It’s holiday party season!!!! Let me tell you everything about my Toile & Tartan holiday dinner party + general tips for hosting a dinner party.
The holiday season is my favorite time of year to host. I love bringing people together and getting everyone in the holiday spirit!!! Plus, it gives me an excuse to be extra with my Christmas decorations.
Tips For Hosting a Dinner Party
Choose a timeless theme.
For this year’s holiday party, I hosted a Toile and Tartan dinner party.
I chose this theme based on patterns, colors, and decor that matched my home and could be reused for future occasions. My obsession with Toile de Jouy made it an easy focus for the theme, and I kept it festive by incorporating tartan—a timeless holiday pattern. This way, I was able use decor I already had while purchasing new pieces I’ll be able to use again in the future.
Send a proper invitation.
Create a digital invitation on Canva to send out to all of your guests. This sets the tone for the event, making it feel more grown up, and gets your guests excited!!
Feel free to use the invite template I created on Canva and customize it to match your theme.
A tablescape to match the mood.
For the tablescape, I wanted to highlight the toile pattern and make use of my vintage plate collection. I chose a Toile de Jouy tablecloth as the base, paired with simple silver chargers to create a subtle barrier between the patterned tablecloth and the patterned plates. To tie the look together and add a festive touch, I incorporated tartan napkins. Folded like Christmas trees, of course. Here is a video explaining how I made the napkin trees.
A little tip for tablecloths: I spent an inappropriate amount of time scouring the Internet for a toile de jouy tablecloth that was both large enough for my long table(s) and reasonably priced, to no success. I ended up ordering patterned fabric by the meter from a local fabric store—it turned out perfect and was wayyyy cheaper.
I used navy, burgundy, and dark green colored vintage plates to match my holiday color scheme.
For my Amsterdam readers, I source most of my vintage plates (and other tableware) from the Monday Noordermarkt. Obviously, the inventory is unpredictable. If you’re in urgent need, the store Tableware in the Jordaan will have anything you could possibly want, but you will pay the price!! I see the owner shopping at Noordermarkt (where the pieces go for €1-10) then selling them in his shop for double the price.
I needed a few more plates to complete the table setting, so I used it as the excuse to finally get my paws on these plates from Zara Home that I’ve been wanting for years.
I originally ordered these Spode salad plates as well, but I decided not to use them on the table since they covered up too much of the dinner plates. I just wanted to share because they’re so cute!!!
As for the candles… I wanted a LOT of them, but I didn’t want to break the bank. To add variety and height to the table:
- Taper candles with holders of various heights. I tied bows using the ribbon from my tree on the candlestick holders to incorporate my holiday color scheme.
- Pillar candles of various heights and shapes. I placed them on different dishes and candle holders to create even more height variation.
- Tea lights in every tea light holder I owned. Tea lights are an inexpensive way to light the table. I also used all extra water glasses as tea light holders—just filled them with water and let the tea lights float on top.
Make the drinks easy.
Cocktails can be fun and pretty in theory, but they can be tricky to serve to a large group. If you’re planning to serve cocktails, choose a recipe that can be batched and prepared ahead of time. Alternatively, set up a self-serve bar and let your guests mix their own drinks—it adds a fun, interactive element to the party.
Repeat after me: When batch preparing drinks, NEVER add ice. It will melt, dilute the flavor and ruin the precious cocktails.
Ornament drinks!
If you want to make your batch cocktails extra cute and festive for the holidays, try making these ornament drinks. I created individual cocktail servings inside clear ornaments, using edible glitter for effect. The pre-batched cocktails can be stored in the fridge until it’s time to serve. Everything I used to make these is linked here.
Martinis!
Martinis are iconic, but they can be time-consuming to make individually. To save time, prep a batch of both gin + vermouth and vodka + vermouth in advance, leaving out the olive brine. When it’s time to serve, simply shake it to chill and add the olive brine to each drink as requested.
Espresso Martinis!
These are easier to batch since there aren’t any variations. For a festive touch during the holidays, I like to add a festive rim!!! To do this, coat the rim with simple syrup or melted chocolate (I used white chocolate here) to make the peppermint stick. Everything I used is linked here.
I am extremely particular about my espresso martinis—they can’t be too sweet, and it’s imperative they have the perfect foam topping. One of my favorite espresso martinis is from Luxbar in Chicago, so I reached out to them for the recipe: 2 oz vodka, 1 oz Kahlua, and 1 oz espresso, shaken vigorously to create that signature frothy top.
Self serve bar!
