clean, bright tones communicate a happy, light-hearted experience. Think hot oranges, yellows, creamy pinks, reds and sharp lime green for linens, and xgerbera daisies, poppies or peonies for flowers.

Consider this bash a modern homage to the gaiety of the 1950s and 1960s, allowing your plates, glassware and serving pieces to follow suit. Bright trays, salad bowls, tongs, platters and pitchers made from funky materials such as lucite, melamine and milk glass will inspire kids and adults alike.

Daytime is as likely to be celebrated with an outdoor picnic as it is with a tray top meal on the screened porch, or a casual living room buffet. This is a meal where kids and adults commune, so take a cue from your child’s appetite: classics like grilled cheese or peanut butter and jelly can become the perfect hors d’oeuvres when fancy breads and exotic cheeses or nut butter and jams are used in place of the usual suspects. Open bottles of wine placed on the table alongside pitchers of grape juice or lemonade for the kids will encourage a serve-yourself atmosphere.

Use cookie cutters to create fun shapes that mirror the season (stars for the 4th of July or hearts in February); these will delight the grown-ups as well the children. A choice of brightly colored Popsicles or a turn at the "make-your-own modern sundae" bar creates an irresistible and celebratory end to the meal.