The Secrets Of Being The Perfect Host

Hopefully, everyone reading this has had at least one dinner organized by the perfect host. We’re talking about those dinners where even halfway through, you feel like the evening could go on forever, and you’d still feel totally happy and relaxed. Great hospitality is very subtle, and naturally, you may feel pretty lost as you try to figure out what it is about those dinner parties that make them so wonderful. Here are some of the secrets to great hosting…

Make Them Relaxed and Comfortable

When the evening is well underway, your guests should feel totally serene, and able to sink back into the embrace of your furniture without the faintest bit of unease in their body language. When your guests can mingle without a single prompt, talk without feeling out of place, and laugh along to everyone’s jokes, they’ll feel absolutely brilliant. How do you make everyone so relaxed and carefree? It starts with the basics. Make sure there are good tunes on at a subtle volume, and that the place where you’ll be entertaining is meticulously clean. Then, think about the people you have coming over and fine-tune your space accordingly. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to interior design, but a good host can create a space that works for everyone. Most importantly, you need to decide if the space is going to lean more towards something loungy and informal or more glammed up and prestigious.

Get Them a Little Buzzed

You don’t want a vague acquaintance leaning into you with their arm around your shoulders, slurring about what an amazing person you are. However, a little alcohol can be the perfect way to loosen your guests up, and push them that much further towards the perfect vibe for a great dinner party. When you’re expecting guests, plan to stock up on drinks, with red and white wine, sparkling wines like prosecco, and some good beer for the people who prefer the grain to the vine. If you know you’re a little uncultured when it comes to wines, there’s no shame in trying to get yourself clued up before your little get-together! You can study different types of wine, read how age affects the quality, and even learn how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew from WithMyWine.

Keep Them Well-Fed, From Beginning to End

Whether it’s a sit-down dinner around a large table or pizza on the porch, there needs to be plenty of food other than the main courses. This means plenty of snacks and munchies, along with scattered bowls and platters around the room to sate your guest’s appetite, and give them something to do with their hands when the conversation lulls. When you’re preparing everything ahead of time, don’t worry if you ever feel you’re going a little overboard. It’s much better to offer too much to eat when you’re playing host than too little! You can read some easy platter recipes at RealSimple.