This is a fun way to involve your guests and let them craft their cocktails exactly how they like. To make it as easy as possible for everyone, pre-slice any necessary fruit (lime, lemon, orange, etc.), prepare the garnishes (twists, olives, etc.), juice any fresh fruits (because we don’t do store-bought lime juice here), and provide recipes with the proper measurements so your guests can follow along.
With all of that said, I kept things extra simple this year. I served champagne during cocktail hour and wine with dinner.
You’ll always find me with a sprig of rosemary and a few cranberries in my champagne glass during the holidays. It doesn’t add much flavor, but a fantastic aroma, and it makes the champagne extra bubbly! And it’s cute as hell!
Keep the appetizers simple.
They take extra time to make and set up, they’re expensive, and guests either fill up on the apps and aren’t hungry for dinner or they barely touch them and everything goes to waste.
I put out some very simply snacks—truffle potato chips, garlic and parsley olives, and sweet berries—for my guests to pick at during cocktail hour when they first arrived.
Be strategic with your menu.
There are a few things to consider when choosing the menu: what will be easy to prepare for a large group, your guests’ dietary preferences and restrictions, as well as the proper pairings and ingredients.
When considering prep, I try to keep my ingredients as fresh as possible. Dry goods can be purchased a few days in advance, but all fresh ingredients should be bought the day of or the day before. That said, it’s important to keep the fresh ingredients to a manageable level so you’re not overwhelmed with shopping and prep on the day of the event.
First course
To start, I served a festive take on my wedge salad. By “festive,” I mean substituting radicchio for iceberg lettuce and leaving it in wedges rather than chopping it. The recipe was inspired by the wedge salad at Trivoli Tavern, and since most of my guests were from Chicago, what better starter to serve?!? Plus, it was easy to prep ahead of time.
I bought the cheese and bacon the day before, and bought all the fresh veggies the morning of. I chopped the lettuce, herbs, and shallot in the morning and cooked the bacon just before my guests arrived. That way, when it came time to serve, I was able to quickly dress each guest’s individual plate.
My goal was to keep the salad fresh and visually appealing, and in terms of presentation, I nailed it. But taste-wise, it wasn’t my best work. While the ingredients stayed fresh, the radicchio was extremely bitter, and the wedge shape made it difficult to add a lot of toppings.
One of my number one rules when hosting or cooking for guests is not to try a new dish or variation unless I’ve tested the recipe ahead of time. I’ve made that mistake far too many times, but alas, my insanity kicked in and I just had to have the radicchio.
Main course
For the main course, I served my lemon rosemary parmesan risotto and roast chicken. Rosemary felt like the perfect festive ingredient, and risotto is relatively easy to make. I prepped all the ingredients in the morning, leaving only the consistent stirring of the risotto to do during the party.
As for the roast chicken, it’s the perfect dish to serve at a dinner party. It’s easy, delicious, and requires minimal prep or attention during the event. The day before, I bought the chickens and seasoned them. On the day of, all I had to do was pop them in the oven, glazing every hour, until it was time to eat. I timed it so they were ready to be served hot from the oven alongside the risotto.
Do your prep far ahead of time.
I began planning my mood board, shopping lists, to do lists, etc. a few weeks in advanced. This gave me plenty of time to order anything I needed, gradually get things in place, and run all of my errands with ease to avoid spiraling into a panic the day before.
Since the party was on a Saturday, I spent the week leading up to it getting things done bit by bit. A few days beforehand, I did a mock setup of the tablescape to ensure everything looked just as I envisioned. It also gave me time to make any last-minute adjustments if needed.
Don’t forget the music!!
Music truly sets the mood for the party. If you don’t already have a playlist in mind, chances are Spotify has one for you. You can search for exactly what you want, down to the smallest detail, and I bet a perfect playlist will pop up. If not, you can always use the song radio feature. Or give me the requirements and I will make you the perfect playlist—money back guaranteed!!
At my holiday party, I played my Christmas music playlist, which was a huge success for vibes. It has every Christmas song you can think of. If you can find one I missed, drinks on me…
Coordinate your outfit with the theme.
When you’re hosting a party and taking lots of photos, you want to wear something that complements the decor—no clashing patterns or themes.
I wore this gorgeous navy blue velvet set from Sézane, which was a perfect match for my color scheme. It photographed beautifully, was dark enough to hide the inevitable spills from cooking and eating, and required zero maintenance. I didn’t have to worry once about fixing it or whether it still looked good, which is exactly what you want when you’re busy cooking and entertaining guests.
I linked everything I used for the tablescape, cocktail hour and decor here!!!
For more tips on hosting a dinner party and more holiday party themes for inspo, read the full post here!