Hosting November 12, 2020

Dinner Party Extra Touches

Last week I wrote this post about what you need for a dinner party, then I published this post on how to manage your time leading up to the party to avoid stress.

Today I thought I would write out all the other tips that did not fit into either of those posts, but are still helpful.

Send Out Invitations

Physical invitations are becoming more and more rare, but people still love them! They add such a fun, personal touch. I recently wrote my best advice for designing and printing invitations on a budget, and you can find that below:

Recommended: How to Design Invitation and Stationery

I love using Canva to design and print my invitations, and use Etsy to get the graphics. This year I spent $7 on our Christmas dinner party invitations, completely affordable.

Drink Station

Make things comfortable for your guests by creating an easily accessible space for your guests to help themselves to a drink.

I made this “built in” bar in our living room earlier this year and it is the perfect place for guests to gather and have a drink.

If you don’t have the space to do something this elaborate try a bar cart, or even just designate a drink area on the counter or an extra table.

Wherever you do it, just make it clear to guests when they come in where they can make a drink. Have plenty of glasses around (wine glasses, cocktail glasses) as well as different types of drinks and mixers.

Recommended: Affordable Wine Glasses

You can even go a step further and create a signature drink for the party and write out the recipe for guests so they know what it is and how to make it in the future.

Also make sure to have options for those who are not drinking, such as tea or sparkling water.

Appetizers or Charcuterie Board

Guests love to be able to nibble on something as dinner is finishing up.

Appetizers are great, but if you need something quick and no fuss a charcuterie board is an easy choice. Any combination of crackers, cheese, and fruit is a great mixture and people generally love it.

Trader Joe’s and Aldi have a great selection of cheeses for a great price.

Place Cards

Another fun touch is place cards. There are so many fun and cheap ways to do this, you can get creative with it.

Music

Find a nice playlist before guests arrive. Some good options for dinner parties are jazz classics, mellow classics, or feel good dinner for a more fun vibe.

Or if it’s a Christmas party try out my playlist here.

It is also fun to play records if you have a record player, it can give the party a fun, warm vibe.

Napkins

Cloth napkins are always a nice touch, and it can be fun to fold them different ways, like how I folded the napkins at the top of the page into bunny ears for Easter.