Thanksgiving Dinner Party Tips for 4 People or More
Hosting a Thanksgiving dinner party can be very challenging. Especially if it is your first time hosting a party for four people or more. This Thanksgiving I am going to have about 8 friends over my house for Friendsgiving. It has become our annual tradition to get together the week before everyone leaves to head to their family’s house for the real home cooked meal. Even though there are only 8 people coming for dinner I feel like I’m preparing to serve for a formal banquet.
Over the years I’ve learned several tips to keep the food warm until it is ready to be served, ways to re-create decorations, and ways to save time on cooking without burning the food or dessert.
First Thanksgiving dinner party tip I would give anyone is that if someone is willing to help you, then let them. I have a couple of friends that love to show up 15 to 30 minutes ahead of the dinner party to help me out. Also, they get to taste the food before everyone.
Keeping the food warm without leaving pots and pans on the stove is a bit of a challenge. I don’t like leaving food simmering on the stove, because it can easily burn one area of the food without you even knowing. Usually my goal while cooking is to minimize wasted space and dirty dishes. Having to clean dishes while dinner guest are over isn’t fun. So I usually try to finish cooking everything a hour before people arrive. Once the food is done I migrate everything into its own slow cooker. Then I set the desired temperature to keep it nice and hot.
The Crock-Pot Swing and Serve Slow Cooker is an awesome investment. If you are going to be hosting a lot of dinner parties and want to keep food warm, then I am suggesting you buy this slow cooker.
- Has 3-levels of slow cooking
- Built-in utensil holder
- Easy to clean
Second Thanksgiving dinner party tip is buy classy disposable plates. Cleaning up everyone’s mess is great if you can afford a maid. After cooking a huge dinner, I’m not interested in cleaning up a huge mess. You don’t have to worry about people complaining about these plastic plates because they feel just like the real deal.
- Heavy-duty plastic plating
- Looks like real china
- Perfect for dinner parties and weddings
However, I do use real silverware to serve my guest. Even if you are going to only be serving 8 people, then get a simple stainless steel silverware set. But if you really want to be prepared for the unexpected, which I recommend, then grab a stainless steel silverware set for 12 people just in case. Sometimes my friends like to randomly bring people without giving me an advance warning. So it always help to have extra silverware to serve the random guest that just show up.
Decorate! Decorate! Decorate your place the day before the dinner! Decorations and setting the table are two things that you don’t have to worry about being warm. So I like to get them out of the way before the day of the dinner party. I’ve found these really cool Holiday Projection Lights that I put outside of my house. Not only can I use them to project Thanksgiving party garden decorations, but I can use these projection lights during Christmas and Halloween.
- Safe LED lights that won’t damage your eyes
- 16 patterns and lighting modes
- Adjustable and remote control enabled
The fourth Thanksgiving dinner party tip I would give anyone is to have snacks. Most people tend to skip a meal before showing up to dinner parties. Mainly because they know there is going to be a feast of food ready for them to devour. However, when they arrive they are ready to eat regardless of everyone being there on time. So while we wait for that one friend who is never on time, having snacks out for everyone to eat is a good rule of thumb.
- Works well for cutting hard cheese
- Comes with a complete cutlery set for slicing
- Has grooves made for crackers, nuts and olives.
You don’t have to use a fancy cutting board to display your snacks. I’ve found a couple of really nice cheese boards on Amazon that are relatively cheap. If you are not sure what to serve on Thanksgiving as a snack, then going with a couple of cheeses that pair well with wine is always my go-to dinner party snack to provide.
Wine and beer bottle openers are a must! You can never have too much wine ready to consume at a dinner party. However, you do want to be prepared for when people bring their drinks to open. I’m still shocked to this day how many people I know that don’t have a good wine bottle opener at their house.
- Opens 60 bottles on one charge
- Soft blue lighting while in use
- Includes a wine pourer and stopper
Open your wine with style. Making people feel fancy about drinking their cheap wine is a good feeling I get. This Ozeri Nouveaux II Electric Wine Opener is truly magical. Within a minute you can cut the foil and uncork your wine. Plus, it comes with a wine pourer and stopper.
