Providing a meal for friends and family is the surest way to let them know how much you love them. There is never a better time than when we have guests for a dinner party.
The lack of human contact over the past several months has had people longing for company. As soon as it’s safe, try some of these strategies to have a fun dinner party for your family and friends. You need to do it the right way after such a long absence of the fun that only a party can bring.
Get Fancy
Now, this is not an every day type of request, but for that special dinner party, try a dress theme. One of the most fun dinner parties I’ve attended had a black and white dress code. Everyone was asked to wear only these colors. The room looked amazing and all of the guests looked so smart in their theme colors. It was fun deciding what to wear and the pictures from that night were fantastic!
Dressing up and looking good makes people feel special. You don’t want to be off-putting, but if you make sure your guests understand that it’s going to be a special night, they will likely be more than happy to comply.
Add A Theme
You can add a theme to the dress request to tie everything together. Make it a roaring 20s party with a Gatsby theme. Research what food options were popular at the time and incorporate those recipes to your party.
A Roman themed party could incorporate togas as a dress essential. The menu could includes breads, cheeses, grapes, olives, and a variety of grilled meats in a lovely buffet spread. Don’t forget the wine!
If you didn’t want an overall theme that includes dressing for the meal, you can go regional with the menu. Indian cuisine is an excellent choice. If your guests aren’t familiar with the cuisine it could be great fun for them to learn how to make pudina paratha from scratch. It’s fun and interesting for your guests to be involved in the process. It will heighten the experience as well as open everyone up to an eating adventure.
Purge The Guest List
Be careful with your invitation list. Most people have a couple of groups of friends with whom they spend time. Depending on the style and theme of the dinner party, you may want to save invites for your rowdy friends for a less structured party. There is a school of thought that there are a few types of people you might not want to invite to a more formal party. I’d definitely steer clear of inviting those hyper critical types who’ll likely find everything wrong with the party. Save yourself the headache and invite people who you know would enjoy such a dinner party.
Save And Splurge
The best way to keep your stress level down when planning a dinner party is to use a budget. The food is the most important thing, spend your money on better cuts of meat and artisan breads. Buy high quality cheeses, fruits, and veggies. As far as dinnerware, you can buy “look alike” disposable dishes. In other words, they look like china and silverware but are actually plastic. Trust me, you guests will remember the quality of the meal and not what it was served on. Even more importantly, your guests will remember the warm emotions associated with the great time they had most of all.
I’m ready for a dinner party, how ’bout you?
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