Dinner parties are some of the few opportunities people have to dress up, show off their cooking skills, and mingle with friends. Coming up with a reason to host one can seem difficult at times, but it doesn’t need to be.
Step 1
The first step is finding the right time for the party. Work around your schedule and the schedules of everyone who will be attending. The goal is for everyone to have a good time, so make sure you keep that in mind while planning. You don’t need a reason to host a dinner party, but if you feel like you do, think about celebrating a birthday, an anniversary, or even Mother’s Day.
Step 2
The next step is finding a theme. This can be as simple as Mexican night, which you could easily pull off with some enchiladas and tacos, or a more complex French meal featuring coq au vin and Crème Brulee for dessert. Whatever the theme, make sure it’s something that appeals to everyone who will be attending.
Step 3
Once you’ve settled on a theme, the next step is to set the menu. This includes choosing dishes for appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Having three separate courses allows your guests to enjoy each one at their own pace. At the very least, you’ll want an appetizer, entrée, and a dessert.
If you don’t want to cook each course yourself, there are other options. You can order the food in or ask guests to bring appetizer dishes or desserts. Another option is catering. This means inviting more people since you’ll need to pay for the meal, but it’s a great option if you want to take on as little work as possible.
Step 4
Before the party starts, make sure your home is ready, and everything is set up. You’ll need enough plates and silverware for everyone and perhaps even another table. Having them set out on platters and trays is a nice way to display them and save you from having to get up throughout the party. You might also want to clear off a section of your counter for desserts.
Whether you’re hiding away in the kitchen cooking or mingling with guests, be sure to stay out of the kitchen while food is cooking. If you’re not the one cooking it, that means someone was hired to do something, and you don’t want them to think you’re overstepping your boundaries.
Step 5
The next step is setting up a beverage area. Decide on a budget and make a menu of the drinks you plan to serve before the party starts.
If your guests have any dietary restrictions, this is where you let them know. Asking early ensures that everyone will be able to relax and enjoy themselves later on. Just because there’s a theme to your party doesn’t mean it needs to be an all-or-nothing affair. You can easily accommodate any allergies or restrictions with some careful planning like how to make vegan heavy cream.
Step 6
The next step is who will be hosting the party. A dinner party is perfect for a small group of friends, but it’s also complicated to plan when you have massive groups of people. You don’t want to feel overwhelmed by the responsibility, but you also don’t want to be stuck away in the kitchen for your own party.
Enjoy!
With everything set up and everyone ready to start mingling, it’s time for some delicious food. All that’s left is enjoying yourself, your friends, and the company!
The leaves are starting to turn, and the nip of the fall weather will soon be in the air. Now, the kids are back to school, and Christmas is not far away. It really is a beautiful time of the year that shows the transition of time. With this in mind, here are some things that you can do this fall to get ready for the winter.
Declutter and organize During the summer months, you have probably spent a lot of time outside in the good weather and collected things from day trips and vacations. This is the best time to tidy all of the summer equipment away to be used next year. The patio furniture can be washed and stored in the garage. Summer clothes can be laundered and packed away for the warmer months. Find the winter wools and thick blankets to help keep the chill off your skin. It’s time to pack away the summertime and unpack the winter.
Change furniture If you are thinking about changing the furniture around for the Holidays, you might want to do it sooner rather than later. Ordering your sofas or bigger dining table early so that they arrive plenty of time for the holiday season can help avoid a lot of stress. If you are not planning on changing the existing furniture, you can get it professionally cleaned. This is great if you have a fabric sofa to clean it and give it a new lease of life. Sometimes all our furniture needs is a bit of TLC and some elbow grease to bring it back to life.
Deep clean When the weather is warm, the last thing you want to do is clean the house. We are not saying that you have neglected the house, but it could probably do with an overhaul. While you are decluttering and storing the summer stuff, it is a great time to give everything a good clean. Spending a few days going through the rooms and giving them a good scrub and vacuum can do wonders for your home and health. It will also make sure that the cleaning won’t be as difficult as the winter rolls around.
