If you’ve ever had to organise a dinner party at short notice, you will know exactly how hard it is to create an event that will be remembered for all the right reasons. With so much to organise, it is easy to forget something, or to make a few mistakes along the way.
Dinner party planning requires organisation, timing and a lot of hard work. However, your next dinner party might just be a little easier to execute if you use these seven quick and simple dinner party ideas.
1. Set up a bar
Constantly getting up and down to refill drinks takes you away from your guests, and spoils your enjoyment of your own party. Make things as easy as possible for everyone by setting up a fully stocked bar in advance. Add a selection of wines, spirits and mixers, as well as ice, lemon and disposables. You can even buy a small fridge to keep your drinks chilled.
2. Serve starters in a self-serve style
Cooking three or four courses for several guests involves a huge amount of work. However, you can reduce your workload and free up time to spend with your guests by devoting an area of your kitchen for buffet-style starters. If you want to keep things really simple, serve a selection of cold meats, cheeses, olives and other mezze items.
3. Bring back the dessert trolley
The dessert trolley has largely been banished to the room 101 of dinner parties. However, by putting on a spread of different desserts and allowing your guest to help themselves, you can cut your workload and create a buzz. Buy some desserts from a local patisserie, and serve them with cream, various toppings, bowls, cutlery and napkins. Serving desserts on a trolley also means you can move the action to another room.
4. Wow your guests with fruity ice cubes
Every dinner party needs something special or different if it is to stand out from the rest. One way to get people talking, and save space in your bar area at the same time, is to make lime and lemon ice cubes. Simple quarter some lemons and limes, and pop them in the freezer around eight hours before your guests arrive. With absolutely no effort on your part, you’ll have some very impressive ice cubes to use in your gin and tonics.
5. Make food in advance
There is very little point in throwing a dinner party if you’re not going to be around to enjoy it. Cooking while your guests look after themselves is considered bad etiquette, so the more you can do in advance, the more time you’ll have for mingling. As well as serving a buffet-style starter and delivering desserts on a trolley, make a main course that can be prepped and refrigerated through the day. When your guests arrive, all you need to do is reheat and plate.
6. Use fruit as decoration
A last-minute dinner party requires a lot of thinking outside the box. You may not have time to spend shopping around for fancy table decorations. Save yourself a lot of time and money by filling two or three bowls with fruit, and use them as centrepieces on your table. Not only will this add a splash of colour to proceedings, it will give your guests a great palate cleanser at the end of the evening.
7. Garnish everything
If you’re worried that some of your dishes don’t look as impressive as you’d hoped, you can turn things around very quickly by adding a garnish. If you’re serving soup, for instance, a sprinkling of fresh herbs and a swirl of cream could completely transform it. Other garnishes you can use include bacon bits, parmesan cheese, olive oil, fruit coulis and croutons.
No dinner party is ever perfect, so don’t stress yourself out by striving for perfection. As long as your food is good and your hosting skills are up to scratch, your last-minute dinner party should be a roaring success.
