A huge milestone in every person’s life is throwing their first dinner party. One of the first things you notice when you get out into the real world is that the parties are a completely different deal than they used to be. Calling people the day of and telling them that you have four kegs and a couple bags of Cheetos will no longer cut it.
Yet, even if you have been throwing parties for years you could have a failure on your hands. You could be left wailing to yourself, “Where did I go wrong!”
Dina Karavalis, 27, found herself in this exact situation soon after she started teaching. It was around Thanksgiving and she wanted to invite her colleagues over for a night of relaxation and good food after a long week. She invited her co-workers for the Friday night party on Thursday, the day before. This was not her first party, though she could never pinpoint one as the best party she ever threw. She was surprised to find that it was nothing like she’d expected. Too many people came and no one liked the food she made (“Note to self: a first dinner party isn’t the place to try to make your first Turducken,” Dina says), so they were forced to give barely-disguised compliments.
Dina’s colleagues decided to give her a second chance at another dinner party. This time, she followed a few simple tricks, finding that it ran much more smoothly and people really seemed to enjoy themselves much more. By following the same tricks, you surely can cook up the dinner party of your dreams.
Be organized. Make lists of guests, decorations and food so you don’t lose track.
- “On the day of, I ended up not having any sausage for my main dish. I didn’t realize it until I was halfway done and I needed it, so I had to rush around looking for sausage. Living in the city makes that kind of a pain,” says Dina.
- By making a list of everything you need, you can check each thing as you get it and give yourself a deadline to get it all. If you make different checklists for each area of your party you can even reward yourself for completing a list, which will make you want to complete them at an earlier date. That provides you with more time to prepare your house and your meal!
Send out invitations. Don’t just invite people by word of mouth.
- “When I was planning my first party, I just told people about it. That was a really bad idea because people overheard me and I ended up having a lot more people there than I wanted, because everyone heard me talking about it.”
- Invitations are a good idea because when you just tell people about your party, people tend to not write it down. A paper that they have a solid date on helps them remember it, and more people will be likely to show up!
Request an RSVP at least a week in advance so you have time to plan how much stuff you will need.
- “Because so many extra people showed up, I didn’t have enough Turducken. I had to cut it up into really, really tiny pieces so that everyone could get some. It was a disaster.”
- By setting a specific RSVP date, you know how many people will be attending. A good trick is to add five to that number, just in case people RSVP late or want to have seconds.
- This way you will be sure to have enough food for people and you also won’t have to pack your freezer with leftovers!
Don’t make a super complicated, extremely specific dish to impress people.
- “My parents are Canadian, so I grew up on Turducken and I wanted to make it for my party. Needless to say, deboned chicken stuffed in deboned duck stuff in deboned turkey with breadcrumbs, sausage or stuffing didn’t go over very well.”
- People like what they like and not everyone likes to experiment. It’s best to make basic dishes like ziti or baked chicken and mashed potatoes with a simple vegetable that people are more likely to enjoy. There’s no need to go all out with fancy trappings to show off your culinary skills. Remember: the more people eat, the less you have to store in the fridge!
Make sure your house is clean and you don’t have anything lying around that you don’t want people to see.
- “This is probably the one thing I did right!” Dina says. “I’m a neurotic cleaner, so everything was in its place. I took anything that might even be remotely embarrassing, put it in my room and locked the door!”
- The last thing you want is your boss or colleague seeing your underwear lying around. Cleaning up not only gives the impression that you are neat and professional, it also prevents anybody from finding your not-so-hidden condom stash!
These tips are simple to follow and will surely lead you to a successful party. Now all that’s left to do is make a guest list and start planning!
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