Even though the party season has only just ended, that’s no reason to neglect your entertaining skills in the coming few months. There’s always an excuse for a gathering, whether it’s a night for just the girls, a Couples Come Dine with Me or even an intimate family dinner to celebrate a birthday.
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Take pleasure in putting together a theme, a delicious menu and even some dinner party entertainment so that your guests feel as though they’ve had a truly decadent night – your dinner parties could be the ones to beat!
What Kind of Party?
Deciding on what guests to invite and the theme is your first port of call. Once this is decided, you can settle on a dress code, menu and decorations to pull this hootenanny together…
If you just want close girlfriends to come over, why not put together a Galentine’s night? This post from Martha Stewart is bursting with inspiration, including excellent invitations that would be perfect as we edge closer to Valentine’s Day.
Having a formal party – think suit and tie, a fancy dress and really nice glassware – doesn’t need to be super expensive. You can borrow plates, cutlery and glassware from a friend or relative for the night, as well as making some of the table decorations yourself to save a few pennies. This diagram from Pinterest even shows you how to do a formal table setting, including individual salt and pepper pinch pots!
Simple Elegance
As well as luxurious golds, silvers and ornate decorations as part of your party theme, you can also go simple with your table decorations and still pull off that decadent feel. Here’s a list of items to provide some simple elegance to your soiree.
Wood – Lau & Home has a great selection of wooden cutlery to set apart your table setting. No frills but still looks great when paired with the right accompaniments.
Flowers – Using small flowers in your napkin decorations, as well as for general table decoration, is an inexpensive way of adding a bit of luxury to your dinner party. Depending on the season, you can choose flowers that fit your theme and even inexpensive varieties such as Gypsophila look ‘the business’.
Centrepieces – Real Simple have a selection of 5-minute centrepiece decorations that you can whip together quickly for almost any occasion.
Winning Recipes
If you decide to take on the cooking yourself, there’s lots of recipes that can be tried and tested in advance so that you have everything sorted for the main event. I’m sure the family won’t mind testing out some of your culinary skills!
Keeping things simple is this Spanish tortilla recipe from Jamie Oliver. Perfect for a picky (yet still posh) dinner that your guests can graze on. Mr Oliver also has a drool-worthy salmon en croute dish that is surprisingly easy to put together and looks SOOO good.
Delicious magazine offers up this Malaysian-style chicken recipe that is packed full of flavour – not one for the spice-averse among you! A nice little starter, if you’re doing a set course, is this Asian-style prawns with spiced herb relish dish also from Delicious.
For many of us, dessert is really the pinnacle of any dinner party. What do you have planned for yours? Great British Chefs have this chocolate orange pudding recipe that would put a Terry’s chocolate orange to shame. Or, if you want something a little lighter, there’s this strawberry parfait with Vin Santo mascarpone and biscotti recipe from BBC Good Food – so pretty!
Dress Code Etiquette
Giving your guests a heads up on the type of party you are throwing will mean they can arrive dressed appropriately. Although some people might initially groan at a formal dinner party invite, everyone will get into being dressed up and enjoy all the fancy food and decorations to boot.
If you have chosen a specific theme – A Mad Hatter’s tea party for example (a winner with adults and children alike) – then your guests can go all out for it with costumes and make up etc. So much fun!
Getting Personal
If you really want to go the extra mile, adding little personal touches to the table setting will make each guest feel very special indeed. This idea is best for a more intimate gathering, so you don’t have lots of personalising to do. From little place cards, such as these gorgeous little ones from Etsy, to little gifts that suit each guest, this idea will really set you apart from other dinner party hosts.
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