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Throw a Formal Dinner Party on a BudgetEspecially in tough times it's important to gather with your closest friends, here are tips to achieve an elegant dinner party without breaking your wallet.
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A few candles, some good wine and good friends are all you need to have a nice party. |
During tough times, nothing inspires me more than being with my friends. Entertaining at home never has to be extravagant, it just needs to be warm and inviting. Lavish your guests with attention and great conversation not expensive centerpieces, rented linens or catered food. Here’s how to plan an elegant formal party on a budget. Don’t save the wine for a rainy day, enjoy today.
Planning a party on a budget will take more creativity and work from the host. Embrace it! This is when you find out what you can do. There is one word that sums up all the advice to follow: Simplicity.
Invitation: A hand written note for a formal dinner party is a lovely invitation to receive. Writing the invitation on your personal stationary will make it very special. If your guest list is too large to do this, choose a simple but nice paper stock and print it in a nice font. Gray looks lovely on white stock. In the fall, brown on off-white stock is wonderful and seasonal.
For the décor: Light up the yard. Put candles everywhere you can, hanging on Sheppard’s hooks, on the ground in glass containers or hurricanes or yard lamps. Or you can use lanterns or torches. Even an overabundance of votives can be striking. White Christmas tree lights are also great fun. Wind them around the bases of the trees, up the umbrella pole and on the ribs underneath. The degree to which you carry this through is all a matter of taste, budget and time.
Don’t use flowers: Use green from your yard, boxwood, Acuba, fatsia, anything lovely and green that has texture and interest. Note: if using boxwood, be sure not to cut it when the bright green shoots are emerging. Those will die quickly.
If you do use flowers: Use flowers with either bulk or form. If they are in season they will be less expensive. If they have form you can use less of them. Consider the phaleanopsis orchid. You may use these very sparingly, Take one orchid and put in a very tall (covering the orchid completely) cylinder glass vase, take another short vessel and use 3 – 5 orchids and swirl them around the inside. You can add water and floating candles to this. Use another medium-sized vase with a small opening in the top put more of the same orchid. You can continue this theme with different designs and using the same color flower or the same flower until you get a nice proportionate centerpiece for your table. If you have many tables, you can do this on a smaller scale on each.
Use vessels that you have: Use whatever you've got a lot of, whether that's glass containers, silver, whatever. Don’t be afraid to use your silver even if it wasn’t meant to be used as a container for flowers; you may be surprised by the result. Use your fine linen cocktail napkins and dinner napkins. If you don’t have linen cocktail napkins, buy some fun paper napkins for the cocktails. Stay within your colors if you can, but a little humor on the napkin will get the party off to a great start.
The Food: Think Provence. I love French provincial cooking because it is a peasant-based cuisine. The ingredients are usually less than 10 in number and it’s all about using good ingredients that aren’t especially expensive. Technique and the quality of your ingredients will be very important. Also, consult your farmers market about what is fresh and in season during your party date. This will keep your costs down, give back to your local community and be environmentally friendly.
The Wine: Consult your local wine market. I have a particular market and a particular sales person at that market that has a fantastic ability to pair reasonably priced (under-marketed) wine with my menu. Be sure to tell him all the ingredients in each dish—a dash of nutmeg means everything to pairing wine—and tell him/her what you like and what your price point is. Stay with wines that aren’t generally in the grocery stores. When choosing sparkling wine, champagne will be your most expensive options but there are wonderfully surprising California sparklers, Cava’s and Proseccos that might be great options for a festive beginning or ending.
All in all, be warm, inviting and relaxed. When you are enjoying yourself, your guests will as well.
Angela Gala is principal with Rogers & Gala Creative Partners, a firm that plans parties, weddings, and special events nationwide. She can be reached at angela@rogersandgala.com.
Planning a party on a budget will take more creativity and work from the host. Embrace it! This is when you find out what you can do. There is one word that sums up all the advice to follow: Simplicity.
Invitation: A hand written note for a formal dinner party is a lovely invitation to receive. Writing the invitation on your personal stationary will make it very special. If your guest list is too large to do this, choose a simple but nice paper stock and print it in a nice font. Gray looks lovely on white stock. In the fall, brown on off-white stock is wonderful and seasonal.
For the décor: Light up the yard. Put candles everywhere you can, hanging on Sheppard’s hooks, on the ground in glass containers or hurricanes or yard lamps. Or you can use lanterns or torches. Even an overabundance of votives can be striking. White Christmas tree lights are also great fun. Wind them around the bases of the trees, up the umbrella pole and on the ribs underneath. The degree to which you carry this through is all a matter of taste, budget and time.
Don’t use flowers: Use green from your yard, boxwood, Acuba, fatsia, anything lovely and green that has texture and interest. Note: if using boxwood, be sure not to cut it when the bright green shoots are emerging. Those will die quickly.
If you do use flowers: Use flowers with either bulk or form. If they are in season they will be less expensive. If they have form you can use less of them. Consider the phaleanopsis orchid. You may use these very sparingly, Take one orchid and put in a very tall (covering the orchid completely) cylinder glass vase, take another short vessel and use 3 – 5 orchids and swirl them around the inside. You can add water and floating candles to this. Use another medium-sized vase with a small opening in the top put more of the same orchid. You can continue this theme with different designs and using the same color flower or the same flower until you get a nice proportionate centerpiece for your table. If you have many tables, you can do this on a smaller scale on each.
Use vessels that you have: Use whatever you've got a lot of, whether that's glass containers, silver, whatever. Don’t be afraid to use your silver even if it wasn’t meant to be used as a container for flowers; you may be surprised by the result. Use your fine linen cocktail napkins and dinner napkins. If you don’t have linen cocktail napkins, buy some fun paper napkins for the cocktails. Stay within your colors if you can, but a little humor on the napkin will get the party off to a great start.
The Food: Think Provence. I love French provincial cooking because it is a peasant-based cuisine. The ingredients are usually less than 10 in number and it’s all about using good ingredients that aren’t especially expensive. Technique and the quality of your ingredients will be very important. Also, consult your farmers market about what is fresh and in season during your party date. This will keep your costs down, give back to your local community and be environmentally friendly.
The Wine: Consult your local wine market. I have a particular market and a particular sales person at that market that has a fantastic ability to pair reasonably priced (under-marketed) wine with my menu. Be sure to tell him all the ingredients in each dish—a dash of nutmeg means everything to pairing wine—and tell him/her what you like and what your price point is. Stay with wines that aren’t generally in the grocery stores. When choosing sparkling wine, champagne will be your most expensive options but there are wonderfully surprising California sparklers, Cava’s and Proseccos that might be great options for a festive beginning or ending.
All in all, be warm, inviting and relaxed. When you are enjoying yourself, your guests will as well.
Angela Gala is principal with Rogers & Gala Creative Partners, a firm that plans parties, weddings, and special events nationwide. She can be reached at angela@rogersandgala.com.
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