Good morning everyone!  I hope you are getting excited about heading into April soon.  I don’t know about you, but I feel a little like I’ve been hibernating this winter and am ready to get out there and be active again now that we’re actually into spring.  One of the things that I love to do is to get together with friends and family for dinner.

You don’t always have to plan something fancy and elaborate in order to have a nice time together, but sometimes it’s fun to plan out a more extravagant social occasion to make it feel special.  That’s why I thought I should share some tips and ideas for Planning a Progressive Dinner.

Planning a Progressive Dinner

If you’ve never heard of a progressive dinner, it simply involves coordinating a multiple course meal to be enjoyed at several locations by a group of people.  For instance, you could have hors d’oevres and cocktails at one home, soup and salad at the next home, the main course at a third home, and finish the dinner with coffee and dessert at a fourth home.  Therefore, you progress through the dinner.

This can be a fun time for good food and great company, but it’s important to plan a progressive dinner out completely so that everyone is able to enjoy the evening.  Here are some tips for planning your progressive dinner party:

Plan out your locations- you want to make sure that the homes that will be hosting the different courses are near each other so that time is not lost in transit.  In addition, you have to make sure that each home that is chosen can comfortably accommodate the size of the group of dinner guests that are invited.

Collaborate on the menu- it is best to sit down with each host and plan out each course that will be served at the various homes.  Remember that the hosts will most likely be partaking in the progressive dinner and moving from one home to another so the food you choose to make should be able to be kept warm easily without constant monitoring.  If you are spending all of your time in the kitchen preparing the food, chances are you will miss out on enjoying the company of your guests.

Keep the servings smaller- it is tempting to make each course a grand dining experience, but keep in mind that you will be eating a larger amount of food than usual so make sure to keep the servings smaller.  Try using smaller plates or serving a tasting menu instead of a full menu.

Have fun with the menu- mix it up and serve food from different countries at each house.  Maybe the hors d’oevres will be Chinese but the soup and salad will be English.  Or maybe pick a specific country’s delicacies to make at each home.

Stick to the schedule- you want to make sure that the food is served in a timely manner at each home to ensure that it stays warm and tasty so plan out how long you will spend at each home.  It may be easiest to plan the longest period of time for socializing for the final course since there are no more stops to make once you are settled.

I hope this gave you some great ideas on planning your own progressive dinner!  Have you taken part in a progressive dinner before? I’d love to hear your stories so comment below to share your experiences!  And don’t forget to share this post on your social media sites so that your family and friends can enjoy planning their own progressive dinner as well!

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