10 Entertaining Tips That Promise Low Effort and High Impact

First things first. A little bit of forward planning goes a long way when it comes to serving the perfect drink. Whether you’re serving Champagne, G&Ts, Wine, Cocktails, Pudding Wine (or all of the above), it pays off to think about food pairing and the preparation needed to serve your drinks in the best way possible.

It goes without saying that chilled drinks need time to chill. Top up your ice buckets, make space in the fridge and chill your wine coolers well in advance.

Serving a special red? Decanting it will give it the chance to breathe and enhance the flavour of the wine, and make it feel incredibly decadent on your table.

Planning a fun cocktail? Make sure you have all the ice and think about the logistics of making multiple cocktails at the same time. Sometimes, simple is best.

And finally, clear a freezer drawer or shelf before your event. Perfect for popping in bottles of warm wine gifted by your guests, and it means you’ll have plenty of space for ice too.

Keep the lighting low. Light candles and embrace table and floor lamps for a cosy and inviting environment. Plus, soft low lighting hides a multitude of sins if you’d rather spend time prepping your menu than dusting cobwebs…

The chances of not having at least one dietary requirement at a dinner party these days is slim. Ask for any dietary requirements as you invite your guests to give you plenty of time to plan a well-rounded menu that caters for everyone in your party.

Keep it simple and look for recipes that can be easily adapted. We love large sharing platters of food when we’re catering for dietary requirements – it gives your guests a sense of freedom to choose what they want to eat and we love the fun of passing food around the table for everyone to dig into. Plus, you avoid the stress of food presentation skills on individual dinner plates!

Are you planning to serve nibbles with drinks as your guests arrive? We love jazzing up shop-bought dips by spooning them onto a platter or flat bowl. Top houmous with a drizzle of top-quality olive oil and dukka, finish taramasalata with crispy capers and make tzatziki even better with fresh dill and coriander and a sprinkling of toasted cumin seeds.

Buy in delicious marinated olives and crips and serve in beautiful mix and matched serving bowls

Choose two friends from your party and ask them to arrive an hour earlier than everyone else. These are your go-to people for last minute panics. Forgotten an ingredient? Too low on ice? Lean on them to keep your prep in place. It’s also a great way to give you a low-key start to the party; they can help you answer the door, serve drinks, or just have that conversation flowing from the outset.

You’ll be busy at various points in the evening, where things need stirring on the hob or food needs taking out of the oven and dishes need plating. Open a nice bottle of something delicious and ask a couple of friends to accompany you to the kitchen. Give them jobs to help you, they’ll want to contribute to the effort!

Do you have a signature cocktail, or a way with flowers? Secretly a dab-hand at calligraphy or tablescaping? It’s the little touches that make all the difference, but don’t get too bogged down in the detail. Something might seem simple to you, but will no-doubt impress your guests!

More and more of our friends are choosing to drink no or low alcohol. It’s something you should be well catered for. Avoid serving panicked out-of-date elderflower cordial and consider some no or low alcohol options for your drinks menu. There are so many brilliant options on the market these days, including our favourites Pentire and Everleaf. You could even make a big jug of booze-free punch that feels just as exciting as the alcoholic options on the table.

Have a playlist ready in advance with enough songs to keep you going all night. Check out our spotify here for some playlist inspiration.

If you have the energy before bed, blitz the most painful bits of the clean up. Drop all your cutlery into a bowl of soapy water, ready to be tackled in the morning. Wash up your glasses and leave them to dry on a tea towel. It’ll make that morning wake up that little bit easier.