DESIGN SCENE LIVING: 4 Ways To Throw The Perfect Dinner Party
Throwing a fun dinner party for friends or family always seems like a great idea when you hand out the invitations, but when the day gets closer, you might start to feel as though you’ve taken on a bit too much.
There is no need to worry; these DESIGN SCENE tips on throwing the perfect dinner party are designed by our team to help you out.
Cook What You Know
It can be sorely tempting to browse online or leaf through recipe books in order to find some exciting, delicious sounding recipes that you want to cook for your guests. However, if you’ve never made them before, it might be better to practice them and not cook them for the first time on the night of your dinner party. This can just cause stress and worry, and if something goes wrong, you’ll berate yourself for it. It’s a far better idea to cook a recipe that you know really well so that you can be sure of getting it right. Plus you’ll know how long it takes so you can time everything perfectly.
Prepare Food In Advance
If you can prepare any (or all) of the food in advance, then this is a great option for a dinner party. It means you can spend time chatting with your guests rather than slaving away in the kitchen, although if everyone is mingling with you, it’s not so bad. When you can prepare at least some items in advance, using baking mixes, for example, it’s just a matter of putting all the elements together, and that isn’t something that will cause too much stress. Try to avoid foods like that that need to be cooked to order and anything that needs constant attention such as risotto.
Have Everything You Need
As soon as you know how many people are coming to your dinner party, you can start getting organized. You’ll know how many plates and glasses you need, for example, as well as cutlery. If you don’t have enough, you will have the time to buy or borrow more – if you don’t think of this in advance and only discover it on the day; you might find that it’s too late and then you’ll have a problem.
Do the same with the ingredients you need as well; go to the store as far in advance as you can. Be careful when buying fresh ingredients though, as too far in advance could mean they are no good by the time you actually need them. Prepping well will ensure you have everything to hand when you need it.
Be Flexible
Whatever happens, you need to be flexible – plans change at the last minute, and you’ll often find that you need to compromise somewhere for someone about something. Just keep calm and go with the flow. If one guest brings an extra person, don’t panic, for example, and just make sure there is enough food for them too. Or if someone drops out, don’t worry, you can still enjoy yourself. Always have a backup plan for the food too, just in case you burn something, drop something, or someone tells you they can’t eat a certain food. As a last resort, you can always call for a pizza and still have a great evening!
All images from ZARA HOME Spring Summer 2018 In Bloom collection.
