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A tried-and-true strategy for easy entertaining? Make it a potluck. Of course, you don’t want to get carried away with planning and setup — the whole point of a potluck is to lighten the load on you, the host — but even a simple potluck dinner runs more smoothly with a little forethought. Here’s our roundup of tips to make your event a stress-free success.
Planning the Event
- Potluck in its purest form means letting guests bring whatever they want. Taking your hands off the wheel makes this the easiest potluck style for the host, and it’s always fun to see what dishes show up.
- Alternatively, to give the meal some coherence, pick a theme or a specific cuisine. For a Southwest or Tex-Mex fiesta, prepare a large pot of chili. (Want to keep it simple? Just heat and serve a few cans of Hormel Chili, as shown above!) Your guests can bring Southwest-style sides to complete the feast. Or make lasagna as the main and have guests contribute Italian sides and salads. Supply related beverages to round out the theme: pitchers of margaritas or red wine.
- Before the event, make sure you have place cards (available at craft or stationery stores) on hand for labeling dishes. Have pens handy so when guests arrive, they can write the name of their dish (and any relevant dietary info, such as “vegetarian,” “gluten-free,” etc.) on a card and place it in front of their dish.
- You’ll need plenty of trivets and serving utensils — tongs, large spoons and ladles. If you don’t have extras, ask your guests to bring them. Arrange to rent or borrow chafing dishes to keep hot dishes at temperature. Chili and other stews work well in a crock-pot.
Invitations
Let guest know if the potluck has a theme and ask them to contribute dishes on your invitation. To avoid duplication, you may want to itemize types of dishes needed for the meal. You can be general (side dish, salad, dessert) or you can get specific (cornbread to go with chili). In the “event conversation” bar on your Evite invitation, click on the red bag and list the items you’d like guests to bring. When guests view the invitation, they can sign up to bring one of the requested dishes.
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Decor
- Potlucks are no-fuss meals, so keep the decor simple. Our easy tip: Grab a pre-made arrangement at the grocery store, then separate the flowers by type or color. Trim the stems and place mini bouquets on the table in small vases, glass jars or cans with the labels removed.
- Young kids love having their own table, so try to set up a separate dining spot for them. Cover it completely with butcher paper and set out crayons and stickers to keep them occupied.
Setting the Scene
- For a large group (and a large spread of food), it’s best to serve buffet-style, with a separate table for sitting down and eating. (Smaller potlucks can work with the dishes laid out family-style at the center of the dining table.)
- Make the buffet easy for guests to navigate. Use a kitchen island or dining table that’s accessible from all sides.
- Streamline food layout on the table to keep the line moving. Put plates at the start of the line, utensils and napkins at the end. Make sure it’s easy for guests to serve themselves: Put appropriate utensils on a saucer alongside each dish and make sure larger items are pre-cut into single servings.
- If you have the space, set up a separate serving area for desserts.
- If you’re using disposable plates, set trash receptacles in a key location. Clearly marked recycling bins will encourage guests to sort glass and plastic bottles.
- To avoid bottlenecks, set up a beverage station away from the food. Fill a tub of ice with beer, wine, water and soft drinks. Provide disposable cups.
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Activities
After dinner, or between dinner and dessert, get everyone to participate in a group game. Try a fun twist on a classic — the basic idea will be familiar to everyone, but a new spin will mix things up.
- Reverse charades is a high-energy variation on the traditional game. Instead of one person acting out clues while the rest of the group guesses, the roles are reversed: One person guesses while the rest of the group takes turns acting out clues. To make it a competition, divide the group into two teams and pick a guesser for each team. The “actors” for each team privately brainstorm a bunch of words to act out. Then each team gets a minute to act out as many words as possible for its guesser.
- Telephone Pictionary is mash-up of two familiar games. Each person playing will need a pen and a stack of paper stapled together to make a little booklet. (Each booklet should contain as many sheets of paper as there are people playing the game.) Get everyone to sit in a circle. To start the game, each person thinks of a phrase and writes it on the first page of the booklet. Then, each player passes his or her booklet to the left. Each player is now holding a new booklet. After reading the phrase, each player folds back the top page of the booklet so the phrase is no longer visible. On the blank piece of paper now at the top, each player draws a picture, doing his or her best to make a visual of the phrase. The booklets get passed to the left again. Each player looks at the picture, folds the picture back and then writes a phrase describing what is going on in the picture. The booklets get passed again and the game continues until each player receives back his/her original stack. Each player takes turns reading/displaying his or her book to show the rest of the group how far (and hilariously) the drawings and phrases have strayed from the starting point.
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