Here are some useful tips to help you plan your perfect dinner party!

Tip 1

Guestlist number. Do not stress yourself out and cook for 12 people if you are not able to cook for 12 people, narrow it down to 6 or even 4 people

Tip 2

Select a theme for the dinner. This will set the tone for your food as well as your decoration for your table

Tip 3

For the menu, keep it simple but have a few wow items on the menu. I believe in quality as opposed to quantity. Good quality ingredients like good cheese, hand made pasta, nice piece of steak or even a nice piece of steam fish goes a long way. For dinner party menu options check out our recipes page!

Tip 4

For decoration, I find it best to opt for a nice table cloth (colour is key so pay attention to your theme), some fresh flowers (optional but not important), place setting, candles and menus. It’s simple, easy to do (cause you can print the the menu and place cards out and can find easy templates here)

Tip 5

Set your table up and your living room at least 1 hour before your guests arrive. It’s the first thing they see when they walk in.

Tip 6

Provide some nibbles around the living area (chips or bowls of nuts) so your guest can snack on this before dinner. It buys you some time to prepare the meal if your running a little behind

Tip 7

Have a punch bowl of your favourite drink. It’s so much easier to make a big bowl of punch and people can help themselves to refills. Alternatively, have a bar of assorted drinks and print out a few easy cocktails and mocktails for our guest to DIY and go crazy on glasses, umbrellas and funky straws

Tip 8

If your having guests that don’t know each other, its best to have a few ice breaker games on hand to get the conversations going. You can play 2 truths and a lie which gets everyone to share 2 truths about themselves and 1 lie and everyone has to guess which one is a lie. The host often starts and have fun with it. Trust me, the tone of the dinner party starts with the host. If your having a ball, your guest will too.

Tip 9

Have soft music playing in the background. Music creates ambiance that goes side by side with the decoration and the feel for the night. Pick a playlist that goes according to your dinner party theme

Tip 10

This is completely optional but I like to have dessert in another room that’s different from the dining room. So this could be outside or even in the living room and the reason for this is so that you have some time to clean up after your guests have eaten their food but also prepares your guests to chill before the night ends