We love hosting dinner parties at our home but throwing an epic dinner party is no easy feat, especially for a party of 21 including kids. We started our Christmas traditions a few years ago where we invite our friends and family to celebrate the holidays with us on Christmas Eve. This year is no exceptions.
Of all the years we had hosted, we both feel that this year turned out to be the best. Last year, our food was too cold, the year before we forgot to buy horseradish sauce for the prime rib, and the year before then we forgot wine and beers for our guests and so forth.
Lessons learned each year and we are more organized this year than ever before. Here’s a set of guidelines of how we pulled off an epic dinner party for 21 people as little as two weeks…and you can do it too!
TWO WEEKS BEFORE
- Send an invite to our guests.
- Do an inventory on dishes and cutlery. We want to make sure we have enough dishes to serve everyone.
- Figure out what we’ll need for decor and made a list.
ONE WEEK BEFORE
- Pin down confirmations from guests and check on their dietary restrictions.
- Plan the menu. We serve our specialty, prime rib, every year but we love to plan out the side dishes because each year is a tad different.
- Do an inventory on special tools, plates we need and shop accordingly.
- Pickup up any other décor we’ll want for the evening.
- Wrap gifts.
TWO DAYS BEFORE
- Pick up all the ingredients for the dinner.
- Pick up/rent extra chairs and tables for the dinner.
- Purchase wine and any other beverages we’ll be serving.
- Clean up our home, especially areas where guests will be like the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom. Thank god for our cleaning lady!
- Do laundry on linens and napkins. And yes, this year I ironed all 21 napkins and very proud of it!
THE DAY BEFORE
- Pick up flowers and place them in vases.
- Prepare as much of the food as possible.
- Set up the tables and decor and have everything laid out at this point.
THE DAY OF
- Pick up fresh bread from the bakery. No, we do not bake bread so this is any way out for us.
- Prepare any last dishes.
- Line up serving bowls with everything we’ll need.
THREE HOURS BEFORE
- Place the prime rib in the oven. Our recipe calls for 7 minutes per pound and adds another hour to let it sit before serving it. This year, we timed it perfectly so that we were able to serve the prime rib hot and juicy right from the oven.
- Set up a drink and snack station for guests’ arrival for them to nibble on.
- Put wine and bottles of bubbly water on the tables.
- Get dressed for the evening.
- Turn on the fireplace.
- Turn on the Christmas playlist
- Have a glass of wine so we’re relaxed when our guests arrive.
The key is preparation with a lot of help. I would have never been able to pull this off on my own. Luckily, the hubs love to cook as much as I do so this entire process has been fun and entertaining for both of us.
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26 Comments
Thanks for the great tips! Can’t wait to try them out!
Thank you. Hope yours will turn out fabulous!
I loved these tips. I’ll be moving in 2019 into a new home and to host more since I’ll have more space. I’ll definitely be using these tips. Thanks for sharing up to the last few hours before.
You are welcome! Hope these tips will be very helpful 🙂
I’m not a big fan of dinner parties. Attending them gives me anxiety, but I can imagine preparing them is even more nerve-wrecking.
The key is preparation so that you don’t have to stress on last minute items. That way you can enjoy your time with your guests 🙂
I`m not a party person as I`m not very social but who would not love a wild get together once in a while, even the shy me will sure enjoy the yummy dishes.Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for stopping by, Roamy!
Planning ahead like this and following a schedule is brilliant. I always find myself scrambling the day before and the day off any dinner or even just a cocktail party – and I haven’t ever hosted dinner for that many people. This is going to come in very helpful. And the photos in your photos are beautiful and very inspiring. Will pin this for future reference.
Thank you!
xx Luci
Thank you, Luci! My hubs inspired me to be organized and to plan everything in advance so it’s not so chaotic during the day of the event. Hope yours will turn out just as nice 🙂
I love entertaining and being a great hostess when I throw parties. I just loved reading this and looking at those great photos of food.
Thank you!
I love how organized you are I preparing all of these. It is so nice to see a great dinner party setup like this.
It felt great when everything was organized.
This is such a gr24Weat idea for a dinner party. This is so organized that my kids would really love the arrangement.
Thank you!
All of this food looks absolutely amazing and your dinner place settings are so beautiful! I would love to be a guest at one of your dinner parties.
Thank you! You are invited to our next dinner party 🙂
I like this kind of dinner preparation! Great ideas!
Thank you!
What an elaborate process and so nicely explained.Loved it.
Thank you! Glad you loved it 🙂
These are some great tips! I love the arrangements very much. I’ll definitely be use these tips.
Thank you!
Great! Having this dinner preparation would be loved by everyone! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
It has helped us a lot 🙂