Come Dine With Us: Throwing a Dinner Party That Will Be The Stuff of Legend

In our younger years, some of our most defining moments took place at our friend’s house parties. First kisses, first breakups, early hangovers and teenage dramas. But as we get older we yearn for a more sophisticated kind of revelry. The kind that involves good food and hearty banter alongside the rivers of wine, beer and cocktails. The kind that doesn’t leave you waking up at noon and hoping that nobody trashed the place. Still, there’s an art to throwing a successful dinner party and it’s not all about coasting on culinary prowess. It’s about careful planning, perfect timing and a few special surprises that will ensure that your dinner parties become the stuff of legend and your skills as a hostess are never called into question.

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We’ve already looked at ways to throw the perfect party. Here we’ll look at some tips to make sure that your dinner party is a little more Come Dine With Me and a little less Kitchen Nightmares.

Curate your guest list

A good dinner party needs conversation that flows as readily as the wine and cocktails. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you’ll have to do all the heavy lifting alone. Curating a guest list is like creating a chemical formula. Unless you get the components and volumes just right it could all blow up in your face. Be sure to invite people who are likely to get along, people who have jobs or hobbies in common or friends from different walks of life who might be able to learn from one another. 

Have a theme

Having a theme to your dinner party can be a fun way to add a little sparkle to proceedings and be a great potential conversation starter. It can inform your decor and create fun opportunities to transform your home or create opportunities for fancy dress fun (a great way to loosen nervous tongues and enhance social chemistry). Not to mention creating opportunities for themed food.  

Hire a mobile bar

You want a comprehensive cocktail bar but you don’t feel like spending a fortune for spirits that will sit unused in your pantry for years to come after your guests go home. Why not try mobile bar hire? These handy services will be able to create beautifully crafted cocktails that get the conversation flowing. 

Take the time to create beautiful invitations

Looking for an opportunity to get crafty? Break out the crepe paper, card and gel pens and put some time into creating beautiful invitations encouraging guests to RSVP. 

Oh, and it’s a good idea to encourage people to tell you about any dietary needs or food intolerances in plenty of time. You wouldn’t want to offend a friend who’s just turned vegan or irritate anyone’s bowels with a hearty dose of gluten. 

Master your timings

Finally, the last thing you want is to spend the best hours of your party slaving in the kitchen when all the best stories and jokes are getting told. Prepare as much in advance as possible and humbly accept the praise as guests comment on the gorgeous aroma coming from the kitchen. Aim to serve your first course around 45 minutes after all the guests have arrived and don’t make the mistake of serving dessert too early. You wouldn’t want bloated tummies to sour the closing hours of your party. 

This is a collaborative post.