Service the systems The winter and the colder weather means that your heating and electric systems will be on longer and more often. After not being used as much over the summer, it is always a good idea to have them serviced before the pressure of the winter appears. Servicing the systems will help to ensure that you won’t be hit with sudden system failures that leave you without heat, hot water, and power. If you don’t know much about these systems, it is a good idea to get a professional engineer to look at them. If you have a fireplace, you should get your chimney swept to avoid issues with the chimney. Also, make sure that you have enough fuel for your heating too.
Decorate As the year goes on, you might discover that rooms are getting a bit worn out and need a coat of paint. When you have small kids, you probably feel the need to paint the rooms once a month with the mess they can leave with their little handprints. If you are planning on having family around for the Holidays, giving the place a fresh coat of paint can help you feel better about your home. Even just a quick coat of white paint on the ceiling can help to brighten the room up again.
Prep Holiday food Depending on what holidays you celebrate, you will need to buy different things. But, one thing we can all agree on, no matter what we celebrate, we need to start planning early. Start stocking up the tins and frozen items that you might need in the coming months. It is also a great way to ensure that you have a good food supply for the winter if the weather takes a nasty turn and you can’t get out of the house for a while. So grab those winter meats and canned goods to have at the ready.
Donations The Holiday season normally means that a lot of new stuff comes into our homes, but do we get rid of anything? Having a declutter can mean that we find stuff that is no longer serving us and we don’t need anymore. Maybe some old clothes you don’t like any more would be better off heading to Goodwill. Or maybe you have toys sitting around that the kids don’t play with anymore. Whatever the item, try to give it to charity or sell it, rather than allow it to go to a landfill. And, remember, the Holidays are a time for giving. Even if you feel the need to get rid of something doesn’t mean that someone else won’t love it.
Prep for bad weather We mentioned the bad weather in a previous point, but it is worth discussing it more. The weather has been becoming more unpredictable in recent years, so it is worth your while prepping a bit more than usual. This means clearing out the gutters, adding flood defenses if your home is prone to flooding. It might be a good idea to grab some snow supplies, even if you don’t get snow where you are. As we said, it is getting unpredictable.
Gardening If you are an avid gardener, you will already know that now is the time to start clearing out the garden and getting things ready for the spring. Root vegetables will be ready to harvest soon, and it is a great time for getting prepped for the spring. The flowers that have started to die can be added to the compost heap to be used as part of next spring’s planting. If you don’t know that much about gardening and would like to learn more, there is an abundance of information to teach you the basics.
While for an informal gathering or a family barbecue, disposable cups, paper plates, and plastic forks and garden chairs begged, borrowed, and stolen from everywhere will more than suffice. There are some occasions where they just will not be sufficient. When these occasions come up, it is wise to have all the tips and tricks in your entertaining repertoire ready, so that you can throw a successful and elegant dinner party.
These occasions might be for milestone birthdays, anniversaries, client entertainment, and networking. Whatever the occasion, these tips will make sure your dinner party is classy and fun. Read on to find out more.
Send out invitations
While a quick message in your friends or family Whatsapp group or a Facebook message is more than adequate for an informal get together, when it comes to something a little more formal, you want to send out proper invitations. Of course, professionally calligraphed and gold sealed envelopes might be a step too far, but sending one out via post is a great way to give a sense of occasion to any elegant dinner party.
Plan the menu
Before you plan your menu, make sure that you find out if there are any allergies or dietary requirements for your guests. Once you know if you have to plan for allergies, vegetarian, vegan or the like, it makes it a little easier. Then, set to work on planning a special meal. If you are cooking it yourself, do not go for anything too fussy or complicated that will require lots of attention in the kitchen while your guests are there. You also do not want to try something new that night – either keep to something tried and tested or give yourself plenty of time to perfect the dish. There are lots of superb ideas and recipes online, with just about every ingredient and taste catered for. Why not try an old favourite, with a new twist, such as the mushroom gravy recipe here? Of course, if you are getting the professional caterers in, you could go all out.
Lay your table
Setting the plates and the cutlery and mismatched glasses alongside a bottle of ketchup and mustard are not going to be right for an elegant dinner party. You need to spend some time dressing the table with crisp, clean table linen, charger plates, the correct cutlery for each course, appropriate glasses for drinks and so on. You also want to look at sophisticated and elegant decorations. Vase of fresh flowers or foliage are always a winner, as are tealights dotted about. Leave the paper napkins in the drawer and bring out clean, pressed linen ones with rings to hold them together.
