As most of you probably imagined (if you ever gave the time to lol), I was very odd child. One of the things I imagined doing as an adult (and imagined adults did frequently) was have and throw dinner parties. Oh, how grand would my dinner parties be!
Anyway, I am in my 20s. I have china. (I love china!). I have friends (despite what you think). I have food to give these people and nice plates to give it to them on, but no dinner parties. :mad: I’ve also not being invited to any. :mad:
I had a talk with a friend who is very like minded as I am. We’re going to try to get this dinner party thing started. I thought about it. Was I wrong as a child? Do adults not have swanky dinner parties?
TLDR; Do you have dinner parties? Do you like them? How many have you gone to? (This includes ones you’ve thrown!)
Define “dinner party”. What are you looking to do here?
I suspect I haven’t thrown or attended a dinner party akin to what you want. Mostly, I’ve been to more casual affairs or just invited a goodly number of people over for dinner. I think I’ve hosted enough to warrant the label, but in such a casual manner that I wouldn’t even think of it.
As long as it wasn’t on paper plates, I’m counting it as a dinner party. Nice plates and nice attire is how I would define it.
ETA: Just looking to see if modern adults have dinner parties. If there’s some bigger dinner party circle I’m not in.
I’m 38 and basically never hold dinner parties in the Mad Men-style, cocktail gowns and hors d’œuvres way you are thinking of complete with children in nightgowns peeping over the landing, but we do have friends for dinner, frequently. And we go out to their houses for dinner or cook-outs or even just pizza and beer.
I think the world is generally more casual than once it was, so entertaining is also. But people will always, always get together to talk, eat good food, and (optionally) imbibe alcholic drinks. I just refuse to wear high heels while doing it, unless forced to.
Nice plates, certainly! I’ve had many of those. Nice attire? I think only when I hosted a “How to Host a Murder” game, and even then it was “undergraduate student nice”. And probably paper plates. I know it was delivery pizza!
So, really, I probably do one out of two in any given memory.
But my friends know they basically have a standing invitation to eat at my house, off real plates (though nothing I’d call “china”), with fairly little notice. They must give me some, though, barring emergency. And I invite as many friends as my little house can hold maybe once a month.
Or, I did. That seems to have gone away. I should start that back up.
We have what could probably be construed as dinner parties. We all dress up a little, but this is Boston, so dressing up means nice jeans and a fancy blouse, not sequins.
It’s funny because we have dinner parties and are invited to dinner parties much more often now that our friends with small children have faded out of the picture. We’re all in our late 30s / early 40s, and have free time, disposable income and an interest in good food, wine and classic cocktails. It’s a great chance to break out all the wedding stuff and set a nice table, an excuse to buy expensive cheese and cook a great meal.
I’ve never known anyone to throw a formal “dinner party”, as in inviting multiple guests over, but I have seen informal dinner parties (usually celebrating some occasion), as well as “having the so-and-sos over”, with one family of guests but fancy plates.
My advice, though, if you want to throw a dinner party, go ahead and do so. Whether everyone else is doing it or not, everyone appreciates an excuse for a party, especially if someone else is hosting.
I think if you actually pitch it as a “swanky dinner party” people will have great fun with dressing up. Do it!
ETA: When I was in my 20s I would have really gotten into getting cool vintage dress up clothes for a “swanky dinner party.” Now that I am in my early 40s it sounds like too much work but when I was younger and more energetic, absolutely. Do it!
I used to hold dinner parties all the time when I lived in places where my kitchen was more than a cupboard. Make some slightly fancier food than usual, bust out the nice plates and (oooh) some candles, and you’re good. I often (but not always) cook on a theme. I’ve done Russian food, Brazilian food, and even a Passover seder (twice). Once I threw a dress up cocktail party with dinner-quantities of appetizers, which was a lot of fun. Or you can keep it simple and just roast a nice piece of meat, serve a salad, and set out some quality bread. If you enjoy cooking, it’s fun. Having people over for dinner is one of my favorite ways to socialize.
As for whole meals vs. sampling, the answer is both depending on the hour, the occasion, etc. My favorite thing to make is finger foods, so when I host it’s heavy on those. If people are in it for the whole evening, which is usual, there will be finger foods with cocktails, followed by a full meal, followed by more cocktails, dessert wines, etc along with picking at leftovers the rest of the night while talking around the table.
Before we had Junior, Hubby and I threw dinner parties fairly regularly. Some for occasions (a holiday, a birthday) and some just to have a dinner party. Nice plates were a yes, nicer clothes were a yes, posh formal evening wear was a big no.
Anyway, invite your friends - guys and gals, with actual invites and indicate a dress code if you want people to show up in formal wear. My husband loves to get dressed up and would totally go for that type of thing (well, he would wear a dinner suit - not a tux. :))
That’s one thing to be aware of: If you specify a dress code, you should realize what your guests have available to wear. Most guys nowadays will have a suit jacket and tie, but many won’t have an actual full suit, and I expect that very few indeed will have a proper dinner suit. And unless you’re inviting someone to be in a wedding party, it’s rude to expect your guests to rent appropriate attire for a social event.
but when I was younger and more energetic, absolutely. Do it!
That gives me an idea for Asian theme.