6 Simple Steps to Hosting a Stress-Free Dinner Party

There’s nothing more fun than a dinner party with friends– unless you’re the host.

If you’re the host, you’ve spent hours planning and  preparing– to spend most of the evening stuck in the kitchen. Or worse yet, trying to spark small talk between guests you really thought would hit it off.  Here at Saucey, we say, no more! We’re here to help you host a stress-free dinner party in six simple steps! But first, you’ll need a drink.

The key to hosting a low-key, stress-free dinner party is having a plan. We suggest planning about 3 weeks in advance. If you start much earlier, you risk the chance of guests forgetting or double-booking themselves. Wait much longer, and people will undoubtedly have plans already.

So now that you know how far in advance to plan, how do you decide on a date? To save yourself some stress, we suggest scheduling your dinner party on a weeknight. We know it sounds crazy, but weekends are busy and book up fast. Plus, hosting on a weeknight means guests are less likely to overstay their welcome or drink you out of house and home. Sounds like win-win!

When and where are covered, so it’s time to decide who to invite.Your best bet for a stress-free dinner party is to invite at least one guest who knows multiple people on the invite list. That way they can help keep conversation flowing between groups. This will keep you from spending your whole night doing introductions.

If you can’t avoid a guestlist of people who don’t know each other, we suggest separating the more dominant personalities and placing them strategically amongst the quieter guests. You know who we’re talking about.

How Many People Should I Invite?

Of course, this will depend on the size of your space, but if you’re looking to keep it lowkey, we suggest keeping the list limited to 8 or less (including yourself). Much more than that and it becomes impossible for everyone to intermingle.

The best way to save yourself from dinner party distress is to organize a potluck. This way, your guests bring the meal to you!

An easy way to ensure a stress-free evening is to keep everyone organized beforehand. Make a facebook group, email chain or mass text where everyone can let you know what they want to bring.

You can quickly whip up a sign-up sheet with categories like appetizer, dessert, cold side, hot side, etc. Make the main dish something simple from the crockpot that you can prep the night before or carry-out from you favorite deli and voila! You’ve got a stress-free dinner, delivered to your door by your friends. Pretty genius.

When hosting a dinner party, there’s nothing more stressful than running out of alcohol — except  having a guest who’s enjoyed far too much alcohol. That’s why the smartest and least stressful option is to supply the wine yourself. That way you can be sure to have enough without worrying about any byob surprises.

Another great way to ensure a stress-free dinner party is to install the Saucey App. Do all your shopping in advance without ever leaving your couch. Or if last minute is more your style, you can order from your phone while you’re getting ready, and we’ll be there in 30 minutes. Whatever you need, Saucey has you covered. Now, let’s have dinner!