I want to do a dinner party!

I have always liked the idea of hosting dinner parties and entertaining guests but I don’t like the process of cooking under pressure! I can cook pretty well but when coupled with the idea of cooking for more than 5 people at a time, I seem to get overwhelmed. I always get that I-have-so-much-to-do feeling and end up burning something or forgetting something. But I have found a great solution to my desire to entertain without all the unneeded stress- a pop up dinner party!!

If you haven’t heard about these, let me school you really quickly. A pop up dinner party is a new type of dinner party that has been taking the nation by storm lately. I believe it started in Paris with the Diner en Blanc trend but I’m not 100% sure.  There is actually one scheduled in my area for next month. The concept behind this dinner party is actually to get people to interact more within their community. All the hostess provides is the table and decorations and the guests bring their own chairs, tableware, food and drink. When I first heard about this I immediately thought… this is right up my alley! I love decorating and just making things look fabulous! I also think this is a great idea for people who like to entertain but are on a budget. If all you have to supply is the table(s) and decor, that cuts your expenses tremendously for a party.

The other great aspect of a pop up dinner party is that party can be mobile since everyone brings own food and drinks you are not confined to the kitchen or backyard.  You can have it in any setting you like. Here are some cool photos from some pop up dinner parties and picnics from different websites. I love this one under the Golden Gate bridge from ohhappyday.com. I also like this one in a Chinatown alley. How awesome is that? I also love this large one featured at the Lincoln Center in New York recently. It was like a flash mob. I like that they had everyone dress in white.  I also liked that people brought their own table, decor, food, drinks etc! I’m sure its a very unique experience especially in such a diverse city to see all the different foods and creative elements.

I would love to try this with a small group first or like with friends, family, coworkers and then with my community at large once I became a pro! So does this sound like something you would participate in or something you would considering hosting yourself? Let me know what you think!