Hello,
A lot has been said already, but I will add my two cents if it is not too late !
Reading for friends, is something I do and enjoy a lot. I think tarot is a great way to spark conversations, to made friends, and it can lead to very deep conversations even in a "light" surroundings. But, it is different if its made in a small company, with only two or three close friends who know each other very well, or in a large party.
My advice would be :
- Do not accept relationship readings if the other member (or members !) of the couple/ partnership is/are present at the party, or is/are well known by the other guests. Even if the readings are not public, and happen one-on-one in a corner of the room.
(I like reading for friends, and the same thigs goes all the time, even outside of a party : make sure that they are not going to share information about other people you know, that will make you uncomfortable. Better to tell in advance where the limits are)
- Explain in advance what kind of reading you can offer, depending on your personal preferences. For me, for example, that is : I do not make predictive readings, I do not make readings that are centered on a third person...
- When people are not familiar with tarot, they can get freaked out by the scary cards ; suitable decks have been mentioned by other members in the thread for that. A few other suggestions,
depending on the type of company : I like the Distant Past tarot (has been initially made for the artist's child, and Death, Hanged, Devil are renamed) ; the Halloween deck (the cartoonish style takes of the edge of the scary cards) ; or, a deck I personnaly like very much as a second degree choice for a "rock'n roll" style company : the Dark Carnival tarot (all the cards represent exaggeretedly "scary" characters anyway, so the traditionaly scary cards are no worse than the others)
- it's is difficult to keep readings uniformely light. Some readers will have important questions and will take the reading very seriously, even if they pretend to not care one way or the other in front of the company. It's important to remember that and to honor that it is important to them, to respect that aspect even if the reading does not go into deep details.
- if you feel that amongst the company, some people will react badly, either lecture you because they think tarot is evil, or make fun of you because they think it is a bunch of woowoo crap, then I would cancel the readings. You do not want to be the target of offensive characters. You can always offer whoever IS interested, to read for them in a more appropriate and private setting.
I hope it will be fun for you and everybody else involved ! I hope you will tell us how it went ? The experience will give you a bunch of other advice to share !