If you had a party and served frozen foods, beer in cans, wine out of a box, no music at all, and kept the light on, the party would not be too great at all. There are rules for entertaining good food, good drinks, and atmosphere.
Casual parties should even serve fresh, good food. Serving finger foods is a good idea this is because there are no utensils used so there is less of a clean up afterwards. Serve the finger foods on a tray so you don't need to run back and fourth from the kitchen. You also need to enjoy your party.
Never ever serve canned beer. Wine needs to always be bought in bottles. It should not cost you an arm and a leg even though it doesn’t come from a box. It is always a good idea to have some liquor in the house anyway, just in case you have guests drop by that like to have a drink or two.
The atmosphere is made up of three main things; music, lighting, and decoration. Every party needs to have some music. Where there is good music there usually is dancing, and parties are a lot better if there is dancing. With the lights on nobody will even think about dancing. A dimmer switch should be considered if you plan on having more then one party a year.
The table with the finger foods and the liquor will probably be the focal point so pretty it up with some flowers and a table cloth. If it is a theme party you are having then you need to decorate accordingly. Nothing tacky is needed.
