hosting a 12 person dinner party

I recently hosted a 12 person dinner party. It was so much fun! Of course I didn't take any pictures, but that's the best, when you're having so much fun you forget all about pictures right?

Here's what I learned:

plan ahead This was definitely the hardest part for me. Cooking for twelve is much more complicated. My first thought was to make a great soup (one pot meal), but with it being summertime and over 100° that just didn't feel like a good fit. Taking into account oven times and temperatures, I was able to come up with a meal plan. Once I knew what I was going to make and had a cooking schedule laid out it went pretty smoothly from there. I also took advantage of things that could be done beforehand. For dessert we had panna cotta in small ramekins, which not only taste wonderful and look fancy, they can be done the day before!

a fancy salad goes a long way I served this great stone fruit salad with honey goat cheese dressing. It didn't take any longer to cut up the fruit than it would have to cut up tomatoes and cucumbers, but it really elevated the meal. It was something fun and unexpected that you don't have everyday.

details, details, details I think all of the little touches really added to the night. Instead of just serving water, and tea, I served cucumber water and honey citrus tea. In addition to serving coffee with dessert, I also offered chai tea lattes for non coffee drinkers (like myself.) I also made sure there was air freshener, breath mints, and dental floss in the guest bath.

be realistic and enjoy yourself If any of you follow me on instagram, you probably saw that I originally wanted to set the table. I think that would have been beautiful, but it just wasn't as realistic as having people serve themselves. You can't think of everything, so don't let it get to you. I forgot to put out butter for the rolls, so when I realized this, instead of scampering up the cabinets to get the butter dish (no one else does this?) I just put some butter on a small plate with a butter knife. Problem solved.

This is the largest dinner party I have ever hosted. Although it was originally a little daunting, with some planning, it was a blast and I can't wait to throw another one!