The successful dinner party. It almost sounds like a myth or a legend – the combination of having enough people over, having them come over at the right time, preparing a meal that’s ready at the right time, preparing a meal that’s tasty and not too expensive, having a conversation that’s lively and entertaining…well, it all sounds like too much pressure for one night.
And none of it is going to go off without a hitch if you don’t get the invitations handled right.
After all, we all have friends who promise to show up at 7 and show up at 8…or friends who arrive at 6:45. And while you want to scream “show up at 7 sharp!” in your online invitations, you know that would just come across as rude and bossy.
So what’s the solution? This quick guide to making sure you invite couples over for that successful dinner party.
Invite Further in Advance than You’d Think
The first key to making sure that you’ll have a successful dinner party is to ensure that you’ll have enough people to fill up a lively room. How do you do that? By getting yourself into as many calendars as possible. That’s why you shouldn’t invite everyone over on Monday and expect them all to clear their schedules by Friday. Instead, invite people a little further in advance – a few weeks or even a month. And if too many couples still tell you that they have plans, change the date and re-invite!
Not only will this help you to lessen the chance of the no-show, but it will help you to make people feel less likely to cancel. After all, it’s harder to cancel plans you’ve kept for weeks already.
Online Isn’t Enough
These days, it’s tempting to simply create a Facebook event and invite your friends over to the dinner party. But is that really enough? What about a follow-up call to the people that you’ve invited, asking them how they’re doing and ultimately asking if they’ll be able to come? If you do it without pressuring the other couple too much, you shouldn’t come across as pushy. Instead, it should come off as a nice personal tough and an indication that you plan on throwing a heck of a dinner party.
Sure, it’s tempting to give in to the convenience of a Facebook invite and do nothing else. But that’s what everyone else is doing – and you want to be a cut above, right?
Putting it All Together
The way to put it all together and make sure everyone shows up on time is to make sure you give a round of confirmation calls. Yes, it’s work, but so is a dinner party – and this quick investment in time will help ensure that all of your work won’t be for naught.
Don’t be afraid to invite old friends and new couples to the dinner. And don’t be afraid to continue consulting ideas from Kupple.com to ensure that your dinner part goes off without a hitch.