Virtual Dinner Party

If I’ve peeked your interest on a virtual dinner party, let’s talk about it! I feel like it’s one of those things that you can really have some super fun with for your party. Online parties are all the trending rage right now, so why not make it fun for a dinner party, too? I love being able to come up with new ideas right now to bring some excitement and energy into my life!

When you’re thinking about a virtual dinner party, you want to think about these 5 things:

1. What you want to serve (keep it the same for everyone)
2. Who you want to invite
3. Where you want to host your dinner party in your house (think good lighting)
4. How long you want it to be
5. How you can keep the conversation and activity moving

Let’s start with what to serve.

When you’re hosting a virtual dinner party, make sure you have an easy menu. Since you’re not able to serve people around your own table, when it comes to a virtual one, you want to make sure everyone is enjoying each other’s company – food is (dare I say it) secondary. If you want to make sure everyone has the same food on the menu, think simple.

You can send along a potential dinner party menu that everyone can easily do at home. Think pastas and salads and easy bites. You don’t want people to be in their kitchens working for hours before the virtual dinner party feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Think simple and easy. You could even just do sandwiches. Just make sure everyone has the same menu on hand for dinner.

Let’s talk about invites.

When you’re inviting people to your virtual dinner party, make sure you keep it to a group that you know all gets along and all knows each other. You want to make sure your party flows well and is a lot of fun for everyone who attends. The last thing you want to do is have someone feel awkward. The flow of a party is so important, especially virtually.

You can email people invites or send them via evite or paperless post. I feel like anyway you do it is fine, but make people feel special. When you get a special email for a virtual dinner party, it’s something that people will mark down and feel special about being part of for the night. Take the time to make a special for them.

Let’s talk about where to host.

When you’re trying to find a place to host your party in your house, you need to think about lighting and audio. I know it’s not always easy to find the best lighting in your house, but it is possible. You can also invest in a cheap ring light for your virtual dinner party.

The ideal would be to host your dinner party around your table, but if you’re not able to do it – look for a place in your house to make sure you are able to host it well. I’m all about trying to do everything you can to make sure the lighting looks best as can be. I know one of the most difficult things is when you’re on a virtual call and the lighting and audio is off.

Also – as an aside, make sure everyone in your house is off the internet while you’re hosting your virtual dinner party!

Let’s talk about the “run of show” for your virtual dinner party.

You don’t want your dinner party to go on for hours, but you do want it to be fun and engaging for everyone present. I know it seems a little silly, but it’s not. You want to make sure you have a solid plan for the party. When you have people online and even potentially all over the country, it’s not the same (at all) as having them in your dining room.

You need to make sure you have an idea as to how you want this party to go. Have a set time for your dinner and then a set time for your “party” time, too. It’s important to make sure you’re not just sitting and nobody’s talking. Keep it centered around a schedule and have the time planned out perfectly. Everyone will be happy you did!

Let’s talk how you can keep everything engaged!

I’m a lover of GAMES when it comes to parties! I actually wrote a blog post on virtual games to play at a party! One of the best things to do is have some fun party games and (thankfully!) they can be done online right now. Make sure you keep everything entertained, that’s important.

When I have a dinner party at my house, I’m always aware of making sure that everyone is taken care of. I like to see everyone with a drink in their hand, food on their plate an engaged in conversation! When you’re virtual, it becomes a little more difficult to make sure those things are accomplished.

Take the time to come up with some great games that you know everyone will love and enjoy. I promise – everyone at the party will be happy that you kept it moving and kept it fun!

I know we’re living in such strange times right now and there are certain things that we just can’t do. I wanted to encourage you to think outside of the box on this one and really bring together family and/or friends to a virtual dinner party!

Make sure you’re, too! I’m sharing more fun information over there on how to pass this time and do fun things during our time at home right now.

Here are 10 Virtual Games for you to Play with your friends.