Even if you are hosting a small, intimate gathering, place cards can be used to add a thoughtful, personalised touch to the event. Furthermore, by seating your guests next to new faces, you can easily facilitate a fun, enjoyable evening for them. They are also a useful tool for assisting guests in avoiding the awkward decision of deciding where to sit.
Set the scene
You will want to set the right tone with the right lighting and music. For an elegant dinner party, dim the lights to a comfortable setting, but not so dark that your guests can’t see what they are eating, and light candles along the table and in surrounding areas to give the room a warm, enticing glow. Scented candles, on the other hand, should be avoided because they may interfere with the aroma of the food you are serving.
When it comes to music, make sure to set the volume to the appropriate decibel level so that your guests can converse comfortably. Choose a chilled out playlist that can easily fade into the background while also providing a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere. Jazz is always a good option.
Make sure the bathroom is clean
Aside from the dining room, you will want to spruce up your bathroom, as that’s the only other space you will be opening up to guests. To maintain the overall theme of your elegant dinner party, make sure to provide or hang cloth or linen hand towels for guests to dry their hands.
Stock the bathroom with luxury soap and hand lotion. Make sure all of your facilities are clean and functional ahead of time. To add a finishing touch, light a clean-scented candle or place a fragrance diffuser in the bathroom to keep it feeling and smelling fresh all evening.
It’s a dreary cold fall day and a great time to think about house decorating and organization. If you are like me and don’t have a basement you really have to be creative and be hardcore with space and make areas in my home appear bigger, even if the rooms are not huge. The number one way to have open areas and free-flowing floor plans is by looking at your space. One of my dream on my vision board is to have a house that has space for me to design and call my own. On my hubby’s birthday, we looked at a McKelvey floorplan for inspiration and I envisioned Christmas garlands with red bows going down the sides of the rails of the staircase. I can see myself with a staircase like this in my dream home.
This is a stretch for me because people will shoot down your dreams, saying you don’t need that or this. I am careful about what I say and who I say it to. I have heard mentors say share your dreams and others say be careful because everyone is not for you. This is an inspiration staircase and I actually would like a staircase to be more open.
Do you tell people your dreams with no reservation? If so, what’s their response?
McKelvey Home Floor plan staircase to the second floor
My other dream is to have a closet that I could actually see all my clothes, shoes, purses, and other accessories. Right now, I have a fight with my closet, if I want a specific handbag I may have to take out five or other bags to get to it. And after I get the handbag I have to reorganize all the bags that I have taken out of the closet.
Do you have to fight with your closet or are you good friends?
McKelvey Homes floor plan main bedroom walk in closet
My hubby took this picture of me (with my museum nerd mask upside down) in the McKelvey House of the Main Bedroom and I honestly think it’s not big enough because I want an island in the middle for accessories and custom jewelry. I do like the spaciousness because I cannot put a walk-in closet in my current house right now because every wall has a purpose. No tearing down a wall here.
This was a good inspiration tour for my hubby and me so we will be having more conversations about a new home and that’s the fun part. Remember to never settle for second best. Keep reaching because the sky is not the limit.
You can still be thankful for what you have and have dreams and aspirations for more in life. God wants us to grow and dream big. I’m a lifelong learner and the only way to do that is by growing. Have you dreamed beyond your wildest dreams? This is one of my dreams but I know God has so much more in store for me and we just have to allow Him to lead and guide us.
I have been working on not complaining and looking inward during this time. I know that I am looking at myself differently. May is my birthday month. This year it has not been so much about getting things but spending time in reflection. Looking at what really matters and what is important to me.
On the day of my birthday, my hubby and I ventured out to Home Depot and purchased flowers and vegetables for our backyard. After not going out to many places, it felt good and was invigorating to get outside and planting our annual garden.
