I have always dreamt of hosting a dinner party, and this year I finally got to do just that. I sent out invites, printed off menus, prepped in the kitchen for 2 days, and had a wonderful time laughing and bonding over a meal with friends. It was such a rewarding experience, and I cannot wait to host my next one.

I have loved the idea of hosting dinner parties since an early age. I always loved to watch Bewitched with my mom, and Samantha and Darrin always had the best parties—granted Samantha had a little help with the wiggle of her nose.

Since I started taking my cooking more seriously, I have always loved to cook for people. It is a way I can show my appreciation for those around me. Cooking has never been a chore for me, rather, it has been a tool to extend my gratitude and love in a physical form. You can say “I love you” a million times, but there is something so special when you see the look on someone’s face when you have surprised them with their favorite dish.

After hosting my dinner party, I was tired but was also riding on a high for about a week. I was proud of myself for cooking that much food, but I was also so happy with how it went. Everyone was talking, laughing, eating, and drinking—everything that I had hoped for finally happened and it could not have gone more perfectly.

So, I am an advocate for hosting more dinner parties! Dinner parties can simply be sharing a meal with a few friends, or 5 courses for a larger crowd. Make it whatever you would like it to be—there are no rules. But…if you want to mirror a dinner party like how I did mine, here is what I did, how I did it, and all the information you will need to host an amazing dinner party of your own!

Step 1: The Invitations

Who will you invite to your dinner party? This should be your first thought. If you have a specific friend group who hangs out together all the time, that is great! If you have a lot of friends but they do not all really know each other, that works too! Just pick people who you think will jive together.

I would invite your guests 2 weeks in advance, that way people have time to take time off work or get back to you to let you know that they cannot make it. You can send out formal invitations in the mail, design a Canva invite and text it to your friends (that is what I did), or a simple written text could do the job as well. Again, these are just suggestions—there are no rules! It would be a wise idea to ask your guests if they have any food allergies or serious sensitivities that you should be wary of before moving onto planning the menu.

Step 2: The Menu

Taking what information you learned from your guests about their individual allergies and sensitivities, you can now proceed to planning your menu. Your dinner party menu should have some variety, but you can make it as simple or complex as you would like (and have the time for). I chose to do a menu with spring-forward flavors. The recipes sound complex, but the way it is all prepped saves you so much time and stress. Here is a copy of the menu I printed off for my guests to have at their placemats for the dinner. I also sent the tentative menu to guests beforehand to make sure it all sounded good to them, but you could totally make it a surprise for people as well. If you have picky eater friends—do not fear. One of my friends is a picky eater and she still ate everything and seemed to like it.

I wanted there to be beverages and bread + butter ready for the guests the minute they walked in the door. This helped immensely, because it kept them a little busy while I started prepping to serve the other courses. I offered a pitcher of Aperol Spritz, and a pitcher of non-alcoholic rosemary lemonade—but I had vodka and tequila on the side so guests could add their own if they would like some. The bread and butter was super simple—I just bought baguettes from Trader Joe’s, and I made 3 compound butters. You can find the recipes for the butters here.

Step 3: Shopping + Cooking

The next step is to buy all your groceries. Do this a full day before you want to start cooking. Believe me—you do not want the stress of buying all your groceries and starting to cook an elaborate meal on the same day. This also gives you some wiggle room if you need to hop on over to a couple different stores for specialty ingredients.

Cooking… I started cooking a day in advance for my menu. I prepped the lamb ragu, mint pesto, and lemon ricotta for the main course the day before, and I also prepped the ice cream. The ragu needed to sit overnight, and the ice cream needed to fully freeze, so this made the most sense to me.

The day of, I chopped and prepped all my salad ingredients. I prepped the appetizer. I made the butters. Everything was hanging out in the fridge before I needed to take it out and prepare to serve it.

I rented the private kitchen space in my apartment building, and it was perfect. If you have an amenity like this, I highly recommend utilizing it. If not, any space works great. I brought up all my food, beverages, utensils, plates, bowls, placemats, and menus at least an hour before guests arrived. This allowed me to set the table, set out the butters, bake the bread, fill glasses with ice for the beverages, and begin prepping for the other courses.

Step 4: The Arrival of Guests

I thought I was going to be more stressed out when my guests first arrived, but it helped so much that there were beverages and bread + butter waiting for them at the door. It also helped that I had all the ingredients for the rest of the courses either prepped and ready to cook or just needed reheating. Having everything prepped made me a much better host, and I was able to engage in conversation with everyone and enjoy the evening. I was prepared to not have time to eat, but I was able to eat with everyone and enjoy the meal as it was intended. If I were private cheffing for someone, I obviously would not do this, but it was nice to enjoy the food that I worked so hard over with my favorite people.

Links to all the recipes I created can be found above or head over to the recipes page, and you will find them there. If you have any questions about hosting a dinner party or any of the recipes, please feel free to submit a contact form and I will get back to you as soon as I am able to. I really encourage hosting at least one dinner party in your life if you are able—it was so much fun, and I cannot wait to host again! :)