How to Always Be Mostly Ready for a Dinner Party

Sometimes, the idea of hosting a dinner party can be daunting.  Feeling the need to do everything can soon take on epic proportions.  And that’s all before we even get to any special dietary needs to be considered.  While a successful dinner party often comes down to planning and executing the plan, there are a few steps you can take that will allow you to Always be Mostly Ready for a Dinner Party.

We’ll break it down into the following 4 areas: 

• Setting Prioritized Expectations for your House
• Managing your Inventory of Essentials
• Keeping Enough Dishes, Silverware, and Glasses
• Having Enough Serving Plates and Utensils

Before you continue, I want to call out that I am not telling you to go out and immediately buy all of these things.  However, accumulating them over time to suit your personal style and entertaining vibe is perfectly reasonable (in Lori terms).  😉

Set Prioritized, Time-Efficient Expectations for the State of Your House

Everyone runs their household in the way that works for them.  So, I’m definitely not here to tell anyone how to do so.  What I will share with you are the techniques that work for me.  

Don’t Set “Perfection” as the Goal State of Your Home

I am a strong believer in picking your battles when it comes to house prep.  Now that is likely influenced by the fact that I tend to place more value on clean vs. uncluttered.  I also have no issue moving things that I don’t have time to put away for real to a bedroom and shutting the door.  To each their own.  

On the topic of “perfect” table settings, that’s not me either.  While I love the look of table decor, it’s not practical for the way we host.  We have a fairly large table; but once you add ~10 people with multiple plates and glassware plus appetizers, extra space does not exist.  In this house, function wins over form pretty much any day of the week.  

Close Off Non-Public Rooms

Maybe you want to use a dinner party as an incentive to get your house in tip top shape.  Cool; I’ve definitely taken that approach.  (We gave ourselves two months after moving into our house to host an open house.  It worked.)  That’s not what we’re talking about here.  

I recommend that you focus on Guest-Facing rooms that people need to be in like the restroom, dining room, hang-out space, maybe kitchen.  Then you can close (or mostly close) the doors to the rest before people arrive and not worry about them.  

Manage your Inventory of Household Essentials

First, let me define household essentials as those items, mostly consumable or disposable in nature, that are often taken for granted as just being there.  Running out of any of these things either right before people arrive or while guests are present is a royal pain in the butt.  Items that I consider “essentials” are as follows:

• Toilet Paper
• Paper Towels
• Hand Soap
• Dish Detergent
• Zip Top Bags (1-gallon, 2-gallon, 1-quart, and sandwich)
• Garbage Bags
• Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil
• Plastic Wrap
• Wax Paper
• Parchment Paper
• Napkins
• Tissues
• Disinfectant Wipes
• To Go Containers (Large and Small)
• Coffee and Tea (Format is up to you.  For tea, we typically offer both bagged tea and loose leaf tea in a variety of flavors, including both herbal and black tea options.  On the coffee side of things, we offer drip coffee, Nespresso pods, and an espresso machine with a variety of sugar free syrup options.)
• To Go Coffee Cups (In case someone could use a coffee for the road.  Our dinner parties usually wrap between midnight and 4 am, so it’s handy to have the option available.)

Some people manage their essentials inventory to minimize their need for storage space.  For the purpose of being almost always ready to host a party, I recommend making sure to keep a buffer of these items on hand.  

Keep Enough Dishes, Silverware, and Glasses

Depending on the style of dinner party you throw, dishes, silverware, and glasses can vary.  

Dishes

At one point in my childhood, I dreamed of having a table set so that every guest had a different place setting.  The first issue is that my adult reality does not lend itself to enough dish cupboard space to make that practical.  The second part is that doing something like that in a coordinated enough fashion to look casual would actually be pretty challenging.  

As a compromise, I’ve standardized on a set of durable, white Corelle.  They’re lightweight for moving around, dishwasher safe, and highly resistant to chipping or other damage.  

When determining what is “enough,” I suggest optimizing for your most typical use case.  Our typical dinner party hits around 10 people.  So I generally try to ensure that I have enough settings for 12 people, and I’m good to go.  

Glasses

In the glassware department, keeping “enough” onhand can be a bit challenging for me depending on which type of glass we’re talking about.  I suggest either keeping enough of one set on hand for your “typical” number of guests or use two different sets and alternate them from one seat to the next.  For things like dessert wine glasses, that is the approach I take.  

On the topic of wine glasses, there was a point more than a decade ago when I saw a sale on sets of 12 white and 12 red wine glasses for something like $15 each.  They’re not super fancy, but they work well when I need them.  When you see deals and if you have the space, grab them.  While fancy glasses are great, if something breaks I would rather not be sad. 

Silverware

Again, in the case of silverware, my goal is generally to make sure I have enough of a consistent set for my typical number of guests.  Typically, where I run into quantity issues is with salad forks and teaspoons, which are often used for appetizers and desserts.  So, I will frequently use a different set for either appetizers or dessert and keep the main service pieces consistent.  

I want to emphasize that matched silverware sets are NOT something to stress over.  If you happen to have service for 16 in one pattern, cool; if not, go with what you have.  No one is going to care.  

