A dinner party is one of the best ways to get all your friends and family around a table, eat good food, and enjoy each other's company until the early hours. If you want to plan one for this Fall, here are some of the most important.
Plan, Plan, Plan
The first thing you need to do when organizing a dinner party is to plan. This includes things like heading to Smirnoff Liquorland for drinks, picking a theme, having an idea of what you want to cook, a theme, etc.
Having this all written down allows you to not only manage your time better leading up to, and on the night of the party, but it also ensures you don’t miss or overlook anything, and if you do, there is enough time to correct it.
Food & Drink Confidence
When it comes to choosing what food and drinks to serve, don’t fall into the trap of wanting to make a meal you saw for the first time yesterday and have never made it yourself, with the same thinking applies to drinks and cocktails.
It is also best to choose dishes that you are confident cooking, and that you know you can do well; many world-class chefs have said that a perfect grilled cheese is better than a mediocre fillet.
Pairings
Don’t overlook the extra touch of having food and drink pairings. The classic combinations of red wine with red white, and white wine with fish are classics for a reason, and can take your dinner party to the next level.
Balance Your Menu
When creating your menu, be sure to keep it balanced. For instance, you don’t want to have quiche for a starter, a pie, or something similar as a main, and then a tart for dessert; there is too much pastry for one meal, and it will be too heavy.
Instead, balance out the type of food you are serving, such as having a lighter starter if your main is very meaty or pasta-heavy, for example. Another thing to remember is to keep the meals relatively small if you are serving other things, such as canapes, or having a dinner party with more than three meals.
Work Around Your Main
Another menu tip is to build it around your main. Once you have your main decided, it is easier to pick a theme, know what to serve before and after it, know what drinks to have, etc. Choosing your main makes the rest of the menu very easy to create.
Dietary Requirements
Always be sure to ask your guests in advance if they have any dietary requirements. Nothing will derail your dinner party quicker than finding out on the night that one of your guests is a vegetarian, lactose intolerant, or something similar.
It is perfectly fine to keep your menu a secret if you so choose, but when inviting your guests, be sure to ask about dietary requirements, allergies, etc.
Cook Ahead of Time
A dinner party is definitely about the food, but it is also about socializing and not spending all of your time in the kitchen. To avoid this, do as much preparation as you can beforehand, and allow yourself to only do the quicker jobs on the night.
You can also achieve this by keeping parts of your meal simple, such as having a salad or soup. Both of these things can be done the night before, and can pack a ton of flavor with very little effort; the latter will also only require a few minutes to reheat when needed.
Set the Mood
Moving onto the dining room, don’t ignore the other aspects of a party that really get everyone into the swing of things and complete the night. This means setting the mood and letting your guests know that they are at a Fall dinner party.
Include music, mood lighting, and light a few cinnamon or spice-flavored candles to transport your guests. Many people believe that the dinner party setting is almost as important as the food itself.
Keep the Food & Drinks Flowing
This is more of a general party tip, but don’t let your guests go hungry or thirsty. Dinner parties aren’t meant to be something that takes an hour or two, with guests immediately sitting down, eating, and leaving.
Because your party is going to take longer than just the meal itself, be sure to have snacks and drinks available at all times. A couple of trays of canapes or snacks will do the job, while for drinks, set up a minibar or have a couple of bottles of wine open throughout the night.
Entertainment
Finally, don’t be completely put off by the idea of entertainment. A dinner party doesn’t have to be an incredibly formal, quiet event; you can have fun with your guests, play a game or two, or something similar.
Plus, nowadays, there are plenty of fun, adult-friendly party and dinner games on the market that are sure to entertain you and your guests for far longer than you first thought; no need to suggest that one card game you played in college that you sort of know the rules to.
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