The festivities will begin on January 2 with a civic lunch in Baltimore, the home town of Ms Pelosi, where a street will be named after her. She will then join an extended family dinner at an Italian restaurant.

The next day she will attend Mass at Trinity College in Washington, a tea for 400 women politicians and activists, and a dinner at the Italian Embassy. There, she is scheduled to be serenaded by Tony Bennett singing I Left My heart in San Francisco — a reference to her Congressional district.

Ms Pelosi will attend a non-denominational service at St Peter’s Catholic Church on Capitol Hill on January 4, and then eat brunch with hundreds of supporters at the Cannon House Office Building and the Library of Congress.

At noon the House will convene to elect her as the Speaker. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will then hold a fundraising dinner at the Building Museum, where 1,200 guests will pay $1,000 (£500) each to salute her between performances by Jimmy Buffett, Carole King and Mickey Hart. Finally, on January 5, she will hold an invitation-only “People’s House” at her offices.

What? No inaugural ball?

Always ready to say one thing and do another, Democrats have pledged to restrain spending.

Determined to banish their old tax-and-spend image, Democrats want to shrink the federal deficit, preserve tax cuts for the middle class and challenge the president to raise money for the Iraq war when they take control of Congress next week. But it won't be easy.

But first we blow a lot of money on a really big party...