The lemon balm and zinnias that we planted last year came back, even though they are annuals and were not suppose to make through the winter. You do not need a large space to plant some of your favorite foliage or vegetables. My hubby and I have a nice size backyard, but our friend from church that has acres. You can take any size yard and make it work for you. For me, I find peace when I am working with my flowers and picking the home-grown vegetables. If you notice I have on gloves not only to keep the dirt out of my nails but just in case I have to move a worm to another part of the garden or yard.
If you are a new Gardner you may want to start out with hardy flowers like marigolds or zinnias. Tomatoes or bell peppers are also good to plant with your flowers or in pots. Bees are attracted to the colors and will pollinate both flowers and vegetables. Whatever flowers or vegetables you decide to plant, make sure after you plant them you water them when they are growing. I use a good organic fertilizer once a month to give that extra boost in growth.
Please let me know what plants bring a smile to your face?
We are living in a difficult time right now. Life as we know it has come to a sudden halt and we had to adjust our daily habits to keep ourselves and loved ones safe. My hubby and I are working at home until further notice. When stressful situations occur, we have to purposefully find things that bring peace and joy back into our homes. It brings a smile to my heart when I see things in my home that evoke fond memories. Looking at photographs of our wedding or a favorite vacation is a great way to reduce stress. Instead of looking at the photo albums or at your phone’s media gallery, what if you had these photographs mounted to your wall. Photowall can provide you with amazing decor for any room in your house. They are passionate about helping you transform your home to reflect your personality with custom wallpapers and prints.
For a while, my hubby and I wanted to create a canvas print with some of our favorite photos, but we could not find the right company. Bad reviews, poor quality for the price, or not enough options caused us to wait on the new artwork for our home. Photowall recently reached out to us for this collaboration opportunity. They specialize in canvas prints so we thought this would be a great chance to decorate our bedroom with the new decor we longed to have.
In addition to the canvas prints, Photowall also offers wallpaper with the paste, posters and framed prints. They offer top-quality images on their website or you can upload your own to create a custom piece. We created a collage of a wedding photo, a photo from our first date and a few from memorable trips we have taken. The process for uploading your own image and creating the artwork is quite simple. You can preview how the print will look and make changes to it if necessary. Once you submit the order, your new artwork is delivered to your door in one to four business days. Since the company is based in Sweden and we are in the Gateway City, I wasn’t sure if this was possible. But they were true to their word. We ordered the print late Wednesday night in the United States, which would have been early Thursday morning in Sweden. Photowall printed the piece, packaged it and shipped it to us on Thursday afternoon. It was in our hands by Monday afternoon. Very impressive! You can order with confidence that you will receive your new artwork in the time frame that they promise.
Putting together the canvas print.
We ordered a 39inch by 39inch canvas print with a wooden frame. Wondering how they would ship a large print and frame, I was surprised to see that we needed to assemble it ourselves. This obviously makes shipment easier. But no worries, the process for assembling the frame and attaching the canvas to the frame is very easy. We completed the entire process in about fifteen minutes. My hubby and I laid the canvas on the couch and began to assemble the frame with the instructions. Photowall also provides a short video if extra assistance is needed. You can watch the video here:
We placed our newly assembled artwork on our bedroom wall and it looks amazing. The print quality is superb. It is rich, vibrant and not pixelized, considering the size that we selected. The ink absorbs well into the canvas and is true to the colors of the original photograph that we used.
A view of the canvas print from across the room.
On the Photowall website, they say that they provide “Wall Art By Passionate People.” I could not agree more. Rooms reflect how we feel because we are the designers of those rooms. My home is my castle and to have a canvas print that reflects my style and my personality is a wonderful addition. I highly recommend Photowall for any of your art decor needs.
Check out what Photowall has to offer and make a selection for yourself. If you place an order and use the discount code jtwisdom25, you will save 25% off off your order’s total cost.
FTC Disclaimer:
Photowall provided Bubbling With Elegance And Grace with the canvas print and frame at no cost in exchange for this review. We received no monetary completion to write this review. All opinions about the artwork are honest and our own.
Learn More About JT
Bubbling with Elegance and Grace started out as an outlet for my passion for fashion but has evolved into a place for me to teach, collaborate, and inspire. My hubby has since joined the team and we have been digital creators for 13 years. We are thankful for those who believed in us from the beginning and those who have just started riding with us on this lovely journey.
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