Tips to Throw a Dinner Party

If I win the lottery, I am quitting my job, moving to a remote location, and flying people in for dinner parties. No joke. Dead serious. (Sorry work!) Yes, I know I’m crazy, but I am who I am and if my bank account explodes you better believe I will live my best life. And for me, living my best life includes hosting dinner parties. Big ones, small ones, there's no right or wrong size for a dinner party. Low budget, high budget, gluten free, vegetarian, lactose free. You name it - I've hopefully tried it. Over the past several years, I’ve discovered a few tricks for throwing a successful dinner party that are worth sharing.

1. Know your budget. Dinner parties can be a lot of fun, and can also get very expensive really quickly. Before you start inviting guests or menu planning, determine how much you’re comfortable spending. There are great dinner party options available at every budget. In college I had a “sauce yourself” dinner party where I supplied the pasta and everyone was told to bring a sauce to share. It turned out to be a great event people everyone felt like they were contributing and there was a big variety of sauces and pasta combinations to make. When I left my last job to start at my current job, I was making more money so I had a lot of people over and made homemade lasagna, salad, and a cake for everyone because I wanted to treat my friends. The best way to save money is to delegate items for people to bring. Often times I’ll tell people not to worry about bringing food, but they can bring whatever they’d like to drink. If you do want to go all in with an upscale menu and themed decorations, you better budget. You’re friends will be super impressed but your bank account won’t be. There’s nothing worse than feeling anxious or regret over a dinner party because of the cost. Know your limit and stick to it.
2. Make sure everyone knows at least one other person there, but don’t over-invite. This is probably the best tip I have for dinner parties in general. As an introvert, I don’t like going to events where I don’t think I’ll know somewhere there and will have to make uncomfortable small talk or even worse, do an icebreaker. This will also let you make a guest list with a set number of people and give your guests confidence they’ll have a good time - which of course they would either way. This will also help you stick to your budget by having a good headcount and hopefully prevent last minute friend addition requests. The buddy system works for summer camp swim sessions and adult dinner parties so use it.
3. Get dietary restrictions ahead of time. There is nothing worse than having everything ready, everyone sitting down for dinner, and your roommates friend say she can’t eat anything because she recently went vegan. They’ll be hungry, you’ll be embarrassed, and I’m sure people will be uncomfortable eating when someone has to go without, or you’re in the kitchen trying to figure out what to feed a vegan. Heads of lettuce are good for wedge salads, not for picky eaters. Get people’s diets before grocery shopping.
4. Pick a theme. You don’t have to go all in with a theme unless you want to. After all, dinner parties aren’t your high school spirit week days. For a theme, you can definitely go all in with more of a dinner theatre approach where you have attire suggestions and characters for your guests to play, or you can have a menu theme. A recent dinner party I helped host had lemon in everything we did - cocktail, salad dressing, lemon pasta, and candied lemon wheels. It’s a nice way to tie the whole dinner together and give it structure. Pinterest is a great resource for dinner themes and it’s always fun to spice up dinners on any budget. Give your dinner some thought to make it memorable and enjoyable for everyone.
5. Prep as much as possible. No one puts baby in the corner, and no one forces the cook into the kitchen for dinner parties. By prepping as much as possible, you can enjoy your event and ensure you aren’t forgetting any essentials. Think about how much thought and prep work goes into Thanksgiving dinner. DAYS! No one tries to pull it off the day of, and if they do it’s probably a disaster for everyone involved - looking at you people who put a frozen turkey in a deep fryer. Prepping is your best time management tool as well.

The most important thing to remember is to have a good time at your party. If you’re not enjoying yourself, your guest won’t have a good time either. Cheers to throwing more dinner parties with less stress.