Want to Choose the Best
Dinner Party Menu and Recipe?

Even for the cooking impaired, all it takes is the right dinner party menu and recipe ideas to make a dinner party memorable. If you're a bit creative, you may have tons of dinner menu ideas --too many, it seems! When you have a good selection of dinner party menu and recipe options, it can be hard to choose the best for you. Don't let all those looming decisions (invites, menu, decorations, aah!) daunt you. Below you'll find some things to help you when deciding on (or coming up with) a dinner party menu idea.

Your Dinner Idea Options

When looking to create a fun dinner party menu, you'll probably try for one that will either fit a theme, the tastes of your guests (we all have that one friend who hates anything "weird"), or just impress the people you invite. When deciding which of your dinner party menu and recipe ideas is best, consider the following.

The number of guests. If you're inviting a large number of people, don't go too nuts with your menu. If you have more than, say, 6-8 people, a dinner menu made up of painstakingly rolled-and-filled Chinese dumplings --fun and funky though it may be-- will make you want to pull your hair out. Or, even worse, your guests'.

What tone you want to strike. Want to impress work colleagues or potential clients with a super elegant dinner party menu? Or are you just throwing an informal get-together for close friends? Remember your guest list. You can take chances with your friends --if they don't like it, you'll only get a good-natured ribbing-- but if, say, you're planning a wedding reception dinner, you don't want to turn off too many of your guests with something too daring.

What fits your space. If you're deciding on a dinner menu idea, you might want to think of how well it goes with your dining space. If you're leaning towards a particular theme, say an old-fashioned English Christmas dinner, it might be hard to pull off if your dining area looks like an illustration from Arabian Nights.

How much time and money you want to spend. The most important thing last, right? This seems like a pretty obvious thing to take into consideration, but it's surprisingly easy to get overly-ambitious and lose track of your time and expense budget. Remember, it's better to throw an awesome (though relatively safe) Mexican food party with supplies you already have than fail at a more ambitious theme because you chose a menu you didn't have the time or budget to do well.