Your fiance went out of his way to plan a romantic and high-class evening at a five-star restaurant for you. Clearly, it's going to be a special night. A cultured evening full of classy, well-dressed people dining on upper-crust cuisine is close at hand, and you'll be partaking in the midst of it all. You're ecstatic since it's not every day, let alone year, that a fancy and elegant evening is on the horizon. But, despite your good fortune and thoughtful spouse, a tag-a-long nightmare finds itself looming a few days before and directly over your ritzy night on the town.

A nightmare on such a fine night? As in, running about aimlessly in a dark enclosure, seemingly pacing yourself away from dread to somewhere safer, but inescapably nowhere? No, not that type of ordeal. The nightmare here isn't dreamlike, it's real and a matter of preparing, - and not for the worst – but for your evening out. Now, although it's not all that bad and quite manageable, your personal nightmare involves packing an evening purse.

The Transfer:

The one nightmarish factor involved with packing an evening purse is the transferring of items, which are directly taken from your usual, every day hand bag. It's not that it's a taxing undertaking, but it is tedious, in a way. As a woman who carries around all essentials in one confined, organized and familiar spot, to transfer over only what you need for one night takes careful consideration and selection.

Bring Only What You Need:

Essentials found in your daily hand bag will differ greatly when compared to the contents of your future evening purse or clutch. Obviously, you can't stuff all the usual essentials you normally tote in your standard hand bag into your compact evening purse.

What needs to happen is a careful selection of true essentials, with convenience and petiteness in mind. By this compact characteristic, with true essentials, your purse collective should consist of no more than 15 particular items. Of these items will include absolute necessities for the night at hand along with one or two emergency purpose items.

Packing One Night Essentials:

Initially, you'll want to take your wallet out of your standard purse. The goal here is to not bring your entire wallet to dinner, just the absolute essentials within it. Take out those few items you'll need for the evening, just to avoid bringing extra, unnecessary weight. What you'll take out of your wallet will include your driver's license, a debit card and/or credit card, and in case of odd emergency, don't forget your health or insurance card. Also, it wouldn't hurt to bring 50-100 dollars of cash along, just in case plastic money options fail to cooperate.

Don't Forget Lady Must-Haves:

Along with the above absolutes, you'll need some essential lady items to bring with you. Makeup is a must, but you only need to bring touch up and maintenance items. Only try to bring your pressed powder compact, lip liner and lip gloss. Make sure to properly and fully beautify yourself before leaving for your fine night on the town. This way, if you need to touch up during your evening you can use the previously packed two or three makeup items in your clutch.

Other must haves should include your cellphone -of course-, a few breath mints or sticks of gum and, in case you have an issue with your eyes or contacts, some saline contact solution or eye-drop product.

Now, ladies, once you've taken these few items out of your day to day hand bag and transferred them to your evening clutch, you'll be prepared, but not overly so. You will have just enough in your clutch, a moderate amount that is not bulky or excessive. And you'll see that you're adequately prepared for the uptown night your lovely fiance has arranged. Enjoy your evening out and put nightmares to the side knowing you have a stylish and moderately packed evening purse.