Any excuse to get some of your favorite people over to your place so that you can hang out and catch-up is a great excuse. Especially when food is involved; it makes it all that sweeter. Therefore, a dinner party could be just the thing you need to put on your calendar to get some pep in your step, and giving you and your favorite people, something fun to look forward to. However, many people see the words “dinner party” and think of stuffy, formal events, where there will be candles and crisp table linen. If this is your idea of heaven; go for it! But for many this would leave to increased stress and pressure. Thankfully, dinner parties have evolved, and the focus is now on having a great evening with those you like and love the most.

You’re bound to feel a tiny bit stressed on the lead-up; this is normal, and it just means you care. Don’t worry, there are plenty of things you can do to ensure your dinner party is a relaxed affair for everyone involved, and that you don’t open the door to guests looking tired and frazzled. The following are some ideas and inspiration for your next dinner party, to ensure it runs smoothly, and remains a relaxed and casual occasion.

Host A Potluck

A great way to ensure that everyone has something to eat that they love is to ask your guests to bring a dish, or two, or even more (if they’re able). You could go with a theme and create an evening around family favorite recipes, or perhaps a particular type of cuisine; often a few guidelines will help inspire people what to cook (or buy). Therefore, it’s worth helping them out. You could also create the meal itself together, and instead of a completed dish; people bring along ingredients. Pick some fun and simple recipes like pizza or tacos, a couple of different cocktails, and work out who can bring what to ensure that you’ve got all you need for a tasty evening ahead.

Grab Takeout

As previously mentioned, your get-together should be about the company and good times first. Therefore, to make the evening as easy as possible; another great option is to go get yourselves some takeout, or order a delivery when everyone has arrived. Send a few online menu links to people beforehand to gauge what the majority would prefer. Then, you can pick somewhere based on the fact it has great burgers or make the best fries in town, and ask everyone to think about what they might like. The downside here is that it could get pretty expensive to pay for everything yourself, so if you are strapped for cash this might not be the best option unless your friends have all agreed to split the cost or pay for their own share. Perhaps you can supply the dessert if there’s any room left.

Activities

Finally, it’s always great to have some kind of activity to bring everyone together. Is this a chance for your friends to get together and share a game night with various board games? If so, perhaps have them bring their favorite board game from home to play with the group. It could also be a movie night. Have a friend bring a movie the group has been wanting to see or rent a movie from an online service. Of course, some parties are great just to catch up with your friends over some food and some cocktails or wine.

Now, set-up that group chat, and start thinking about what you’ll all want to devour in a week or so, but, most of all; have fun!

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This is a contributor post, which has been reviewed and edited personally by me before being published. Links to external reviews are meant to provide additional ideas to readers and do not reflect my personal opinion or review of products.

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