There is nothing more fun than a dinner party with your closest friends. These dinner parties can be crafted in a way that you can theme them, make them casual, make them fancy – your dinner party is all yours to make it exactly how you want it to be. Planning an event is exciting and if you can plan a dinner party that your friends will attend, then you will have the best time creating a menu and buying in decor.

Throwing your own dinner party gives you a chance to spend time with people you love, share great food you’ve created and tell amazing stories. The pandemic has taught us all that it’s important to surround ourselves with the people we love for as long as we can, and when you are planning your next meal, you have to think about how you can show others that you love them. From learning how to cook pasta in an instant pot and setting that as your main meal, to learning how to perfect a spiced pork chop, you can create a dinner party that your friends will talk about for months. You want to make your dinner party formal, but less stuffy so, here are some of the best ways that you can make it a much more fun event!

Friends making a toast

1. Create a mini cocktail menu. Have you considered that one of the best ways to have fun during a dinner party is in organizing a mini event? Putting together a mini cocktail menu and asking your guests to get involved in making them is a great way to have fun while you’re hosting your dinner party. You can wow them with options and if you have the budget, even bring in a professional to teach you all to make them. Don’t forget the mocktail options for those who are unable to drink alcohol – don’t ask, just include it!

2. Create a wonderful playlist. You need a certain flow to a playlist. If you have allocated an hour for hors d’oeuvres and small talk, have an hour’s worth of music to match. Do the same for your dinner music – stuff that’s easy to talk over and can play quietly in the background. Then have a list of songs for a dance portion of the evening if you have one later. You can create this all in one playlist so that you can let the music flow from song to song and portion of the evening to portion of the evening. Your guests will be impressed!

3. Don’t hide in the kitchen. As much as possible, prepare the food in advance so that all you have to do is keep it warm or just cook the main parts of the meal. You can buy tabletop food warmers to help you with this process, because this will keep the sides warm while you are searing the steaks or grilling swordfish. You want to make cooking a part of the evening but not hide in the kitchen all night away from your guests. You could even make it more interactive by getting them involved and helping you with the plating – it’s not what everyone does when hosting a dinner party, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. If you want to make it even more fun, make the dessert portion of the evening very interactive. Think fondue sets and make your own ice cream sundaes. It doesn’t matter that you’re an adult!

4. Mix people up. If people have come in couples, then one of the best things that you can do is mix up those couples and seat everyone next to new people. The more your guests get to know each other the more fun you’re going to have in the long run.

5. Plan evening entertainment. At the end of the meal, don’t just send everyone home. Plan some games or karaoke if you know your guests would be into the idea. The evening needs to be more than boring and while people are there for food and drinks purposes, you can ensure that they have fun when you plan entertainment for the evening. Livening up the evening is just a part of it all and you can do it with just a few great dinner party entertainment ideas.

Your dinner party should be more fun than any other that you’ve thrown before. You shouldn’t feel anything other than excited as to what you’re about to offer your friends and family from start to finish.

This is a collaborative post.