Dinner parties are making a comeback! It’s a great way to reconnect with your friends, celebrate and enjoy eating delicious food. Whilst organising dinner parties at home might be the obvious choice for many, some special occasions, such as wedding rehearsal dinners, hen parties, business meetings or wedding anniversaries feel like they deserve special treatment and a place to hold them.
Suppose you are thinking of arranging your dinner party in a restaurant. In that case, you might like to consider private group dining, where you can enjoy the occasion with your guests without the stress and responsibilities that come with hosting a dinner party at home.
Private group dining is offered by some restaurants where they have a secluded space, section, or room which can be booked separately from the main restaurant. With booking a private dining, you get privacy, dedicated staff and often personalized options your dinner menus. It’s a great way to organise your dinner party and enjoy the time with your guests, rather than worrying about getting food ready on time or sorting out the washing up afterwards!
In this blog post, I wanted to share my favourite 6 tips for organising a truly special dinner party, so that your day is as perfect as possible.
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1. Choose the perfect restaurant dining room
The good thing is that you don’t need to check individually with each restaurant if they have private dining rooms, you can easily find the best restaurants on Square Meal where you can select the location closest to where you are. Once you find your perfect restaurant for private group dining, it’s best to check that the venue can accommodate the number of guests you’re expecting and of course, it’s in the location, that all your guests can get to easily.
If you have a theme for your dinner, you can also check that the restaurant decor and menu complement your theme. I’d also recommend checking the menu against any dietary preferences, that your guests might have and make sure that the restaurant can cater for these.
If you are planning entertainment, need any audio-visual equipment for presentations or custom decoration options, you should also check this in advance with the restaurant to make sure that they can provide these for you or allow you to bring them in.
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2. Send out customised dinner invitations
Yes, of course, you can just let people know by e-mail, but why not go the extra mile and design your dinner invitation? Make sure that you include the date, time, location details and how to get there. If your guests need to pre-select their meals, include the menu choices and give people a deadline by which they need to respond back to you.
You can print your invitations and send them out or you can still e-mail them to your friends if you don’t want to have the expense of printing and posting. I think it’s a nice touch to have personalised invitations because it will make people think they are invited to a very special dinner indeed!
3. Make table place settings
To make your dinner extra special, why not also make name settings for the table to let your friends know where you’d like them to sit at the table.
These can be handwritten or printed on a small piece of paper, which can be folded and placed at each plate setting. This is a great way to mix people up a bit so that people who know each other don’t end up sitting on one side talking and people who arrive not knowing anyone might find it difficult joining in.
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4. Decorate the room
Please speak to the restaurant in advance to see how they can help you to make your dinner party extra special. The restaurant might be able to provide decorations or flowers at extra cost or they may allow you to bring them in.
A bouquet of beautifully arranged fresh flowers will look amazing at your dinner party and could easily become a talking point. I would try to avoid any flowers that have a strong scent, like lilies or freesias in the dining room as these could be a little too overpowering.
Depending on your dinner party theme, you can also decorate the table with beautiful centrepieces, bring balloons, hang bunting at the room entrance or decorate the site table with photos.
5. arrange entertainment
Organised entertainment can be another nice touch that can add to your party’s success. This could be as simple as arranging a music playlist that you bring along and asking the restaurant if you can play during the dinner as background music.
If there is a space in the room, you can also hire a live musicians such as a jazz trio or a classical guitarist, to provide background music that complements the dining experience.
If you’re aiming for a more interactive and lively atmosphere, a magician or a stand-up comedian can be a great choice.
It’s important to coordinate with the venue to ensure there is adequate space and the necessary equipment for the entertainment.
I’d also recommend that you schedule the entertainment strategically; for example, a live performance might be best after the main course, when guests are more relaxed.
6. Prepare a dinner party Goody Bags
This is a great way to finish your private dinner party – as your guests are leaving why not give them a little goodie bag with treats that complement the party theme. This could be something like a homemade plum jam, a mix of your favourite spices, a selection of herbal teas or anything else that will fit into a small paper goody bag.
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