With Valentine’s Day looming, people are scrambling to make dinner plans. For those looking to go beyond one-on-one date nights, dinner parties are a popular way to get loved ones together for a good meal and great company. Here’s five dinner party themes to make sure every party eats, regardless of the guest list.
Galentine’s Day
A classic party theme designed for the girls to celebrate their camaraderie. Hosting a Galentine’s-themed dinner could be a great alternative for the singles dreading Feb. 14. Pink-colored desserts would be sweet, especially paired with mocktails such as Shirley Temples. A host could dip strawberries in chocolate and drizzle pink-dyed chocolate over the top, arrange some flowers and invite friends over for a rom-com.
For the guests who’d like something a bit more filling, foods like pizza, waffles or cakes could easily be made into heart shapes. Even less time-consuming are typical dinner party foods like deviled eggs or shrimp platters, which can be placed onto heart-shaped dishes.
Tamirah Johnson, a 21-year-old UF psychology junior, is an enthusiastic hostess who recommends keeping it simple. She believes party-planning with a dress-code and color scheme allows hosts to match a theme without too much decorating effort. Johnson also believes you can gradually host more intricately themed events after starting small, she said.
“If it’s a small get together I like to have a more relaxed theme since the primary focus is just to have fun and spend quality time with my friends,” Johnson said.
Charcuterie Board Night
Like Johnson said, not every party theme has to be complex. A charcuterie board night, where attendees bring a board topped with whatever their heart desires, can lead to plenty of creativity — and maybe even a few trendy TikToks. Appropriate for any occasion and dress-code, this theme is perfect for the busy host.
Olivia Daniel, a 22-year-old UF psychology senior, started experimenting with dinner parties through charcuterie board get-togethers with her Sigma Kappa sorority sisters after they were left hungry after a 5 p.m. house dinner. She said she quickly realized a post-dinner snack could be made its own event.
Daniel, a self-proclaimed control freak, said she loved arranging cheeses on a board, crafting beautiful shapes and perfecting the spacing before her friends arrived. She suggests dinner parties can be as simple or as complex as the host desires, and there’s no shame in pre-made food options.
“Not everything is going to be perfect all the way through,” she said. “Just ask for help when you need it.”
Charcuterie board night participants can go hog-wild, bringing bacon boards, McDonald’s boards, candy boards or anything they might want to share. The theme allows guests to get creative and impress their friends. A silly twist can be thrown in like a dress-code that makes you match your board!
Tatiana Joseph, a 21-year-old UF African American Studies junior, gets frustrated when her guests don’t follow a dress code, so she works hard to keep it simple. She said she thinks about what she already has in her closet while she’s brainstorming —a critical part of the party-planning process.
“Think about all the possibilities without constraints, then you add the limitations,” she said.
Murder Mystery
Not every theme is so relaxed, but some students like Neriah Cabral Duarte, a 20-year-old UF nursing junior, are in love with the details. Founder of UF mystery mystery club A Private Inn, she hosted her first murder mystery dinner party alongside her best friend, Brenda Franklin. The pair designed the party all by themselves as first-year students..
The murder mystery theme can be immersive and requires support from all involved guests. Guests are encouraged to dress up to set the tone for the evening, Duarte said, getting into character and keeping it as real as possible.
“We’ve had people show up in elaborate wigs, fancy gowns and historically-accurate outfits,” she said.
The club has hosted murder mysteries with additional themes, such as Wedding Bells and Murder — a wedding-themed party, and another based on the hit TV series Bridgerton. Duarte said she loves hosting because of how special each party is, especially when guests lose themselves in the storyline. Duerte said she hopes to eventually host a Greek Mythology theme, a dinner when guests are assigned to gods and goddesses as characters.
Food pairings can be made to fit the period, or as simple as the host’s go-to recipe. After all, when someone has just been murdered, is anyone eating anyway?
Breakfast for dinner
As the most important meal of the day, some hosts believe it should be eaten twice —most importantly, with friends. A breakfast-for-dinner party is scalable and budget-friendly. If that’s not enough for a laid-back host, it can also be hosted while in the comfort of pajama pants.
Food options include chicken and waffles, pancakes, bacon, eggs and fruit salad. Hosts can get creative with the breakfast options, even moving into the dessert realm by including donuts and pastries.
DIY Dinner Party
For the group of chefs, this theme includes more aprons and recipes than the typical party activity. Guests can coordinate with the host to plan ingredients, recipes and cooking assignments, turning a household kitchen into a Michelin star restaurant. Although this theme is best for small groups due to space concerns, a host could invite as many people as they felt inclined to, dividing the work into bite-sized pieces.
To amp up the pressure, the theme can be turned into a mock cooking show, encouraging guests to compete against each other by cooking dishes with the same ingredients.
Complexity of dishes can be varied for the time and skill of the included guests, and everyone can sit down and enjoy a home-cooked meal.
Before any good host opens their doors, it's important to open the fridge, because if anything brings a party together, its food.
Contact Rachel Mish at rmisch@alligator.org. Follow her on X @mish_rache62827.
Rachel Mish is a junior English and business major and the Fall 2024 Food Reporter for The Avenue. In her free time, she enjoys playing pick-up basketball or sewing a gameday outfit.
