Rain or shine, winter or summer there is one thing we can probably all agree on… we love a good dinner party.
Getting together with some of our closest friends to enjoy each other’s company while feasting on a delicious and made with love meal. Reminiscing about old times, creating new memories and just appreciating one another. In our opinion, the power of a dinner party is extremely underrated.
Now, there are so many different types of “dinner” parties from potlucks, themed, brunch, cocktail, etc. But, the classic and timeless dinner party is something that cannot be beat. So, get your pencil ready, open a fresh google page and hop onto Pinterest for some extra inspiration because when you pair them with these full-proof tips, you’ll soon be known as the King or Queen of hosting the best dinner parties.
- Plan Ahead: This seems like a given, but planning ahead (for almost anything) is a MAJOR help. Once you’ve decided on a theme (if any), creating a menu and then a timeline and breakdown of what you’re cooking, how long, a schedule, arrivals, etc. All of the details will ultimately help in a smooth running and operating dinner party. Trust us on this one.
- Preparing: So, this seamlessly blends into the whole planning ahead aspect as being able to do as much preparing the day before or day of the dinner party will once again, lend a bigger opportunity for smooth sailing. This goes for having the table scheme, decorations, lighting, tools, etc. cleaned and ready to go so that you can stay on task when it comes to your timeline the night of the party.
- Pro-Tip: Blaring some fun music while chopping (what seems like) endless amounts of veggies, cheese, or whatever you’re making makes the time pass way quicker!
- The Menu: Again, this is completely customizable, preference and agreed upon by yourself and guests. The menu can complement the theme, or be a bunch of recipes you’re just testing out on close friends, either way assuring you don’t go overboard is the best way to successfully make and serve your dinner. The trick with this is coming up with a fun, yummy, and inclusive menu for your guests but without having something so drastic that you’re missing the entire party by babysitting your meal slow-roasting in the oven. It’s important that the menu created resembles and is capable of successfully feeding the number of guests that will be in attendance. No one wants to be left out taking the scraps of your delicious roasted chicken.
- Keep Your Cool: Hosting a dinner party can absolutely be stressful, so before you decided to volunteer or just randomly blurt it out because you saw Ina Garten do it and you thought, “how easy was that?” to yourself, make sure you’re ready. It’s important to understand too that even though you have prepared, made a timeline and every list imaginable, things can and most likely will go wrong at some point. But, remember – it’s just a dinner party and everything can be resolved. So, just pour yourself another glass of wine and let it be!
- Enjoy: Hosting a dinner party is an honor to a lot of people, so when you’ve successfully pulled it off it is completely okay to be impressed and pleased with yourself. Through all the preparing, imagining, implementing, cooking, etc. remember that these are your friends, they love you and you have done something pretty cool for them so you might as well enjoy it together.