Have you ever watched a programme such as Come Dine With Me and thought to yourself: “I can do that!” Serving up a meal for strangers is not only about how your food tastes, but it’s also all about presentation as well. The most perfect beef wellington can’t survive a drab conversation and lack of pizzaz. Here are some top tips to help you impress your guests at your next dinner party.
You need to start thinking about a dinner party being more than just the moment between the food being served up and the guests leaving your house. Put yourself in the shoes of your guests, who will be leaving the comfort of their surroundings to visit you. You build up the right anticipation by sending out bespoke, considered invitations. Before you do so, consider a theme for your dining experience. Having a theme enables your guests to get in the right mindset and get all excited about the food, and the company you will bring. Give your guests a theme and tell them to go nuts. Straight away you will have an icebreaker from the get-go. Make sure you also follow through on the theme by decorating the room, table, and dining chairs.
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Once your guests arrive, don’t immediately rush off to the kitchen to put the final touches on your food. Make sure you make your guests feel comfortable and provide some form of entertainment and beverage. Try giving them something to do, such as making cocktails at the fully stocked drinks station you provided. On the topic of alcoholic drinks, pace the evening. You have a full evening ahead of you, and you don’t want your guests, or even yourself, to have to lie down before the main course arrives.
Fill the house with sounds and smells, not in such a way it’s overwhelming, but in a way that your guests get transported to your carefully crafted food experience. A few scented candles will do the trick of lifting the atmosphere, just consider if those smells are complementary to your food. Also, create a nice playlist to play in the background subtly. It is recommended to pick songs that mean something you. It wouldn’t be uncommon for someone to say “I love this song,” which is a great hook to share your own appreciation and meaning to the song with your guests.
Good dinner parties are obviously about food, but also very much about the post-meal conversations. This is usually when it’s time to break out the whiskey, coffee liqueur or a nice cup of tea. A deck of cards or a game of scrabble is perfect to round out the evening. Steer clear of monopoly as that will always end in tears and shouting. And as your guests leave, give them something to remember the evening by. Perhaps a polaroid shot, small joke or novelty gift related to your theme would be the fitting cherry on top.
If you hit all these marks, your dinner party will be a guaranteed success. Granted you don’t burn the food!
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