If you haven’t seen your friends in a while thanks to the pandemic, then it is probably time for well overdue catchup. If you haven’t had the chance to talk for a while, then you will want to avoid going somewhere like the cinema or somewhere loud like a pub or a club.
A great way to sit down is by having a sit-down dinner. This way you will have plenty of time to chat and will you be able to get to know what everyone has been up to since you last met up.
Though the idea of a dinner party sounds incredibly exciting, if you haven’t seen your friends or family for a while, you may be worried about the event falling flat. Sometimes it can be awkward to act as though nothing has changed if you haven’t seen someone for a while and you may experience annoying and awkward silences that leave you feeling incredibly uncomfortable.
What you want more than anything is for everyone to have a good time and leave with smiles on their faces, but this result isn’t always guaranteed. Here are some guaranteed ways to make any dinner party a laugh.
Play Some Funny Games
Small talk can often feel so fake and uncomfortable and a great way to avoid small talk is by getting entertainment started really fast. For any dinner party, a really easy thing that you can do is prepare some fun games to play.
I would recommend that you only set up games that you can play while sitting down, as nobody wants to get up and get active after they have been eating. There are plenty of fun games that you can play while sitting down which will get everyone in a great mood.
A popular dinner party game that is bound to heighten moods is Cards Against Humanity. In this game, you have to give the funniest answer possible to a question or a scenario. The person that wins is the person that collects the most black cards and this game is guaranteed to get everyone in a great mood as it is close to impossible to play it without laughing.
As well as some fun games, you can also play some games that will let you get to know what your friends have been up to since you last saw them. For example, you could play party classics like never have I ever or the finger game. This will be a great way to catch up with your friends.
You could also start some competitive games and test what your friends know. If you get a little prize ready, you could do a quiz and ask your guests trivia about pop culture or other topics like current affairs or sports.
Make Cocktails
A surefire way to ensure that everyone at your dinner party is in a good mood is by supplying them with alcohol. Nobody can be in a bad mood when they are drunk and a few alcoholic beverages will get everyone talking and everyone ready to chat.
Instead of making the cocktails before everyone arrives, you can get all of your guests involved in the process. People will be more than happy to help you make the cocktails and people will be incredibly eager to show off any mixing skills that they may have.
If you remember, you could also put together a cocktail menu of all of your friend’s favorite cocktails. They will appreciate the personal touch and it will likely bring back memories of when they last had the cocktail, which they can talk and joke about.
If you have some sober friends coming to your dinner party, there is no need to worry. They will also want to feel involved in the cocktail making and so you can just put together some mocktails for them. Once again, they will appreciate all of the thought that you have put into it and they will be happy to be involved in the creation, even if they cannot get drunk like everyone else.
Make sure that you are a good host
As a host, it is your job to set the general tone of the evening and make sure that everyone is having a good time. If you are not in a good mood and you are feeling awkward, then your guess will pick up on that and they will replicate the mood that you are putting across.
Before your dinner party starts, make sure that you are not feeling stressed and that you have had plenty of rest in preparation for hosting. You want to stay upbeat the entire night, as this will make sure that your guests are also upbeat and are in a great mood. Being a host is not something that comes easy to everyone, but if you are the one hosting the dinner party, then it is likely it comes easy to you.