Disposable Alternatives

Of course, all of this said, you could just buy disposable versions and call it a day.  The only caution I give is to keep in mind if whatever you’re serving will require cutting with a sharp knife–like a steak.  If so, I suggest heavy duty disposable plates like these and to use real steak knives.  For steak knives, we have two sets of these Henkels ones and love them.  

Have Enough Serving Plates and Utensils

You’ve definitely got a lot of flexibility when it comes to serving plates and utensils.  Here are some thoughts for navigating your set-up.  

Choose Your Serving Plates Wisely

The big caution I give here is that serving dishes often take up a good amount of storage space.  

So . . . my suggestion here is two-fold.  

• First, I recommend resisting the urge for seasonal platters and instead choosing dishes that can work for any occasion.  
• Second, I suggest looking for serving dishes that can be placed in the oven.  I often need to keep something warm while wrapping up another dish.  When the serving dish is heat safe, I can just pop the whole thing into the oven rather than needing to move things from one dish to another.  You’ll just want to make sure that you have sufficient hot pads or trivets to handle your just-out-of-the-oven serving dishes.  

How Many is “Enough” Serving Plates / Platters?

The question of how many serving plates or platters one needs depends on a variety of inputs.  As a first factor to assess, I will ask you to think about what is your “typical dinner party template menu”.  i.e. How many of each type of dish do you typically serve?  Check out my template for an idea or a starting point.  

The list below is what generally works for me.  As you will see, I highly leverage 9×13-inch casserole dishes.  Without checking, I think my current count of them is five of the Pyrex ones plus a smattering of 8×8-inch dishes, 7×11-inch dishes, and other assorted sizes.  I don’t use all of the items listed below all of the time and mix and match serving dishes as needed across categories.  However, I could technically field all of these items on a given day at a moment’s notice.  

• Appetizers
  • I sometimes like to put smaller plates (or bowls) at each end of the table for easier reach.  Also, sometimes I need to use dishes that can go into the oven to be kept warm.  
  • 2 Small Platters or Oblong Plates – Cheese, Cured Meats (Pepperoni, Salami, etc.) 
  • 2 Small to Medium Bowls – Olives, Giardinara, Nuts
  • Flat Platter – Mini Muffins / Puffs, Canapés, Pull-Apart Rolls, Other small bite finger foods
  • 9×13-inch Casserole Dish – Stuffed Mushrooms, Anything that needs to be warmed in the oven
  • Dip and Dipper Dish(es) – Something to contain an assortment of dippers (veggies, chips, etc.) and Something to contain the dip
• Mains
  • Shallow Platter – Sliced Meats / Proteins, Vegetable Steaks (Cauliflower, Cabbage, Butternut Squash), Anything with a bit of juice that needs to stay contained
  • Flat Platter – Flatbreads / Pizzas, Sandwiches, Wraps
  • 9×13-inch Casserole Dish – Casseroles, Anything you need to keep warm
  • Crock Pot or Instant Pot – Soups, Chilis, Pulled Meats, Casseroles (made in same vessel), Meatballs
• Sides
  • Large Serving Bowl – Salads (of all kinds)
  • 9×13-inch Casserole Dish – Casseroles, Roasted Veggies (off the grill or off a sheet pan in the oven), Roasted Potatoes, Things you need to keep warm until serving
  • Shallow Platter – Asparagus, Broccolini
  • Basket – Muffins, Biscuits, Breads (Covered with Tea Towel or Cloth Napkin)
• Desserts
  • Large to Medium Serving Bowl – Mousse, Trifle, Pudding
  • Tray or Large Plate – Cookies, Scones, Muffins, Brownies, Snack Cakes (What I’m calling 8×8 or 9×9 Cakes cut into squares), Sweet Quick Breads (Pumpkin, Zucchini, etc.)
  • Cake Plate with Dome Lid – Cakes, Pies
  • 9×13-inch Casserole Dish – Bread Puddings
  • Pie Plate

Choosing Serving Utensils

Here are a few things I keep in mind when it comes to serving utensils.  

Personally, I like to keep an assortment of the following: 

• Short, Long, and Mini Tongs – I use these mini tongs ALL the time for serving. 
• Slotted Spoons
• Large Serving Spoons
• Ladles – Small for Sauces, Large for Soups
• Spatulas
• Salad Tongs or Salad Fork and Spoon
• Spaghetti Spoon / Scoop

For ease of clean-up, I prioritize dishwasher safe utensils, so nothing wooden makes an appearance in my kitchen.  

While we’re on the topic, I’d like to also mention having spoon / utensil rests available for whatever you’re using.  Realistically, the serving surface is likely to turn into a mess anyway; but a dedicated spot for each utensil can help keep things a bit more neat and orderly.  

Summary of How to Always be Mostly Ready for a Dinner Party

By having those four areas covered, you will be well set up to host a dinner party whenever you like.  Just remember, this is a guide on How to Always Be Almost Ready for a Dinner Party.  There is still work to be done to get your dinner party over the finish line.  Check out my Anatomy of a Dinner Party Plan for the details.