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Having friends or coworkers over for dinner can be a lot of fun. A well-organized dinner party ensures that everyone has a good time by providing the right dishes, drinks, and people combo.
However, the planning that goes on behind the scenes to make a dinner party go off with a bang - in the way that you want it to - can be far from easy. If you get your menu wrong, you may find yourself getting stressed out in the kitchen, while your guests are left abandoned in another room. Get your guest list wrong and you could find everyone sitting around in an uncomfortable, stony atmosphere.
To avoid landing yourself in this situation, here we share three tips to help you to host the perfect dinner party.
Ask your guests about allergies and dietary requirements
Before you even open a recipe book and begin looking for dishes, you should find out if any of your invitees have food allergies or are unable to eat certain food items for other reasons.
If a guest has a severe allergy or comes from a religious background that prohibits them from eating certain foods, or is vegan or vegetarian, they will usually notify you well in advance of the event.
However, some people may just not think to tell you, perhaps assuming you already know. To avoid this and having to leave the table to throw something together or leave a guest feeling unsatisfied, it is a good idea to check ahead of time.
It is not something to be embarrassed about asking. There are many food allergies and intolerances, some of which can be very serious, so knowing that you are preparing food that everyone can eat and enjoy is important.
Prepare dishes you already know
Choose dishes that you have made at least once or twice before if you are cooking for a dinner party. Now is not the time to try your hand at making a twice-baked souffle for the first time. Stick to simple, but good quality foods.
A dinner party is supposed to be fun for everyone, including you. If you are relaxed about the food that you are cooking, you will find it all much more enjoyable.
Get your ingredients well ahead of time so that you can have time to replace anything that is forgotten or not quite right. Try ordering online to give you one less thing to worry about - you can even buy wagyu beef online.
Pick the right people
While you may want to invite your entire group of friends or coworkers to your dinner party, it is important to include people with whom you share a lot of interests.
Friends who get along well and share common interests will have a fun evening. If you want to include a couple of outliers, make sure they won't make your other guests feel uncomfortable. For example, if you have acquaintances who have very passionate, controversial opinions on topics such as politics or religion, consider whether they would be a good fit with the rest of the group before inviting them to join you.
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