Party planning guide: Take a load off your plate

Let the professionals fill them up

For the love of hosting and bringing people together, why not make throwing a dinner party easier on yourself? Queue in a Take-Out Party. Your party planning checklist is simplified. The food is scrumptious. Your guests will love it. Easy as order, open the door (or pick up, depending on your preferences), re-plate, and savor together.

Here’s how to craft your most delectable dinner party, sans cooking on your behalf.

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1. Pick your bites

Think about choosing food that is warm and cozy. A robust salad, a lasagna, soup, a warm noodle dish, roasted veggies, you get the idea. Most restaurants love to cook an order in bulk and many even have a ‘catering’ or ‘family style’ menus. Order some platters from your favorite local spot on Doordash or Postmates and order in. 

2. Display your food well

Just because you’re not making the food, doesn't mean you can’t take ownership of how the display looks after it gets dropped off or picked up. Choose a few pretty plates and trays. Setting them in place ahead of time helps you see how the table will look once your party is in motion. When the food arrives, you do a little scooping and arranging, and your dinner scene is set and looks as good as home-made.. A few items we love:

• Trays with gold handles: Yes, use a tray—it’ll elevate the look and then just wash.

• Clear and Easy: Serve on and toss after. 

Tongs and serving utensils: Don’t forget what you’ll use to serve. We recommend high quality tongs and serving utensils to keep the dinner party feeling festive.

3. Set your scene

For your tablescape, we have plenty of goodness to inspire you. Check out our tablescape how-to ;) Note: if you go family style with this party, you won’t have the same amount of space on the table. Which is not a problem—it will only make your table look that much fuller! Think about keeping space for the large platters when you set plates and napkins.

So get to perusing the menus of your favorite local take-out options, and watch your number of guests clamoring to be at the next fete.

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